O's game blog: O's battle Chris Sale (Sale and Sox win 5-2)

Is the reverse lock in effect tonight? Little-known right-hander Alec Asher (1-0, 2.16 ERA) makes the second start of his Orioles career against left-hander Chris Sale (1-2, 1.19 ERA), a five-time All-Star who currently ranks first in the American League in strikeouts and second in ERA and WHIP.

Let's just the say the Orioles are the underdog.

The Orioles acquired Asher near the end of spring training in a March 28 trade with Philadelphia for a player to be named or cash considerations. He reported to Triple-A Norfolk and made one start with the Tides before he was called up to start April 15 in Toronto. It went well - he allowed three hits and one run over 6 1/3 innings at Rogers Centre.

It also went well last September when Asher made five starts for the Phillies, going 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA. So, over his last six MLB starts, he is 2-1 with a 2.12 ERA, allowing just 25 hits over 34 innings with a strong strikeout-to-walks ratio of 18 to 5.

In his only career start at Fenway Park, Asher gave up seven runs over 3 2/3 innings on Sept. 5, 2015. Lefty batters are hitless (0-for-14) so far this season versus Asher, who has made two one-inning relief outings for the Orioles in addition to that start in Toronto.

In facing Sale tonight, the Orioles oppose a left-hander that has made five starts in 2017. In each one, he has pitched seven innings or more, allowing two earned runs or less.

Sale has struck out 10 or more in each of his last four starts, with 45 strikeouts in 30 innings in that span. The only other Red Sox to ever record 10 or more strikeouts in four consecutive starts are Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens and Jon Lester. Martinez is the only Red Sox pitcher ever with 10 or more strikeouts in five straight starts. Sale trails only Minnesota's Ervin Santana for the lowest opponent slugging (.215) and opponent OPS (.433) in the majors. He trails only Santana and Pittsburgh's Ivan Nova for the lowest opponent OBP (.217) in the major leagues.

Is this stat encouraging for the Orioles and their fans tonight? Over 34 1/3 career innings versus the Orioles, Sale's WHIP is 1.602 and that is his highest against any AL opponent. In 11 career games, Sale is 2-2 with a 3.41 ERA.

So, yes, I'm saying they have a chance.

AL East records in division games:
.667 - Orioles (14-7)
.600 - Yankees (9-6)
.467 - Red Sox (7-8)
.400 - Rays (8-12)
.353 - Blue Jays (6-11)

The Orioles are 2-1 this season at Fenway Park. They won all three series there in 2016, going 6-3. Since the 2012 season, the Orioles are 31-19 (.620) at Fenway.

Over his last five games, Manny Machado is 7-for-20 (.350) with two doubles, two homers, seven runs and five RBIs. Jonathan Schoop is batting .346 (9-for-26) during a seven-game hitting streak with two doubles, a homer and six RBIs.

The Orioles (16-8) begin this game leading New York by one game and Boston by 3 1/2 games atop the AL East. They are 4-2 versus the Red Sox and 8-5 on the road. Boston (13-12) is 9-6 at home. The Red Sox are 4-7 over their past 11 games.

Salcedo's big day: In a game that began at 11 a.m. today, Double-A Bowie beat Erie 6-5. Batting eighth, Baysox shortstop Erick Salcedo went 4-for-5 with a three-run homer and drove in all six Baysox runs. Not only that, his walk-off single in the 10th gave Bowie the win.

It was a career-high RBI day for the 23-year-old Salcedo, who raised his batting average from .277 to .314 and his OPS from .720 to .824. This marks the first six-RBI game by a Baysox player since Quincy Lattimore plated six on Sept. 11, 2015 versus Altoona in the Eastern League playoffs.

Lefty Tanner Scott made another three-inning start and did not allow a run or hit. He walked four, fanned four and lowered his ERA to 1.80. Ryan Meisinger got the win with two innings of scoreless relief. The Baysox are 13-11.

We told you here yesterday that Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Mike Yastrzemski would be activated today. He was activated by the Tides, who have a host of roster moves to announce to include two players released:

* Pitcher Chris Tillman added on major league rehab assignment.
* Yastrzemski added from DL.
* Pitcher Jayson Aquino activated after being optioned from Baltimore.
* Pitcher Vidal Nuño activated after being optioned from Baltimore.
* Pitcher Logan Verrett activated after being optioned from Baltimore.
* Catcher Daniel Fajardo transferred to Norfolk from Single-A Delmarva.
* Catcher Francisco Peña has contract selected by Baltimore.
* Pitcher Zach Stewart released.
* Outfielder Michael Choice released.
* Pitcher Damien Magnifico designated for assignment.

Final comment: The Orioles and Boston Red Sox clearly have a fierce and intense on-field rivalry. But today I greatly admire the Red Sox management for their handling of what happened involving Adam Jones last night.

Today on MLB Network, Jim Thome, a former teammate of Jones on the Orioles, said of Jones: "He stands for everything that is good about the game."

O's fall to Sox and Sale: Asher pitched pretty well for the Orioles tonight in his second career start with the team. But his mound opponent was Sale. While the Orioles did some damage against the ace lefty it was not quite enough as Boston beat the Orioles 5-2 to even this four-game series at a win each.

Just moments after some Boston fans gave Jones a standing ovation when he came to bat in the first, there was more controversy between these teams. Sale threw a pitch about knee high and behind Machado. He didn't hit him, but both clubs received a warning at that point. No one else was hit during the rest of the game.

Sale went eight innings allowing three hits and two runs with two walks and 11 strikeouts. He is 2-2 with an ERA of 1.38. Tonight he joined Pedro Martinez as the only Red Sox pitchers to strike out 10 or more in five consecutive starts.

Asher took the loss. Over six innings and 101 pitches, he gave up six hits and three runs. He is 1-1 with an ERA of 3.14. Hanley Ramirez hit a pair of solo homers off him for his 22^nd career multi-homer game.

The O's scored on Trey Mancini's double in the fifth and Machado's long solo homer in the seventh. That blast, his second in two games, was hammered at 110 mph and went 433 feet. It was No. 6 for Machado.

The Orioles are 16-9 for the season, 14-8 versus the AL East, 4-3 against the Red Sox and 8-6 in road games. Boston had lost seven of 11 before getting this win.

Machado talked about how he "lost mad respect" for the Red Sox after Game 2. #IBackTheBirds pic.twitter.com/NsnIkBg3qc

-- Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) May 3, 2017