Bosox Board

The lefty opens a four-game series against the Orioles on a roll and
ready to pitch at a venue where he usually dominates.  Lifetime at
Camden yards, Rodriguez is 3-1 with a 1.34 ERA in six starts.

Miley is coming off his sixth outing of fewer than six innings.
Despite having one of the best outings of the year against Toronto,
the lefty gave up four runs on eight hits through five innings against
Houston last weekend.

Red Sox-Orioles, which has turned into a heated rivalry this season, resumes on Thursday night when the American League East foes open a four-game series at Camden Yards.

It will be the fourth series between the clubs already this season, and the Birds have taken five of the first nine games.

Eduardo Rodriguez, once a top Orioles prospect, draws the assignment in the opener for the Red Sox. He has thrived at Camden Yards, going 3-1 with a 1.34 ERA in six starts. The lefty has been on fire of late, and he will try to notch his eighth consecutive quality start.

"It's just a matter of his abilities coming together," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "This has always been an extremely talented young guy. We've talked about his maturity. We've talked about his progression. It's been on display here for a good number of starts consecutively. He's in a very good place. It's good to see him put it together."
Lefty Wade Miley, who pitched for the Red Sox in 2015, takes the ball for Baltimore.

Though Miley has done a nice job minimizing the damage this season, the Orioles would like to see him go deeper into games. He's gone fewer than six innings in five of his last six starts, including a five-inning performance in a 5-2 loss to the Astros his last time out.

The previous Red Sox-Orioles meetings this season have included subplots galore.

O's manager Buck Showalter called the Red Sox out on April 11 for making too much of a flu that had spread around the team. Manny Machado slid into Dustin Pedroia's surgically repaired left knee on April 21, forcing the second baseman out of the lineup for a few days. Two days later, Matt Barnes threw at Machado and was suspended.

When the teams met at Fenway from May 1-4, Dylan Bundy hit Mookie Betts on the left leg with a fastball and Chris Sale threw a pitch behind Machado, prompting the star third baseman to go on a verbal tirade directed at the lefty in his postgame interview.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred had a conference call with both teams during that last series, and he essentially told them to cool it.

The hope of both teams is that baseball will be the focal point for this go-around.

The Red Sox and Orioles are currently trying to catch the Yankees in the American League East.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS GAME

• With the left-handed Miley pitching the opener, the Red Sox will have Sam Travis in the lineup at first base. Outfielder Chris Young will also start in place of either Andrew Benintendi or Jackie Bradley Jr. Pablo Sandoval, who is starting against righties only for now, will be on the bench.

• Whenever Betts plays at Camden Yards, the fans sitting in the outfield stands should be ready. The outfielder has 10 homers in 92 at-bats in Baltimore.

• Miley has a 3.02 ERA across 10 starts this season despite walking more batters (31 in 53 innings) than any other AL starter. He has struggled to hit the strike zone with much frequency -- only 38.9 percent of his pitches have been within the zone, the lowest rate in the Majors among starters.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170531233577250/red-sox-os-renew-rivalry-in-baltimore/?game_pk=490905