This, that and the other

Tyler O’Neill has limited exposure to Red Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet, who faces the Orioles tonight at Camden Yards. Only two at-bats – and one home run.

O’Neill is going to play anyway. He’s one of the primary outfielders and he hits .273/.378/.549 against lefties. But he’s hitting everybody so far in his brief Orioles career.

Given a day off in Toronto to keep his legs fresh, O’Neill has made four starts and gone 8-for-14 with double and prerequisite Opening Day home run. The eight hits are the most for an Oriole through his first four games with the club since José Iglesias had eight in 2020.

Four of O’Neill’s hits came in Monday’s home opener to tie his career high.

“Driving the ball the other way once, a little blooper the other way, not just being pull happy but opposite-field homer in Toronto. Playing really good defense for us,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

“I love his intensity. I love how he loves to compete.”

More bad news for Boston: O’Neill is 10-for-16 with two doubles and a home run in four career games against the club.

* Cedric Mullins has appeared in 698 games with the Orioles and could reach the 700 milestone in this series. The Red Sox are sending Crochet to the mound tonight, but Mullins started Monday against lefty Sean Newcomb.

Colton Cowser’s fractured left thumb could impact multiple players. Also, Mullins is 7-for-20 (.350) with a double, two home runs and 10 RBIs. It’s pretty hard to sit the guy.

If you predicted before Opening Day that Mullins would be the club-leader in RBIs through five games, that was an impressive pull and you’ve earned bragging rights.

According to STATS, Mullins will be the fifth player to debut this century with at least 80 home runs and 125 stolen bases in his first 700 career games. He’s at 88 and 126.

Name the other four players. Answer below. Hint: he’s the only Oriole.

* This team gets off to fast starts.

Yes, it’s a small sample size, but the Orioles scored four runs in the first inning Monday to raise their total to eight in five games. Only the Tigers matched it before last night, but they scored twice in the opening frame in Seattle to give them 10.

The Red Sox haven’t scored in the first inning this season.

* This one also comes from STATS: The Orioles have won or split four consecutive home series against the Red Sox. They need a victory tonight or Thursday to tie their longest streak in the last 30 years, from June 1995-April 1997.

The present streak is tied with the one from April 2015-June 2016. They’ve won three in a row on three occasions.

* Zach Eflin makes his second start tonight after taking the ball on Opening Day in Toronto.

No one in the Red Sox’s lineup is a bigger pain to Eflin than Rafael Devers, who’s 6-for-16 against him with three doubles and two home runs.

We’ll assume that Devers is playing tonight. He’s a designated hitter who isn’t hitting, going 0-for-19 with four walks and 15 strikeouts. His line is .000/.174/.000.

* Jordan Westburg returned to the lineup Monday and was able to rest yesterday. Whatever was bothering him, and we never got any specifics, but he apparently was banged up a bit, appears to have passed.

It's a good idea to get Westburg into games against the Red Sox.

The position he plays is irrelevant. Westburg is 11-for-30 (.367) with a .500 on-base percentage, 700 slugging percentage, four doubles, two home runs, seven RBIs and six walks versus Boston.

* Gunnar Henderson led off again last night for Triple-A Norfolk and hit his second home run on his injury rehab assignment.

Henderson’s ball traveled 401 feet to right-center field at an exit velocity of 112.2 mph. And he supplied all of the power, laying into a 82.3 mph curveball from Charlotte's Justin Dunn.

The distance might have been greater if not for the light pole that got in the way.

Henderson is 5-for-16 with the Tides. He can be reinstated on Thursday, which seems like a strong possibility.

Vimael Machín had two more hits last night and is 5-for-10 after batting .400 (18-for-45) in spring training. You can only hope to contain him.

Answer:
Ronald Acuña Jr. (162, 193)
Trea Turner (104, 206)
Ian Kinsler (104, 125)
Hanley Ramírez (116, 180)