Aquino's first start, more on Machado's slide

The Orioles need to find out exactly what they have with Jayson Aquino. Is the left-hander a future rotation piece or better suited for long relief? Can he pitch in the majors in any capacity?

They'll learn tonight how he fares against the Red Sox in his first major league start.

So much for easing him into the competition.

The Red Sox are the popular choice to win the division. They were third in the American League and ninth in the majors with a .252 average against left-handers heading into last night. They were first in the league and second in the majors with a .282 average against everyone.

Center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. came off the disabled list yesterday after being out since April 9 with a sprained right knee. Nice timing for Aquino.

Left-handers hit .341 against Aquino last season at Double-A Bowie and .154 at Triple-A Norfolk in a much smaller sample size.

Aquino made three relief appearances for the Orioles in 2016 and allowed one hit in 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He was a late addition to the expanded September roster after making his major league debut on July 4 at Dodger Stadium, and was placed firmly on the 40-man roster bubble. Don't squirm or it might pop.

He showed up in spring training with a breaking ball that opened some eyes. So did his approach and his body language. He just looked like a different pitcher, much to manager Buck Showalter's delight.

Speaking of small sample sizes, left-handers were 1-for-6 with two strikeouts against Aquino in his three major league games.

Aquino actually faced the Red Sox twice in September, striking out two batters in a scoreless inning at Fenway Park and allowing one hit and striking out one in two-thirds of an inning at Camden Yards.

Bradley singled in his only at-bat against Aquino and Andrew Benintendi, Mookie Betts and Brock Holt are 0-for-1, the only current Red Sox to face him. Aquino struck out Travis Shaw and Aaron Hill in the Sept. 12 game in Boston and struck out Holt on Sept. 19.

Knuckleballer Steven Wright will take another crack at the Orioles after they slapped him around in an April 12 game at Fenway Park. Eight runs and eight hits in 1 1/3 innings. Four home runs and one hit batter. Lots of booing, and not all of it coming from his dugout.

Wright has made three starts this season and is 1-1 with an 8.36 ERA in 14 innings, with 13 earned runs (15 total) and 24 hits allowed. Right-handers are hitting .390 against him, which sounds bad until you consider that left-handers are hitting .421.

I'd stack the lineup with anyone who has a pulse.

Wright is 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA in five career games (three starts) against the Orioles and 1-0 with a 1.84 ERA in three games (one start) at Camden Yards. Trey Mancini, Jonathan Schoop, Adam Jones and Chris Davis homered off him earlier this month - within the first two innings.

Manny Machado had his first multi-hit game of the season last night. He also lined to center field, taking the cover off the ball but also taking the out. Maybe the slump is loosening its grip.

Do the Red Sox retaliate tonight after Machado's slide - deemed late by the visitors - forced Dustin Pedroia out of the game?

There's absolutely no way that Machado was trying to cause an injury. Let's take the emotion out of it when dissecting the play. It was a sloppy slide, with his foot popping up off the bag.

Would Red Sox fans have the same reaction if Ryan Flaherty or Caleb Joseph slid into Pedroia? Machado has a reputation now and he's not getting the benefit of the doubt.

Should the Red Sox choose to hit Machado, they may want to scratch Wright because he can't break skin.

Seriously, let's hope cooler heads prevail and the focus stays on baseball. Machado reached out to Pedroia via text message after expressing his concern on the field. Lose the drama.

"Me and Pedey go back," Machado said. "I would never want to hurt a guy like that."

You really want to get the Red Sox mad? Give Pedroia the flu.

Shameless plug alert: I'm on "Wall to Wall Baseball" from noon-2 p.m. on MASN.