Opposite dugout: Red Sox are trying to stay out of last place in AL East

Manager: Torey Lovullo, interim manager (1st season)

Record: 72-80

Last 10 games: 4-6

Who to watch: DH Davis Ortiz (36 HR, 101 RBIs), SS Xander Bogaerts (.322 with 79 RBIs), 2B Dustin Pedroia (.297 with 12 HR), CF Mookie Betts (.293 with 15 HR, 71 RBIs, 20 SB), LHP Robbie Ross Jr. (4.06 ERA, 5 saves)

Season series vs. Orioles: 5-11

Pitching probables:

Sept. 25: LHP Wei-Yin Chen vs. LHP Rich Hill, 7:10 p.m., MASN
Sept. 26: RHP Kevin Gausman vs. TBA, 4:05 p.m., MASN
Sept. 27: RHP Ubaldo Jimenez vs. LHP Henry Owens, 1:35 p.m, MASN

Inside the Red Sox:

The Red Sox's goal for the remainder of the season is a simple one: Stay out of last place in the American League East.

To say this season hasn't gone as Boston has expected would be an understatement. Two big free agent acquisitions, third baseman Pablo Sandoval and shortstop-turned left fielder Hanley Ramirez, didn't pan out - both are currently sidelined, Sandoval by pneumonia and Ramirez is out for the season with a right shoulder injury that may force him to shift to first base next season. No veteran starting pitcher has an ERA below 4.00. Closer Koji Uehara went down in August with a broken right wrist, and a parade of relievers has followed him into the ninth inning with mixed - but mostly poor - results.

In mid-August, manager John Farrell announced that he would miss the remainder of the season while battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Bench coach Torey Lovullo took over as manager. Later in August, Dave Dombrowski was hired as president of baseball operations, a move that caused the Red Sox to part ways with general manager Ben Cherington once Dombrowski, the former head of the Tigers front office, announced that he would hire a new GM. Mike Hazen was named the team's new general manager yesterday.

September has been a better month for the Red Sox, who have gone 11-10. Not good enough to offset what went wrong earlier this season, but good enough to make third place - currently occupied by the Orioles - a reachable goal. Boston has a 29-40 record against the AL East and a 5-11 mark against the Orioles this season, hinting that the last 10 days of the season may be an uphill battle.

Designated hitter David Ortiz's early-season struggles - he was hitting .227 on July 10 - are forgotten: He recently hit his 500th career homer and has torched the Orioles for 47 homers and 155 RBIs in his career. For the season, Big Papi has 36 homers and 101 RBIs. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who hit a pair of homers when the Sox dropped two of three at Camden Yards earlier this month, has been hot in September with a .360/.418/.640 slash line this month. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts has driven in 79 runs and is hitting .322, while center fielder Mookie Betts is putting together quite a sophomore campaign and may be Boston's best all-around athlete. He's hitting .293 with 15 homers, 71 RBIs and 20 stolen bases and has scored 85 runs.

The Red Sox have a potent offense - they rank second in the majors in on-base percentage (.327), third in average (.267) and runs (703), and fourth in hits (1,415). But pitching has been a problem, as Boston ranks 26th in ERA (4.42), runs (726) and opponent slugging percentage (.427)

Rich Hill, who labored to a 3-3 record and 7.80 ERA for the 2009 Orioles, gets the start in Friday's series opener. The Red Sox picked him up for organizational depth when he opted out of his minor league deal with the Nationals after posting a 2-2 record and 2.91 ERA as a situational reliever at Triple-A Syracuse and then pitched briefly in the independent Atlantic League. He's made two starts for Boston, going at least seven innings and striking out 10 in each outing. Lifetime against the Orioles, he's had success, recording a 1.50 ERA in six innings pitched in relief. It's a small sample size, but Hill is limiting opponents to a .160 batting average (and allows right-handers only a .146 mark). He's been very effective this season, but from his 16th to 30th pitches, Hill yields a .429/.500/.857.

Saturday's Red Sox starter is still listed as TBA, meaning the Boston will probably start a relief pitcher and then trot out a succession of bullpen arms to cover the assignment. Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, the former O's farmhand dealt to Boston last season in exchange for Andrew Miller, would probably have gotten the start, but the Red Sox are trying to limit the rookie's innings, which have already reached a career-high 164 between Triple-A and the majors. So who will start? Rookie right-hander Jonathan Aro and veteran lefty Craig Breslow are options, but neither has ever made a major league start. Breslow has made three starts in 14 minor league seasons, while Aro was a starter early in his pro career. Aro has thrown only 6 2/3 innings in relief this season, and half of that total has come against the Orioles, against whom he has a 5.40 ERA.

Rookie Henry Owens checked the Orioles, throwing 7 2/3 scoreless innings on Sept. 16 at Camden Yards, but he's struggled to a 4.76 ERA in September after posting a 3.94 ERA in August. A fastball/changeup pitcher, he's had his problems in day games, with a 10.96 ERA under the sun. Left-handed hitters hit him harder (.306/.405/.400) than right-handers (.241/.307/.399). When he gets ahead 0-1, foes hit .209 off him; with a 1-0 count, opponents have a .289 average. He has to be careful from his 31st to 45th pitches, when he's battered at a .345/.412/.552 clip.