Gallardo vs. Rodriguez tonight at Camden Yards

The Orioles arrive at Camden Yards this afternoon a percentage point ahead of the Blue Jays for first place in the American League East and one game ahead of the third-place Red Sox, who are in town for a short series.

How will the division look after Wednesday night?

The Orioles have won six of 10 from the Red Sox this season, splitting a four-game series in Baltimore. They're 39-17 at home and the Red Sox are 27-25 on the road.

A hot team is stationed in the visiting clubhouse, with the Red Sox winning four in a row.

Can anyone cool off Mookie Betts, who's batting .345/.388/.682 with 11 doubles, eight home runs and 25 RBIs in 27 games since the All-Star break? He hit three home runs Sunday against the Diamondbacks.

Betts is 3-for-9 lifetime against Yovani Gallardo, who's completed six innings in four of his last five starts and has registered two quality starts in August while allowing three runs in 12 innings.

Gallardo is 2-2 with a 5.26 ERA and 1.675 WHIP in five career starts against the Red Sox covering 25 2/3 innings. He faced them on June 11 and allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings.

David Ortiz is 5-for-10 with a home run against Gallardo, Dustin Pedroia is 6-for-15 with a double and home run, Xander Bogaerts is 3-for-10 with a double and Aaron Hill is 3-for-21.

Former Orioles pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez is 2-5 with a 5.43 ERA in 12 starts this season. He's faced the Orioles twice this year, allowing two runs and six hits in six innings on May 31 and five runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings on June 16.

Rodriguez is 1-3 with a 4.97 ERA in five career starts against the Orioles and 1-1 with a 1.56 ERA in three starts at Camden Yards, with three runs allowed and 19 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings.

Chris Davis is 2-for-14 with six strikeouts against Rodriguez. Could he sit tonight while Steve Pearce plays first base? Pearce could serve as the designated hitter, with Davis remaining at first, Nolan Reimold playing left field and Mark Trumbo staying in right.

The latter is my prediction.

Davis strung together three straight two-hit games before going 0-for-7 with two walks and six strikeouts in the last two games in San Francisco. He struck out looking four times on Sunday.

Manny Machado is 4-for-13 with two doubles lifetime against Rodriguez. Adam Jones is 4-for-11 with a double and home run. Caleb Joseph is 2-for-2 with a double, but Matt Wieters probably will handle the catching tonight.