Avery and Hoes struggling right now at Triple-A

The Orioles have two young outfielders struggling a bit right now at the plate at Triple-A Norfolk. It is not any cause for alarm, as they are both playing at that level for the first time. One is Xavier Avery. He is not struggling that badly, but in 11 games since he was optioned back to Triple-A on May 29, Avery is batting .220, 9-for-41, with just one extra-base hit, a double. It has dropped his average for the year from .266, where it was when he went to Baltimore, to .260. Meanwhile, L.J. Hoes recently moved to Triple-A for the first time. After going 0-for-6 this afternoon, Hoes is batting .143 with no homers and three RBIs in nine Tides games. He went 3-for-6 in his first three games there, but is just 2-for-29 over his last six Norfolk games. Speaking of struggles, Brian Matusz had some, big time, in the first two innings tonight at Boston as the Red Sox take a 4-0 lead to the third inning. Matusz has walked five already, throwing 37 pitches in the first inning and 28 in the second. That is a staggering total of 65, with just 32 strikes to get six outs. Meanwhile, the stats don't always tell the story, but for the Orioles this year at Fenway Park, they pretty much do. In going 5-0 so far at Fenway, the Orioles are averaging 6.6 runs per game with a 2.64 ERA and batting average of .432 batting with runners in scoring position. In this series, the Orioles are 9-for-19 with RISP. During their seven-game win streak at Boston, the Orioles have outscored the Red Sox 46-28 and have out-homered them, 9 to 3.