The Boston Red Sox didn’t get everything they wanted while in New York to face the Yankees, but they still ought to be encouraged entering their next series.
That begins Monday night against the host Baltimore Orioles to start a four-game series.
“Three out of four, that’s the business we’re in,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Now we’ve got to turn the page to Baltimore.”
Boston won the first three games in New York before falling 7-2 in the series finale Sunday night.
Despite needing Sunday’s 3-2 victory against visiting Houston to snap a three-game losing streak, the Orioles have won seven of their last 11 games.
After giving up nearly nine runs per game in the first three contests of the series, it’s clear to Baltimore interim manager Tony Mansolino what needs to happen.
“We got to play clean,” he said.
Baltimore won both meetings last week in Boston and it also captured one of three encounters at home during the first week of the season. They split four games in May in Boston.
“They played well against us last week,” Cora said. “We’ve got four, that’s always tough, so just be ready for pitch 1 (on Monday).”
One impact of Baltimore’s ever-evolving roster is that a huge number of players have homered this year. The team tied the Orioles record with 22 different players going deep, with Jeremiah Jackson on Saturday and Luis Vazquez on Sunday joining the list of home run hitters.
“Look out on that field, and the eight position players on the field, it’s not the 2025 opening day Orioles by any means,” Mansolino said. “It’s probably more like the 2025 opening day Norfolk Tides in a lot of ways.”
Vazquez, an infielder, has fewer than 50 at-bats in the major leagues, so he’s still rounding into form.
“I think my power is natural,” Vazquez said.
The Orioles need a variety of offensive sources, particularly with infielder Jackson Holliday batting .167 in August. Holliday, who is batting .246 on the season, sat out Sunday.
“Has had a couple weeks that haven’t been to the standard that he set for himself, and I think (Sunday) just giving him a blow mentally, physically, is probably the right play,” Mansolino said.
The Red Sox are bound to have first baseman Nathaniel Lowe in their starting lineup after he provided a two-run pinch-hit single Sunday night. In six games with Boston since his departure from the Washington Nationals, the left-handed hitter is batting .438 (7 of 16) with seven RBIs. Lowe is on a five-game hitting streak.
Right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (10-5, 3.97 ERA) will aim for his fifth straight victory as Baltimore’s starting pitcher. He’s 4-0 with three no-decisions in his last seven outings. He has surrendered 21 home runs this year, but none across his past four starts.
Sugano held the Red Sox to one unearned run across five innings last week in Boston in a game the Orioles eventually won in 11 innings. That marked his first career matchup against the Red Sox.
Baltimore’s bullpen has been battered at times recently. So the Orioles were happy to see left-hander Keegan Akin look like a closer with his 1 2/3-inning effort Sunday for his third save.
“He looked like he turned it up a couple notches right there,” Mansolino said. “It’s a five-out save in a pretty big spot when he came in. So just a lot of intent behind every pitch.”
Boston is slated to open Monday’s game with left-hander reliever Brennan Bernardino (4-2, 3.93), who has one start in 49 appearances this season, then likely follow with rookie righty Richard Fitts as a bulk reliever. Bernardino, who has one save, has allowed 33 hits and 22 walks with 38 strikeouts in 46 innings.
He played on Sunday night, throwing 18 pitches (12 for strikes) and getting four outs (two strikeouts) in relief of starter Dustin May. Bernardino, who might pitch one inning on Monday, has held left-handed batters to a .186 average, and Baltimore is stronger from the left side of the plate.
Bernardino has a career record of 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA in 14 innings over 15 appearances (one start) against the Orioles.
–Field Level Media
