Opposite dugout: Red Sox tied for division lead, but offense and pitching not in sync

Manager: John Farrell (4th season)

Record: 9-7

Last 10 games: 5-5

Who to watch: 2B Dustin Pedrioa (.254/.324/.492 with 4 HR, 9 RBIs), LF Hanley Ramirez (.263/.326/.528 with 5 HR, 12 RBIs), SS Xander Bogaerts (.302 with 8 RBIs), RHP Justin Masterson (2-0, 5.74 ERA), RHP Koji Uehara (1-0, 2 saves, 0.00 ERA)

Season series vs. Orioles: 2-2

Pitching probables:

April 24: RHP Rick Porcello vs. RHP Miguel Gonzalez, 7:05 p.m., MASN
April 25: RHP Justin Masterson vs. LHP Wei-Yin Chen, 7:05 p.m., MASN2
April 26: LHP Wade Miley vs. RHP Bud Norris, 1:35 p.m., MASN

Series breakdown:

The Red Sox are angling for another worst-to-first transformation, and if their pitching would cooperate, they'd probably be running away with the American League East. As it stands, the Red Sox are in a three-way tie for first place at 9-7, two games up on the last-place Orioles. Most of Boston's offseason activity was focused on improving the offense, and even with additional firepower in the batter's box, any gains have been offset by a lack of success on the mound.

Boston has allowed 74 runs and posted a 4.31 ERA, marks good for 23rd out of 30 major league clubs. Only one Red Sox starting pitcher has more than one victory - righty Justin Masterson, Saturday's scheduled starter - and the best ERAs on the staff belong to setup guys Craig Breslow and Junichi Tazawa and closer Koji Uehara, none of whom has allowed a run this year. The starters? Joe Kelly's 4.08 ERA tops that group, but the Orioles will miss him this series.

Hanley Ramirez, signed as a free agent, may still be learning to play left field, but he hasn't forgotten how to hit. His five homers and 12 RBIs lead those categories. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia has been setting the table to the tune of a .254 average and .324 on-base percentage to go along with four homers, and shortstop Xander Bogaerts has shaken off his rookie struggles to hit .302 with a .383 OPB in the early going. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval, another free agent signing over the winter, has only two extra-base hits and is still looking for his first homer, while designated hitter David Ortiz has three homers but only five RBIs and a .192 average (not to mention a pending one-game suspension after his tirade following a checked swing call against the Orioles last weekend). It only seems like Ortiz hits a home run every time he plays in Baltimore; for his career at Camden Yards, he has 22 homers, 70 RBIs and a 2.59 average.

The most exciting player on the roster right now is center fielder Mookie Betts. His .194 average won't wow anyone, but he's making highlight-reel defensive plays a routine occurrence and has speed to burn. Keeping him off the base paths will be a key to limiting run production opportunities for the Red Sox.

Friday starter Rick Porcello suffered his only loss of the season against the O's on April 19, and his five innings in that game marked his shortest outing of the season (the eight runs he allowed inflated his ERA). He's 3-6 with a 5.13 ERA in 10 starts versus Baltimore in his career, and only 1-3 with a 4.24 ERA in four career starts at Camden Yards. All of those, however, came when he was with Detroit. A four-year, $82.5 million extension signed in the season's first week will bring much higher expectations.

Masterson allows plenty of baserunners - he's got a 1.38 career WHIP - and doesn't carry a lot of historical success against the Orioles. Like most of the Red Sox rotation, he's experienced both good and bad this season, but his 7-1 win over the O's on April 20 was one of the bright spots: five innings of one-run, three-hit ball. In his career against Baltimore, Masterson is 7-6 with a 5.28 ERA in 17 games (13 starts), with a 2-4 record and 7.71 ERA in nine games (seven starts) at Camden Yards.

The Orioles have seen Sunday starter Wade Miley once, when he worked to a no-decision against them for the Diamondbacks in a 2013 interleague game in Phoenix. The southpaw has yet to make it to the sixth inning in three 2014 starts and is susceptible to teams with power bats: He allowed seven runs in 2 1/3 innings against the Nationals a couple of weeks back. He'll need to keep the ball out of the air at cozy Camden Yards, but has experienced success in day games, posting an 11-5 record and 3.22 ERA in sunshine.

The bullpen has performed pretty well, but closer Koji Uehara missed the first week of the season with a hamstring injury. O's fans know how tough Uehara can be - he had an insane 80 strikeouts to eight walks a season ago - but the workmanlike guys ahead of him can be just as frustrating, even if they don't possess a lot of name recognition.

In the four-game series at Fenway Park from April 17-20, the Orioles committed five errors and settled for a split. On Patriots' Day, the Red Sox parlayed three O's errors into five unearned runs. Boston is the kind of veteran team that pounces on mistakes and makes teams pay for their miscues.