O's game blog: Jimenez against Lackey in Game 2 (O's win 7-4)

Coming off an outing in which he gave up just one unearned run over eight innings, right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (3-8, 4.31 ERA) will try to pitch the Orioles to a doubleheader split at Boston tonight. The Orioles were held to five hits in Game 1 and lost 3-2 on Jonathan Herrera's pinch-hit single in the last of the ninth. Jimenez has allowed two earned runs or less in five of his past seven starts, with an ERA of 3.38. Since he went 0-4 with a 6.59 ERA in April, Jimenez is 3-4 with an ERA of 3.41 in 12 starts since May 1. But Jimenez has poor career numbers against Boston. He is 0-1 with a 5.56 ERA in two starts this season and 1-3 with a lifetime 9.31 ERA in six starts against the Red Sox. John Lackey (9-5, 3.62 ERA) pitches for Boston. He is 1-1 with a 6.35 ERA in two 2014 starts against the Orioles. In 25 career starts versus Baltimore, Lackey is 14-6 with a 3.55 ERA. A few notes on the Orioles: * After scoring 33 runs their previous five games, the Orioles were held to two runs and five hits in Game 1. The Orioles didn't have one extra-base hit for the first time since June 10 when they lost a 1-0 game to Boston. * After going 12 straight games with at least one homer, the O's have now gone two in a row without one. They went 9-for-21 with runners in scoring position in the last two games of the Texas series, but went 0-for-5 this afternoon. * Nelson Cruz went 0-4 in the opener. Over his last nine games, Cruz is 4-for-34 (.118) but three of those four hits were homers. * Adam Jones singled in four at-bats earlier to extend his hitting streak to eight games. Jones is batting .481 (13-for-27) with two doubles, two homers and five RBIs during the streak. In 32 games since June 1, Jones is batting .352 with seven doubles, 10 homers and 24 RBIs. * Miguel Gonzalez tied a career high by pitching eight innings today. This was just the seventh time this year - but third in eight games - that an O's starter went eight or more. Chris Tillman, Jimenez and Gonzalez have all done it over the last eight games. In 31 career starts against the American League East, Gonzalez is 13-7 with an ERA of 3.58 and 19 quality starts. He now has a career ERA of 2.61 against Boston. * The Orioles allowed just two earned runs in Game 1 and have a team ERA of 2.03 the past five games. * The O's are 5-6 this season against the Red Sox. Since 2012, the Orioles are 29-19 against Boston and since 2011 they are 37-29. Under manager Buck Showalter, the Orioles are 40-32 versus the Red Sox. O's win: Despite a short outing by Jimenez, the Orioles went on to win the second game of the doubleheader by a final score of 7-4. Jimenez struggled with his control on the mound, allowing five hits, four runs (all earned) and six walks in 3 2/3 innings. He threw 80 pitches, 44 for strikes. However, the bullpen and the bats brought the Birds to victory. Nelson Cruz set a new career-high with five hits, going 5-for-5 with a two-run home run. Nick Hundley also homered, a two-run shot in the fourth that scored Manny Machado. The 'pen held the Red Sox to just one hit. Brad Brach - the game's winner - Tommy Hunter, Brian Matusz, Darren O'Day and Zach Britton combined to pitch 5 1/3 innings of scoreless ball. Britton earned his 13th save of the season. Tomorrow, Kevin Gausman (3-2, 3.86 ERA) and Jake Peavy (1-7, 4.82 ERA) will take the mound for the series finale.