Skip to main content

Orioles-Red Sox Preview

  • Author:
  • Publish date:

BOSTON -- Rick Porcello's 20 victories this season are impressive in their own right, but his performance at Fenway Park has proven to be the backbone of his success.

Still unbeaten at home, Porcello looks to improve to 14-0 at Fenway as the Boston Red Sox host the Baltimore Orioles in the finale of a three-game set Wednesday.

Baltimore (79-65) picked up a game in the American League East standings after bouncing back from Monday's 12-2 rout with a 6-3 victory.

The Orioles are tied for second with the Toronto Blue Jays, who lost at home to the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, and are two games back of division-leading Boston (81-63).

"We get a chance to win another series on the road, which is something we knew we were going to have to do," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said.

"We've got a 20-game winner going again tomorrow and we've got (Kevin Gausman), so we'll see what happens."

Porcello (20-3, 3.21 ERA) is without a loss in his 14 starts at Fenway this year, posting a 3.03 ERA and 77 strikeouts over 92 innings at the ballpark.

Porcello notched win No. 20 on Friday in Toronto, holding the Blue Jays to two runs on six hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over seven innings.

"It's definitely a huge honor," Porcello said of his milestone victory. "It's hard to win one game in the big leagues, let alone 20, so I'm definitely very proud."

The right-hander has lasted seven or more innings and allowed three or fewer earned runs in nine consecutive starts, the longest streak in the majors this season.

Porcello's impressive streak is the longest by a Red Sox pitcher since Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez's 11-game run in 2000.

"Just a model of consistency," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "He keeps rolling along and we play with a lot of confidence (behind him)."

As dominant as Porcello has been in 2016, his lifetime numbers against Baltimore aren't pretty. He is 3-7 with a 5.61 ERA in 13 career starts against the Orioles.

Last time out against the O's, Porcello allowed five runs on six hits with three strikeouts in six innings and did not factor into the decision.

Chris Davis is batting .276 (8-for-29) with three home runs and seven RBIs off Porcello. Adam Jones has hit .270 (10-for-37) with two homers and eight RBIs, but Porcello has 11 strikeouts against him.

Baltimore hands the ball to Gausman (7-10, 3.61 ERA), who had a four-start winning streak and scoreless stretch of 20 2/3 innings snapped in a no-decision Friday in Detroit.

He gave up three runs in six innings against the Tigers.

Gausman boasts a 1.08 ERA in four starts since Aug. 23.

Against the Red Sox, the right-hander is 2-3 with a 4.74 ERA in 12 career games (seven starts). He has gone 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA in seven outings (three starts) at Fenway.

Gausman has faced the Red Sox twice this season, most recently June 11 when he was shelled for six runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts in just three innings in a 6-4 loss in Boston.

David Ortiz is swinging at a .444 clip (8-for-18) against Gausman with three doubles, two homers and five RBIs. Mookie Betts is batting .357 (5-for-14) with two homers and four RBIs off Gausman.