After dropping series opener, can Orioles bounce back tonight against Boston?

The Boston Red Sox lost at Toronto 7-5 on Friday night. Saturday they blew a four-run lead in the eighth inning and lost in walk-off fashion. Sunday, with a chance to be swept, they pulled out a 5-3 win and yesterday they came to Camden Yards and looked impressive in beating the Orioles 7-2.

These are no longer the last-place Red Sox.

Some of their young players have blossomed into potential All-Stars and they now have the best offense in the sport right now. The Orioles will have to elevate their game to beat them. This four-game showdown for the American League East lead could set the tone for the rest of the season.

Will the clubs split four games and chase each other all year? Will one team win three of four or all four games and prove to be the top dog as we reach about the one-third point of this season? The division won't be won or lost during this series in Baltimore but a tone could be set.

The Red Sox have gotten back on track after Saturday's disheartening loss. It seemed like the Orioles were back on track after Sunday's big win at Cleveland. But they ran into Steven Wright and couldn't run into his knuckleballs. They had three straight hits off Wright in the fifth inning yesterday. But beyond those hits they went 1-for-26. Maybe it is best for them to just flush that game and try their hands (and bats) against more conventional-style pitchers the next three days. But they are going to see Wright again later this season and will have to figure out some way to beat him.

This season may not play out with Baltimore and Boston alone battling for first place, but it has been that way pretty much so far. Since April 6 no other teams than the Orioles and Red Sox have led the AL East. The Orioles have been in first place 33 days, Boston 11 days and for 11 days they were tied for first.

The Orioles have won the season series against Boston every year since 2012. But they are tied 2-2 in 2016 and it's pretty clear the Orioles may have their hands full with this team that has scored 302 runs in 51 games to average 5.92 runs per game.

Boston began this series leading the majors in runs, hits, average, slugging, OPS and doubles. They also had stolen 35-of-38 bases for a major league best 92.1 percent success rate. That was before Caleb Joseph threw out Xander Bogaerts trying to steal in the seventh. But Bogaerts did go 2-for-4 in the game with two doubles and two RBIs. He's batting .354 and owns a 23-game hitting streak. He has hit safely in 35 of his last 37 games, batting .405 in that stretch. Players like Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts have started to live up to their potential for Boston.

Speaking of top young talent, at the end of the 2013 season the Orioles No. 2 ranked prospect was pitcher Kevin Gausman. Their No. 3 ranked prospect was pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez. Tonight they pitch against each other at Camden Yards. On July 31, 2014 the Orioles traded Rodriguez to the Red Sox to get reliever Andrew Miller. Miller helped the Orioles win the AL East that year, but after that season left via free agency and signed with the Yankees.

Rodriguez faced the Orioles three times last year going 0-2 with an ERA of 4.20. But he pitched well in two of the three starts and gave up six runs in 3 2/3 innings in the other. He will be making his big league season debut tonight after missing time with a right knee injury. Pitching in Triple-A to get ready to return to the Boston rotation, Rodriguez went 0-3 with a 3.54 ERA. He gave up one run over seven innings in his last Triple-A start.

The Orioles signed Rodriguez as a 17-year-old for $175,000 out of Valencia, Venezuela in January of 2010. He became a top 100 prospect on their watch and he pitched everywhere in the O's system from the Dominican Summer League to the Gulf Coast League on through short season Single-A Aberdeen, Single-A Delmarva, Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie. But he made it to the show with Boston and the Red Sox seemed convinced he will be a key part of their rotation for many years to come. Tonight two pitchers who were once highly-touted O's prospects will both pitch at Camden Yards but just one for the Orioles.

The Orioles were out-homered 3-0 by Boston on Monday and O's pitchers have allowed 13 home runs over their past six games. Orioles hurlers began the year allowing just 23 homers in the season's first 35 games.

You get the feeling this is an important time for the Orioles. They have lost six of eight games. They struck out 51 times in three games at Houston. Ubaldo Jimenez is struggling. They continue to play without shortstop J.J. Hardy. The Red Sox have overtaken them for the division lead by two games and will try to pull away further during the rest of this series.

With all that going on, will the Orioles be up to the challenge the next three nights against Boston?