Boston @ Baltimore preview
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Last Meeting ( Aug 15, 2012 ) Boston 3, Baltimore 5
The Baltimore Orioles have ascended to the top of the American League wild card standings by winning nine of their last 11 games and will look to cap a 10-game homestand with a sweep of the reeling Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. The Orioles have used a pair of five-run sixth innings to take the first two games of the series and improve to 8-3 against the Red Sox this season. The latest victory moved Baltimore 11 games over .500 and one game ahead of Tampa Bay in the wild card race.
Boston dropped to 2-4 on its current 10-game road trip that will end with three contests against bitter rival and AL East-leading New York over the weekend. The Red Sox are 4-10 in August to drop four games under .500, the lowest they've been since mid-May. Boston has allowed at least five runs in each of the 10 losses this month. Jacoby Ellsbury has four straight two-hit games and second baseman Dustin Pedroia is riding a 10-game hitting streak.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), MASN (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox RH Clay Buchholz (10-3, 4.24) vs. Orioles RH Chris Tillman (5-2, 3.40)
Buchholz is coming off a spectacular performance against the Cleveland Indians, allowing two runs on two hits in his second complete game of the season. It was the latest in a string of stellar outings by Buchholz, who has gone 2-0 with a 1.15 ERA in his last five starts while yielding a total of eight runs and 24 hits in 39 innings. He is 6-3 with three shutouts against the Orioles, including a no-hitter in 2007.
Tillman had a four-start winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he was rocked for three homers and six runs in 5 2/3 innings against Kansas City to add more than a full run to his ERA. The three homers were more than he allowed in his previous six starts. Tillman faced the Red Sox in May 2011 and pitched five scoreless innings. He lasted only 1 1/3 innings in his other start vs. the Red Sox in 2010.
WALK-OFFS
1. Boston DH David Ortiz (strained Achilles) has been shut down from all baseball activities. The Red Sox are 11-17 in his absence.
2. Jim Johnson became only the fifth Orioles' closer to record 35 saves in a season.
3. Orioles RF Nick Markakis is batting .111 (3-for-27) lifetime against Buchholz.