Zimmermann rejoins Orioles' auditions for rotation

The matchup tonight is just so appropriate for where the two teams reside, what they're playing for, what these games represent.

The Red Sox begin the series at Camden Yards with Chris Sale on the mound. A seven-time All-Star who's finished sixth, fifth, third, fourth, fifth, second and fourth in Cy Young voting in the American League.

The Orioles, tied with the Diamondbacks for the worst record in baseball, have chosen left-hander Bruce Zimmermann, a rookie with 12 major league starts who's been injured twice and unable to pitch for them since June 13 at Tropicana Field.

Easy to figure out, without any clues, which team holds the second wild card by one game over the Blue Jays.

This is an important night for the Orioles, as well, but for entirely different reasons.

They want to resume their evaluation of a pitcher who could factor into their rotation in 2022, though he may be on a shorter leash after tossing four innings Thursday night with Triple-A Norfolk.

They also could start him again on normal rest in Sunday's season finale in Toronto. The rotation isn't easy to predict, and Chris Ellis could be removed from it due to arm fatigue.

Keegan Akin already is gone and scheduled to undergo a surgical procedure for a left adductor strain.

Matt Harvey's last start feels like a lifetime ago.

Zimmermann must be activated from the 60-day injured list. He was on the 10-day list with biceps tendinitis and sprained his right ankle in a weight room accident following five scoreless and hitless innings with the Tides in an Aug. 10 game that convinced the Orioles he was ready to join them in Boston.

It took longer than expected for Zimmermann to face the Red Sox, but he's doing it tonight for the third time in his brief career.

Zimmermann's second major league appearance consisted of four relief innings at Fenway Park on Sept. 23, when he held the Red Sox to one run and two hits with five strikeouts. He broke camp this spring in the middle of the rotation and made his first two starts against the Red Sox, allowing three runs in six innings in both outings.

J.D. Martinez homered on April 4 and Rafael Devers on April 10.

The Red Sox are starting Nathan Eovaldi on Wednesday. The Orioles are starting another rookie left-hander, Zac Lowther, who's appearing in his 10th game in the majors, four of them out of the bullpen.

The month of September doesn't look the same for every team.

Lowther made his first major league start against the Red Sox on May 8 at Camden Yards and allowed seven runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings. He tried again on Sept. 18, lasted 3 1/3 innings and surrendered three runs and five hits,

Lowther held the Royals to one run and three hits in six innings on Sept. 6. The Blue Jays totaled seven runs and homered twice in two innings in his next start, followed by his struggles against the Red Sox.

Moved again outside the American League East, Lowther faced the Rangers on Thursday and tossed five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts.

The Orioles don't have the luxury of exposing their rookie starters, including Alexander Wells, who gets the ball Thursday night, to only non-division foes. How they handle the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees and Rays is part of the evaluation process.