O's game blog: The Boston series begins at Fenway Park

The Orioles (5-4) road trip continues this afternoon as they play the first of a three-game series against the Red Sox (7-3) at Fenway Park. The Orioles return home Friday night. 

Baltimore lost via walk-off losses in their last two games at Pittsburgh and they lost their first series of the year. They begin play today in third in the American League East and are three games back of division-leading New York and 1.5 games back of second-place Boston. 

Boston is playing its home opener after beginning the year with a West Coast road trip. The Red Sox went 2-2 at Seattle, 3-0 at Oakland and 2-1 in Anaheim versus the Los Angeles Angels. Boston begins a nine-game homestand today.

Boston began the year 1-2 and is 6-1 since then. And they are 2-0-1 in series. The last time they won or split each of their first three series was in 2018, when they started 3-0-0. The last times the Red Sox won as many as seven of their first 10 games were 2021 (7-3), 2018 (9-1), 2015 (7-3), and 2006 (7-3).

The Red Sox have gotten off to an incredible pitching start, leading the majors with a 1.49 ERA. The Orioles are fifth at 2.85. Boston and Baltimore rank 1-2 in MLB in WHIP with Boston at 0.96 and the Orioles at 1.02. Boston’s .186 batting average against leads the majors while the Orioles are fifth at .214.

Boston also ranks first in rotation ERA at 1.53 and the Orioles are ninth at 3.25. The Red Sox bullpen ERA of 1.53 is third with the Orioles sixth at 2.15.

Today is Boston's home opener and it's the latest home opener in the majors this year. The Red Sox are 72-51 (.585) all-time in their home opener, including 63-49 (.563) at Fenway Park. They’re 13-6 in their last 19 home openers since 2005, despite losing each of the last three. They have opened their home season 14 times versus the Orioles, going 7-7. 

The Orioles went 7-6 against Boston last year and won the season series against all four AL East teams for the first time since 2014. Baltimore went 32-20 (.615) against the AL East for the season, which is the second-best winning percentage against the division by the O's since 1981 behind the .618 (47-29) mark in 2014.

Orioles ace Corbin Burnes (1-0, 2.31 ERA) will make his third start today. In the first two, the right-hander has thrown 11 2/3 innings allowing 10 hits with no walks and 14 strikeouts. He has a 0.857 WHIP and averages 15.6 pitches per inning.

Burnes had a strong finish to his 2023 season and that has carried over this season. In his last 16 starts dating to July 14, he is 4-3 with a 2.66 ERA and nine quality starts. In that span, he has allowed a .192 average and .554 OPS with a 0.97 WHIP and 10.3 K rate.

In five career starts against AL East teams, he is 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA and .399 OPS against. He went five innings, allowing three runs (2 ER) on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in his lone start against the Sox on April 23, 2023.

Righty Brayan Bello (1-0, 5.40 ERA) starts today for the Red Sox. He has thrown 10 innings on the year allowing 10 hits with one walk to eight strikeouts. Bello, 24, is 15-19 in 43 career games with an ERA of 4.41. In two career games versus Baltimore, he is 1-1 with a 5.23 ERA.

The Orioles hitters came alive at Fenway last season, scoring 10 or more runs in three of the six games. They averaged 8.33 runs per game in 2023 at Fenway Park, batting .326 with a team OPS of 1.009 and hit 14 homers in six games. The Orioles have scored 10 or more runs six times on the road against the Red Sox since 2022, the most by a road team against any opponent in that span.