Red Sox-Orioles Preview By SCOTT GARBARINI STATS Writer
Xander Bogaerts has often gone unnoticed in a Boston Red Sox lineup filled with heavy hitters and big-name stars, though that's beginning to change. With his 23-game hitting streak beginning to draw attention, the shortstop attempts to help the AL East-leading Red Sox further separate from the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night. Boston (31-20) moved two games ahead of the Orioles in the division with a 7-2 victory in Monday's opener of this four-game series, with Bogaerts driving in the first two runs and finishing 2 for 4 to increase his average to .354. He's hitting .402 with five homers and 17 RBIs during the streak. ''I'm just trying to go up there and get hits, you know? If it happens, it happens,'' he said. ''Just trying to be me, and not trying to be someone who I'm not.'' Bogaerts isn't the only hot hitter on a Red Sox team that leads the majors with a .295 average and 302 runs. David Ortiz homered in his third straight game Monday and Jackie Bradley Jr. snapped a 2-all tie with a solo shot in the sixth inning. Ortiz is 14 for 28 with four homers and 13 RBIs over a seven-game hit streak. Bradley, who had his 29-game streak halted Thursday, is hitting .403 with six homers and 22 RBIs over his last 21. Boston's dangerous lineup presents another challenge for the hard-luck Kevin Gausman (0-2, 3.24 ERA), victimized by insufficient run support in the majority of his seven starts. The Orioles have provided him with one run or less in four of those outings and he's been denied a win in two others when the bullpen blew late leads. Gausman wasn't at his best last time out, allowing four runs on three homers in five innings of Thursday's 4-2 loss at Houston. The right-hander will need to be careful against Ortiz, who's 6 for 13 with two homers when facing him and has seven homers in his last 10 games at Camden Yards. Bogaerts is 5 for 14 against the former first-round pick. Baltimore (28-21) hopes to get its bats going again after being held to four hits in Steven Wright's complete-game effort. The Orioles are hitting .225 over a 2-6 stretch. Baltimore next faces a former Orioles farmhand when Eduardo Rodriguez makes his season debut. The 23-year-old left-hander, sidelined by a dislocated right kneecap sustained during spring training, was deemed ready to return after yielding a run over seven innings in last Tuesday's rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket. Acquired from Baltimore for Andrew Miller in July 2014, Rodriguez went 10-6 with a 3.85 ERA in 21 starts as a rookie last season and was 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA over his last seven. He pitched well in two visits to Camden Yards, surrendering one run and recording 16 strikeouts over 11 1/3 innings. Rodriguez held Manny Machado, Adam Jones and Chris Davis to a combined 2 for 20 last season, though Matt Wieters was 2 for 5 with a home run and is batting .421 over a nine-game hitting streak. |