masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgBOSTON – The recent and more distant pasts of Ubaldo Jimenez will collide tonight in the series finale against the Red Sox.
Jimenez held the Twins to one earned run over seven innings on April 7, walking none and striking out nine. Manager Buck Showalter extended him to 106 pitches and it paid off.
No other Orioles starter has gone more than five innings. Jimenez stands tallest in the rotation.
He’s been chopped at the knees when facing the Red Sox.
Jimenez is 2-4 with a 7.26 ERA and 1.781…

BOSTON – The recent and more distant pasts of Ubaldo Jimenez will collide tonight in the series finale against the Red Sox.

Jimenez held the Twins to one earned run over seven innings on April 7, walking none and striking out nine. Manager Buck Showalter extended him to 106 pitches and it paid off.

No other Orioles starter has gone more than five innings. Jimenez stands tallest in the rotation.

He’s been chopped at the knees when facing the Red Sox.

Jimenez is 2-4 with a 7.26 ERA and 1.781 WHIP in 11 career starts against them. At Fenway Park, he’s 1-2 with a 5.90 ERA and 1.793 WHIP in six starts, with 19 runs and 31 hits allowed in 29 innings. He’s walked 21 batters.

Jimenez-Throws-Gray-Sidebar.jpgThere’s also one ejection, which came on April 17, 2015 after he hit Pablo Sandoval.

He’d have to aim for the dugout to repeat that gesture.

Jimenez hadn’t allowed a hit in 3 2/3 innings and home plate umpire Jordan Baker did what the Red Sox couldn’t. He got Jimenez out of the game.

Sandoval is 14-for-39 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and 10 strikeouts against Jimenez. Dustin Pedroia is 9-for-26 with two doubles, Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts are 5-for-12, and David Ortiz is 2-for-21 with a home run.

Red Sox starter Joe Kelly faced the Blue Jays in his first start and allowed seven runs and seven hits over three innings. He’s 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA and 1.480 WHIP in five career starts against the Orioles.

The current group is batting .225 (16-for-71) against Kelly. Chris Davis is 4-for-7 with a double and J.J. Hardy is 3-for-6.

* The Orioles must feel fortunate to be 7-0 with so many abbreviated starts from the rotation.

“Most of that has to do with our pitch count, our workload early in the season,” said manager Buck Showalter. “It wasn’t always that they weren’t pitching well enough to stay in the game. We’ve got a number of people that started off performing well out of the ‘pen, six or seven guys. You don’t mind passing around the load.”

* Dylan Bundy’s appearance last night, the fourth of his major league career and the second at Fenway Park, shouldn’t be ignored. He allowed one run in 2 1/3 innings after replacing Mike Wright. He still doesn’t look like a pitcher who needs to be stashed in the bullpen like a Rule 5 liability.

“Dylan’s outing was probably the key to the game,” Showalter said. “That was the first time he’d been in a third inning. We were just going to have him face two or three hitters in that third inning. If he could help us do the job that needs to be done out of that ‘pen like he’s done so far, that would be big for us.”

* Remember when the Orioles were going to change their roster a week into the season with Brian Matusz coming off the disabled list and Kevin Gausman following shortly after him?

Both pitchers will be at Single-A Frederick on Friday. Matusz’s rehab assignment has been extended. Gausman could be activated to start on April 20.

It’s unusual for an Orioles roster to remain untouched for so long. I’m used to rapid-fire transactions here. I’m almost bored.

* The Rangers are listing Cole Hamels, Martin Perez, Colby Lewis and Derek Holland as their starters for the series against the Orioles that begins Thursday night in Arlington. Their game notes list Chris Tillman, TBA, Yovani Gallardo and Wright as the Orioles’ starters.

The TBA is Vance Worley’s spot, but perhaps the Orioles are considering Tyler Wilson, who hasn’t pitched since opening day. I’m not sure I’ve seen him warm up. Maybe once, but I can’t promise it.

Wilson tossed three scoreless innings on opening day. Maybe we’ll see him again before the road trip ends.

* Before last night, Mark Trumbo hadn’t been hit by a pitch in his previous 221 games since April 14, 2014, the eighth-longest active streak in baseball. He’s been hit only 11 times in 2,790 career plate appearances.

The guy can hit. He just doesn’t get hit.

“He’s great,” said Hardy. “He’s gotten off to a great start. He’s done it against us for a while. He’s got more pop than anybody I’ve ever seen. He’s got a good approach up there, so he’s definitely a good addition to our lineup.”

* Hardy can count as a good addition because he stayed healthy in spring training. The left shoulder no longer bothers him.

Though teased for two home runs last night that barely made it over the fence in the right field corner, Hardy knows that he couldn’t have done it last year with his shoulder in such bad condition.

“I feel like I’ve already hit balls harder this year than I did at any point last year,” he said. “It’s good. My body feels good and I hope to keep it going like that.”

The Orioles would like to keep the good times going. They won’t run the table in a 162-game regular season, but they’re enjoying this undefeated ride for however long it lasts.

“A lot of fun,” Hardy said. “It’s just every night you watch the guys just sitting in the dugout watching everybody’s at bats. It’s fun because everybody, one through nine, can do it and it’s fun to watch.

“We feel confident. It’s a good mindset to feel like we know it’s going to happen, but everybody trusts one another. It really is a good lineup and it’s fun to be a part of.”