O's game blog: Orioles host Boston in series, homestand opener

The top four teams in the American League East play tonight as the Orioles begin a two-game series at home with Boston and Toronto continues a three-game series at New York.

As they begin play, the Orioles (66-51) and Toronto (67-52) are tied for first with Boston (65-52) one game out and New York (61-57) 5 1/2 games back. No other division in baseball has four teams at .500 or better and two divisions have just two teams at .500 or better.

The Orioles are 6-4 on the season against the Red and Sox and 2-2 at Camden Yards. From May 30-June 2, the clubs played a wild series here with Boston taking the first two games 7-2 and 6-2 and the Orioles the last two by scores of 13-9 and 12-7. So the four-game series score was 29-29. The Orioles hit seven homers in the last game of that series.

On the mound tonight, Orioles right-hander Yovani Gallardo (4-4, 5.17 ERA) pitches against former Oriole prospect Eduardo Rodriguez (2-5, 5.43 ERA).

In two starts on the road trip that ended Sunday, Gallardo allowed three runs over 12 innings at Chicago and Oakland. After pitching six innings or more in just two of his first 10 starts, he has done that in four of his past five games. Gallardo has allowed two or fewer runs in four of his past seven starts.

Gallardo is 2-0 with a 3.33 ERA at home and the Orioles are 5-0 in his Camden Yards starts. They are 9-6 in his 15 starts overall and 4-2 in his starts against AL East opponents.

Gallardo faced the Red Sox once this year. In his second start of the season on April 11, he allowed seven hits and five runs over five innings. In five career starts against Boston, he is 2-2 with a 5.26 ERA and 1.675 WHIP.

Rodriguez is 1-2 with a 2.80 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break, when he was recalled July 15 from Triple-A. Over 35 1/3 innings, he has walked 10 and fanned 32. He has given up two runs or less in four of those games. But his run support in his last five starts has been one, one, zero, zero and two runs.

Rodriguez allows a batting average of .302 against lefty batters and .273 versus right-handed hitters. In two starts against the Orioles this year, he is 1-1 with a 6.10 ERA. In five career starts versus Baltimore, he is 1-3 with a 4.97 ERA. In three career starts at Camden Yards, Rodriguez is 1-1 with a 1.56 ERA.

Boston has scored scored a major league-best 643 runs, 53 more than the AL's second-highest mark (Cleveland, 590). Boston also leads the majors in doubles (262), average (.285), OBP (.350), slugging (.468), and OPS (.818). David Ortiz has hit nine homers in his last 13 games at Camden Yards.

O's catcher Matt Wieters went 5-for-5 in Sunday's 8-7 come-from-behind win at San Francisco after trailing 7-1. Wieters had hits in each of the last three innings. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only one other player in the last 20 years had hits in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings as his team rallied to victory from a deficit of six or more runs after the sixth inning. O's coach Einar Diaz, then playing for the Cleveland Indians, did so in a "Sunday Night Baseball" win over the Seattle Mariners in 2001. Cleveland trailed 14-2 after six innings, but defeated Seattle 15-14 in 11 innings.

In games against the AL East this year, the Orioles have the best record among the five division teams:

.578 - Orioles (26-19)
.551 - Toronto (27-22)
.500 - Boston (22-22)
.435 - Tampa Bay (19-25)
.432 - New York (20-26)