O's game blog: Looking to regroup in Game 2 at Boston

Now 1 1/2 games out in the American League East, the Orioles (82-63) play the second game of their three-game series in Boston tonight. It's also the second game of a six-game road trip that later moves on to Detroit.

The Orioles have lost four of five games and are 8-10 their past 18 games. They are 24-25 since the All-Star break and 29-32 since July 1.

The Orioles did not lose any of their first eight AL East series this year, going 6-0-2 in those series and 19-7 in those games. Now they are 2-3-1 their past six series, heading into this one and are 10-11 in their past 21 division games.

The Baltimore offense has scored one, two, one, zero and three runs during the past five games, and their seven runs in this span is last in the major leagues. They have 28 hits in those games for a .178 batting average and .539 OPS. They are 3-for-31 with runners in scoring position in this stretch.

The Orioles are 7-4 against the Red Sox and Baltimore has clinched the season series for a second straight year after going 7-6 in 2023. This marks the first time the O's have won the season series with the Sox in back-to-back years since doing so in four straight from 2012-15. One more win would guarantee a winning percentage of at least .600 against the Red Sox for the 15th time in team history and the first since 2012 (.722, 13-5). The Birds swept a three-game series in Boston from April 9-11, the 14th road series sweep of at least three games against the Red Sox by the Orioles club history and the first since April 2-4, 2021 (three games).

Right-hander Albert Suárez (7-5, 3.49 ERA) will make his 29th appearance and 21st start tonight. He allowed a season-high-tying six runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 in his last start last Wednesday against the White Sox.

In the five starts leading into that game, he went 2-0 with a 1.19 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. 

In six AL East starts on the year, Suárez is 1-1 with a 1.72 ERA. He has a .600 OPS against in those games over 31 1/3 innings. In his past three AL East games, all coming during that strong five-start stretch, he allowed no runs in 17 2/3 combined innings versus Toronto, Tampa Bay and Boston.

Righty Kutter Crawford (8-13, 4.08 ERA) will make his 30th start of the year. He is tied for second in the AL in starts and is 16th with 161 innings.

The Red Sox are just 9-20 in his starts, losing the last four in a row. In nine starts since July 21, his ERA is 6.70 and he's allowed 15 homers in 47 innings.

In three games this season versus the Orioles, Crawford is 0-2 with a 4.41 ERA.

Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson was named the AL Player of the Week yesterday. The award marked the second of his career, joining June 11, 2023. He hit .417/.464/.833 (10-for-24) with one double, three homers, six runs scored, five RBIs, three walks and two stolen bases in six games while ranking among AL leaders during the period in slugging percentage (first), home runs (tied for first), total bases (tied for first, 20), OPS (second, 1.297), batting average (tied for second), and hits (tied for second).

Manager Brandon Hyde is three wins away from 400 for his career, all with Baltimore. Four previous managers have won 400 games at the helm of the Orioles: Earl Weaver (1,480), Buck Showalter (669), Paul Richards (517) and Hank Bauer (407).