The O's trailed the Red Sox 2-0 after three frames at Fenway. In the Boston second, David Ortiz, hitting .146 with no homers, hit a homer out to left center on a Jeremy Guthrie 2-1 pitch. Guthrie had retired the first five batters. In the Sox third, Guthrie walked number eight hitter Jeremy Hermida to lead the inning and he reached third before scoring on a J.D Drew sac fly. After throwing just 12 pitches in the first, Guthrie threw 19 in the second and 29 in the third for 60 on the...

While tonight's Red Sox starter, Jon Lester, is 10-0, 2.39 in 12 career starts vs. the Orioles, some Birds in tonight's lineup have good stats vs. Lester. Here is how tonight's lineup fares vs. Lester: Montanez: 1-2 Jones: 5-19 Markakis: 7-35 Tejada: 4-9 Wigginton: 6-13 Wieters: 5-9 Reimold: 3-6 Atkins: 0-0 Izturis: 2-6 If you add that up you get 33 for 99, an average of .333. Maybe the slumping O's can get to Lester tonight. Lester has an ERA of 8.44 on the year and has given...

The Orioles are 3-18 in their last 21 road games and 27-64 on the road since the start of the 2009 season. The Orioles have scored more runs in Brian Matusz's three starts (19) than they have in the 10 combined starts of Jeremy Guthrie (seven runs in three starts), Kevin Millwood (eight runs in four starts) and David Hernandez (three runs in three starts). The Orioles enter the series with Boston with each of their three starters having a lower ERA than the Red Sox pitcher they are facing....

For the Orioles: Lou Montanez LF Adam Jones CF Nick Markakis RF Miguel Tejada 3B Ty Wigginton 2B Matt Wieters C Nolan Reimold DH Garrett Atkins 1B Cesar Izturis SS Jeremy Guthrie RHP For the Red Sox: Marco Scutaro SS JD Drew RF Dustin Pedroia 2B Kevin Youkilis 1B Victor Martinez C David Ortiz DH Adrian Beltre 3B Jeremy Hermida LF Josh Reddick CF Jon Lester LHP Guthrie has faced Matt Garza twice and Justin Duchscherer once in his first three starts, and he'll face Lester tonight and most...

Dave Trembley was just on the Scott Garceau show on MASN and O's flagship station, 105.7 the Fan in Baltimore and said that Miguel Tejada will return to the lineup tonight after missing four games with a hip injury. Tejada last played last Saturday at Oakland when he went 3 for 3. He is batting .239-2-7 on the year. He is 3 for 11 on the road trip. Lou Montanez batted leadoff Wednesday night at Seattle and went 2 for 4. Trembley said he would bat leadoff tonight at Fenway Park. The...

Coming off a series where they scored four total runs, hit .184 as a team and went 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position, the Orioles begin a series at Fenway Park in Boston tonight. Maybe in a park famous for offense the Orioles will find some. Some fans have said of the O's offense that they are just this bad and no one should be surprised. I don't buy that for a second. While no one, me included, expected huge numbers from the offense, it would just be nice to see some of the...

Most of Nick Markakis' at-bats this season have come in the third slot in the order, where he's hitting .260 (13-for-50) with three doubles, one triple, two RBIs and a .737 OPS. Markakis is 2-for-8 in the second slot, both hits being doubles. Looking at a larger sample size - his entire major league career - Markakis is batting .327 with a .955 OPS in 130 games as the No. 2 hitter, and .285 with an .812 OPS in 357 games as the No. 3 hitter. By the way, he's 5-for-9 with a home run as the...

Last night, Jordan Zimmermann made his Major League debut and Joel Hanrahan recorded his first save of the season in front of just a few dedicated fans. If you were watching on MASN or listening to the radio, you probably saw a few dozen people gathered near the two dugouts. You may have been thinking, "those people are crazy." And, well, we probably were. But there is perhaps nothing better than winning a game after a long rain delay. The crowds clear out and everyone moves in close...

The Nationals are offering a great opportunity for premium ticket holders to ask General Manager Mike Rizzo and the front office staff questions in a panel discussion for 30 minutes before Saturday home games. They are calling it the "Inside Pitch Live" Speaker Series. From the release: The Washington Nationals have launched "Inside Pitch Live," a new speaker series which will take place in the PNC Diamond Club before the start of all Saturday home games. Nationals General Manager Mike...

Now that the Orioles understand the team with the worst record after 16 games doesn't get the first pick in the NFL draft, they can proceed with their three-game series in Boston. Don't get too excited. Brian Matusz doesn't pitch until tomorrow. I'm trying to figure out ways the Orioles can support manager Dave Trembley and find a solution "player personnel-wise" to their assortment of issues. The offense is spinning its tires in the mud. Who can give it a push? Focusing within the...