O's Game Blog: New Lineup for Game 2 in Boston

The Orioles (82-63) are already 1 1/2 games behind in the American League East and play the second game of a three-game series in Boston tonight. It is also the second game of a six-game road trip that later leads to Detroit.

The Orioles have lost four of five games and are 8-10 in their last 18 games. They are 24-25 since the All-Star break and 29-32 since July 1.

The Orioles have not lost any of their first eight AL East series this year, going 6-0-2 in those series and 19-7 in those games. Now entering this series, they are 2-3-1 in their last six series and are 10-11 in their last 21 division games.

Baltimore's offense has scored one, two, one, zero and three runs in the last five games, and their seven runs in that span are last in the major leagues. They have 28 hits in those games for a .178 batting average and .539 OPS. They have hit 3 of 31 runners in scoring position in that stretch.

The Orioles are 7-4 against the Red Sox and Baltimore has won the season series for the second year in a row after going 7-6 in 2023. This is the first time the O's have won the season series with the Sox in back-to-back years since they did it four times in a row from 2012-15. Another win would guarantee a winning percentage of at least .600 against the Red Sox for the 15th time in team history and the first time since 2012 (.722, 13-5). The Birds won a three-game series in Boston on April 9-11, the 14th road series of at least three games against the Red Sox in Orioles history and the first since April 2-4, 2021 (three games).

Right-hander Albert Suárez (7-5, 3.49 ERA) will make his 29th appearance and 21st start tonight. In his last start last Wednesday against the White Sox, he allowed six runs on eight hits in 4 1/3, which is a season-best.

In the five starts prior to this game, he was 2-0 with a 1.19 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP.

In six AL East starts this year, Suárez is 1-1 with a 1.72 ERA. In those 31 1/3 innings, he has a .600 OPS against him. In his last three AL East games, all of which came during that strong five-start stretch, he has allowed no runs in 17 2/3 combined innings against Toronto, Tampa Bay and Boston.

Right-hander Kutter Crawford (8-13, 4.08 ERA) will make his 30th start of the year. He is second in the AL in starts and ranks 16th with 161 innings.

The Red Sox are just 9-20 in his starts, losing the last four in a row. In nine starts since July 21, his ERA is 6.70 and he has allowed 15 home runs in 47 innings.

In three games against the Orioles this season, Crawford has a record of 0-2 and an ERA of 4.41.

Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson was named AL Player of the Week yesterday, the second award of his career, which he received on June 11, 2023. He batted .417/.464/.833 (10-for-24) with a double, three home runs, six runs scored, five RBIs, three walks and two stolen bases in six games, and was among the AL's leaders in slugging percentage (first), home runs (tied for first), total bases (tied for first, 20), OPS (second, 1.297), batting average (tied for second) and hits (tied for second) during that time.

Coach Brandon Hyde is just three wins away from his 400th career victory, all with Baltimore. Four previous coaches have won 400 games as Orioles coach: Earl Weaver (1,480), Buck Showalter (669), Paul Richards (517) and Hank Bauer (407).