Game 59 Preview: Red Sox at Orioles



The Red Sox haven't been able to sustain any momentum this season, but June has started to show a glimmer of hope that this team is beginning to turn it around. After sweeping the A's this past weekend, the Sox are now 5-2 this month and have the potential to start making some moves in the weak AL East. Tonight the Sox will have rookie phenom Eduardo Rodriguez (2-0 0.61) who's looking to become just the 9th pitcher for the Sox in the last 100 years to win their first 3 career starts. He's up against the O's Miguel Gonzalez (5-4 3.54) who in his last 14 2/3 innings pitched he's given up 4 solo shots but has struck out 14, so he's escaped some of the bigger innings by limiting opponents batting averages to just .140.

Hanley Ramirez, who will be starting in Left Field tonight has only 6 plate appearances against Gonzalez but has 2 homers and 4 RBIs. Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Mike Napoli have all faced Gonzalez in more than 10 plate appearances but none of the group has a batting average against the right hander over .235. Another thing to watch tonight is the battery between Rodriguez and Blake Swihart, who have worked together in the minors before and appeared very comfortable with each other in Rodriguez's first start.

Here is tonight's Red Sox lineup:

Pedroia (2B)
Holt (RF)
Ramirez (LF)
Ortiz (DH)
Napoli (1B)
Sandoval (3B)
Bogaerts (SS)
Betts (CF)
Swihart (C)

Quick Hits:

- Miguel Gonzalez has had quite a bit of success against the Sox over his career, he's 5-1 with a 3.17 ERA in 10 appearances
- O's Closer Zach Britton has converted his last 10 save opportunities and has a 1.96 ERA on the season
- In Dustin Pedroia's last 28 games, he's hit .355 with 3 homers and 8 RBIs
- Eduardo Rodriguez has only given up 5 hits in his first two career big league starts, over 14 2/3 innings

Have a question for Mike during the game or whenever a baseball discussion is going on, reach out via Twitter: @86flynn