Looking ahead to today's game and leftover notes from last night

BOSTON - The Orioles lost last night to a 35-year-old journeyman left-hander who was pitching for the independent Long Island Ducks earlier this summer. Later today, they're going to face a 35-year-old journeyman left-hander who's making his first major league start.

Rich Hill shut them out on two hits. Craig Breslow might only make it through the order once due to a strict pitch count.

This is September baseball?

The Red Sox are pitching a bullpen game today, with Breslow in a new role after 522 relief appearances spread over 10 seasons. Breslow made three starts in the minors among his 222 games, the last with Pawtucket in 2014.

Breslow reportedly will be limited to around 40 pitches before interim manager Torey Lovullo begins the parade of relievers.

Breslow is 0-3 with a 4.53 ERA and 1.491 WHIP in 43 games this season after going 2-4 with a 5.96 ERA and 1.859 WHIP in 60 games last season. So what happened to the Breslow who went 5-2 with a 1.81 ERA and 1.123 WHIP in 61 appearances in 2013?

The Orioles had interest in Breslow last year at the Winter Meetings before he re-signed with the Red Sox at $2 million for the 2015 season.

Manny Machado hit a solo home run off Breslow on Sept. 15 at Camden Yards. The left-hander allowed one run and struck out three in 2 1/3 innings. He's faced the Orioles in five games this season and allowed two earned runs (three total) and seven hits in 8 2/3 innings, with one walk and eight strikeouts.

Breslow is 1-0 with a 2.01 ERA in 38 career appearances against the Orioles, with three home runs allowed in 44 2/3 innings. The current group is 16-for-85 (.188) against him.

Adam Jones, who's missed the last four games with back spasms, is 4-for-13 against Breslow. Ryan Flaherty is 3-for-6 with a double, Steve Pearce is 2-for-5 with a double, Caleb Joseph is 1-for-3 with a home run, J.J. Hardy is 0-for-9 and Chris Davis is 1-for-16 with six strikeouts.

Left-handers are batting .300 versus Breslow and right-handers are batting .286.

Davis has 199 strikeouts, matching his club record from 2013. He's tied with Nelson Cruz for the major league lead in home runs with 43, but No. 44 wound up in Mookie Betts' glove to end last night's game.

Davis has been robbed of at least five home runs this season.

Wei-Yin Chen is down to his last two starts of the season and quite possibly his last two as an Oriole. He's 10-7 with a 3.36 ERA in 29 outings.

(I still think the chances of re-signing Chen are slim and none, and as my father says, slim left town. But Chen is going to receive a qualifying offer.)

In his last two starts, Chen has allowed three runs and 12 hits over 14 innings with no walks and nine strikeouts. He's walked two and struck out 22 over his last five starts.

Chen is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in three starts against the Red Sox this season. He's allowed nine runs, but only four earned, in 17 1/3 innings.

The five unearned runs scored in Chen's only start this season at Fenway Park on April 20. He allowed three hits and walked five batters in 4 1/3 innings. Chen, Machado and Ryan Lavarnway committed errors.

The lineup included Lavarnway behind the plate, Alejandro De Aza in left field, Travis Snider in right and Everth Cabrera at shortstop. Flaherty started at second base with Jonathan Schoop on the disabled list. Jimmy Paredes batted second as the designated hitter.

In his career, Chen is 6-4 with a 3.78 ERA in 14 starts against the Red Sox and 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA in eight starts at Fenway Park. Dustin Pedroia is 17-for-35 with six doubles and a triple, David Ortiz is 8-for-26 with a double and home run, Ryan Hanigan is 2-for-13 with a home run and Mookie Betts is 1-for-12.

The Orioles fell to 24-28 last night in series openers, snapping a four-game winning streak. They hadn't been shut out at Fenway Park since June 7, 2012.

Orioles starters haven't completed the sixth inning in any of their eight starts in Boston this season, but they're 4-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 39 innings.

Kevin Gausman set a career high last night with his 89th strikeout in the second inning. However, he's received seven runs of support in his last six starts and 11 runs in his last nine.

Nolan Reimold made his third career start in center field last night. He's 4-for-11 when playing the position.

Reimold has hit safely in 12 of his 13 starts this month, batting .297 (14-for-47) with a .400 on-base percentage.

The Indians passed the Orioles for the second wild card spot. Three teams are ahead of the Orioles, who trail the Astros by 3 1/2 games.