WEDNESDAY FIRST 5 INNINGS PLAY (YTD 4-11)

[jimmythegreek]

Boston/Baltimore over 5 even:
Hanging on by a life-support thread in the AL Wildcard race, Baltimore (71-73) who came into tonight's action trailing by 5.5 games for the second wildcard spot, tries to sweep Boston (68-76) who is basically playing out the string. The Orioles, winners of their last 3 and 8 of their last 12 overall, also have a bunch of teams to vault if they have plans to qualify for the postseason. The Red Sox have also played better as of late but have long accepted the spoiler's role sitting in the AL East basement with widespread changes expected in 2016. 

The Birds send Mike Wright (2-4 5.45) to the hill this evening who, in a spot starter role has been fairly inconsistent over his last few appearances. The 25 year old rookie was not involved in the decision from his last outing where he gave up 4 ER on 4 hits in a 14-8 win for the O's against Kansas City. Wright faces a Boston lineup hitting .267 this season which is good for 3rd in the AL. The Red Sox are averaging 4.6 runs per contest while their 143 HR ranks in the middle of the pack. Overall offense has far been the liability contributing to the struggles of the Bosox this season, but the culprit remains inconsistent pitching. Xander Bogaerts (.321 5 72) leads the club in hitting and ranks second in the AL behind Miguel Cabrera. The shortstop has hit safely in his last 6 games (.370) while second on the team in runs scored and RBI. David Ortiz (.271 34 96) is at his usual king of the hill spot in the order as DH in production and has even cut down most impressively on his strikeouts with just 91 in 479 AB's. Staying healthy however has been a challenge especially since father time has since long caught up to 39 year old Big Papi. Mookie Betts (.288 15 71) is also on quite a roll and has stayed consistently productive all season hitting at a .333 clip over the last week. It has, however been a down year for Pablo Sandoval (.248 10 57) the kung fu panda who has struggled with injuries and inefficiency for the better part of the campaign. Same holds true for Hanley Ramirez (.249 19 53) who has been limited to just 105 games thus far enduring a 2 for 28 (.071) slump over the last 8 games. 

Boston counters with Henry Owens (2-2 5.25) who, like Wright has been all over the place with his recent stuff. His last outing was a no decision where he lasted 51/3 innings and yielded a run on 3 hits but issued 4 walks along with striking out 3. The 23 year old rookie suffered his worst outing of the season against the Yankees a couple of weeks back, not getting past the second inning and giving up 7 ER on 6 H. Owens faces an Orioles lineup hitting just .253 this season averaging about 4.5 runs per contest but third in the AL in HR with 196. Chris Davis (.262 42 107) is certainly on pace to put up similar of his career numbers from 2013. Davis is 10 for his last 24 (.417) and leads the majors in HR while second in the AL in RBI behind MVP candidate Josh Donaldson. Manny Machado (.290 29 73) already has 4 multi hit games this month, and is just now tapping into his upcoming potential as a big time market player. Adam Jones (.274 27 78) has also had another productive season but has at times squandered potentially big innings by killing rallies and leaving runners in scoring position. Clearly lacking on the O's squad is balance, as Gerardo Parra (.293 14 45) leads the team in hitting but finds himself in the lead-off role which may not be suitable for the state of the offense going forward. Baltimore for the most part relies squarely on their power from various sources rather than their ability to play small ball combined with a lack of speed as evident by only 38 team stolen bases. 

We get a gem of a price this evening in a venue that from it's inception clearly favors the hitters especially to the corners. At 318 and 333 respectively to right and left field, hitters also have the advantage seeing the ball carry well to dead center at an even 400 feet. With two rookies going head to head this evening, neither has proved to produce consistent, quality starts on solid ground so far this season despite promising futures ahead. The power on both sides could provide early cushions for either team early with the final outcomes perhaps decided by equally shaky bullpens. The focus is on notching out 3rd straight triumph after a horrific start to hopefully earn some of the profits back that were lost early. Best of luck however you play!

[jimmythegreek]

An RBI single by Brock Holt with one out in the top of the 6th cashes this one easily all by Boston's lonesome! That's 5 of the last 6 as we inch slowly but surely towards respectability. Congrats and thanks to all that followed! Back up later this week.

[rcrowe4444]

easy one thanks for the play.