Through two of the four games in the series between the Baltimore Orioles and the host Boston Red Sox, the scoring swings already have been off the charts.
It’s difficult to know what might come Wednesday night when the teams meet again in Boston.
Baltimore won 14-8 on Monday. Boston led 13-8 through four innings on Tuesday on the way to a 13-9 victory.
The Orioles might be inclined to summon more pitching after miserable mound outings in three of the past four games.
“That’s something we’ll be talking about,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “We have some taxi squad guys here.”
Given that the Orioles had a three-game stretch last week when they needed the bullpen to record just one out — two complete games and another 8 2/3-inning stint from a starter — it’s a bit perplexing that pitching has fallen into such a bind in such fast fashion.
Boston has won just three of its past 10 games. In two of those victories, the Red Sox posted 13 runs.
Some of the power surge for the Red Sox has come from Triston Casas, a rookie first baseman who has five home runs through his first 20 games.
“He controls the strike zone,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “He’s not letting the strike zone control him. The numbers will get there. We like the approach. We like the process.”
The Orioles could say the same thing about outfielder Anthony Santander, who has homered six times across his past four games. He finished 3-for-5 with two homers, three runs and three RBIs on Tuesday.
Baltimore also received a boost from Ramon Urias, whose 3-for-3 effort included a home run. He missed the previous two games because of neck and shoulder spasms. Terrin Vavra might be available on Wednesday as he comes back from a hamstring ailment, Hyde said.
The Orioles will hope that right-hander Dean Kremer (8-5, 3.07 ERA) can restore some order. After all, he is coming off a four-hit shutout of the Houston Astros on Friday.
“This may not happen again in my career,” Kremer said following his first career complete game and shutout. “For me, the most important thing is rhythm and tempo.”
Since Kremer’s gem, the Orioles have allowed 38 runs across four games.
Kremer has faced Boston four times in his career, all starts, going 0-3 with a 7.23 ERA. He has opposed the Red Sox twice this year, posting an 0-1 record with a 4.09 ERA.
Left-hander Rich Hill (7-7, 4.65 ERA) gets the nod for the Red Sox. He blanked the Orioles across five innings on Sept. 11 for his only victory across five starts this month.
He also was hammered for six runs in four innings in a May 30 home loss to the Orioles, though that came about a month after he threw four shutout innings at Baltimore.
Hill, 42, is 16 years older than Kremer. Hill, a member of the 2009 Orioles, is 4-1 with a 2.80 ERA in 18 all-time appearances, including eight starts, against Baltimore.
This will be the second-to-last meeting of the season between the teams. Baltimore leads the season series 9-8.
–Field Level Media
