Baltimore @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 9, 2011 ) Baltimore 0, Boston 4

THE STORY: The Baltimore Orioles may not be backing down from the first-place Boston Red Sox, but they can’t beat them. Boston defeated Baltimore 4-0 on Saturday night to run its winning streak to five games and looks to cap a four-game series sweep at home Sunday. Rookies take to the hill to wrap up the first half of the season as Baltimore starts Mitch Atkins opposite Boston’s Kyle Weiland, who will make his major league debut. The Orioles have lost six straight.

TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, MASN (Baltimore), NESN (Boston)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Mitch Atkins (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Kyle Weiland (NR).

Atkins made his Baltimore debut at Texas on July 5 and pitched very well. He allowed one run on eight hits in six innings, but Baltimore blew a 2-0 lead and lost 4-2. Atkins fanned four and didn’t walk a batter in the game. It was Atkins’ first major league start - he made seven relief appearances, all with the Cubs. Weiland is filling in for Jon Lester, who went on the disabled list earlier in the week. The 24-year-old righthander was 8-6 with a 3.00 ERA at Triple A Pawtucket. Weiland was a closer at Notre Dame, but has stretched out at the professional level nicely and is on top of his game. Boston could have summoned Kevin Millwood but opted for the rookie, who is 6-2 in his last 10 starts with a 2.33 ERA. He fanned 12 in an outing in late June.

ABOUT THE RED SOX (54-35): Daniel Bard pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings Saturday, and has not allowed a run in 18 1/3 innings (18 appearances). The Red Sox maintained their one-game lead over the Yankees in the American League. Josh Reddick continued to produce with two RBIs to back the fine pitching of John Lackey. Kevin Youkilis also had a pair of RBIs and Dustin Pedroia extended his hitting streak to 11 games (15-for-44). At 19 games over .500, the Red Sox are at their high-water mark for the season. Boston had beaten Baltimore in 41 of the last 53 meetings at home.

ABOUT THE ORIOLES (36-51): Baltimore has to like the fire that reliever Kevin Gregg displayed Friday night. After his fight with Boston’s David Ortiz, Gregg told the media: "They're going to whine and complain about it because they think they're better than everybody else, but no, we have just as much right to pitch inside as they do. I think we showed them we're not backing down. We're not scared of them, them and their $180 million payroll, we don't care. We're here to play the game, we have just as much right to play the game here, and we're going to do everything we can to win." On the field, though, the Orioles are a mess. They’ve allowed at least four runs in a game in 17 straight games, and have lost 11 of their last 12 games.

FINAL PITCH: The league will likely wait until after the All-Star break to hand out punishments to Ortiz and Gregg.