The Boston Red Sox (6-3) open a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles (5-4) on Friday night at 7:10 p.m. ET in their first matchup with the division rival this season. Joe Kelly of Boston will take on Ubaldo Jimenez of Baltimore, as both starters look to improve on down campaigns in 2014.
Boston is 3-0 in series against the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees and Washington Nationals thus far. The Red Sox offense is ranked second in the MLB with 56 runs scored, which has helped pick up their starting rotation (their 6.16 ERA ranks 29th in MLB).
Kelly has not contributed to that inflated ERA since he surrendered only one earned run on one hit and two walks over seven innings in first start of the season against the New York Yankees. Boston acquired the right-hander in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals last year and he finished just 6-4 with a 4.20 ERA and 1.349 WHIP in 17 starts (96 1/3 innings). However, it was his first season as a full-time starter.
The 26-year-old faced the Orioles twice in 2014 and is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.125 WHIP in 13 1/3 innings.
His opponent, Ubaldo Jimenez, is looking to rebound from a 2014 campaign where he finished 6-9 with a 4.81 ERA and 1.516 WHIP in 25 games (22 starts) after he signed a four-year, $50 million deal with Baltimore. The right-hander's best season came in 2010 when he was with the Colorado Rockies (19-8 with a 2.88 ERA and 1.155 WHIP), but he has only notched one more yearlong performance like that, which was with the Indians in 2013 (13-9 with a 3.30 ERA and 1.33 WHIP).
Jimenez finished with ERAs of 4.68 in 2011 and 5.40 in 2012 and hasn't eclipsed the 200-inning mark since that lone All-Star season in 2010. There's more bad news: in seven career starts against the Red Sox, he's 1-3 with a 9.37 ERA and 2.02 WHIP in just 32 2/3 innings of work. Three of those came in 2014 and he was 0-1 with a 6.60 ERA and 1.733 WHIP over 15 innings.
But Baltimore's offense has been right up there with Boston's. The O's rank sixth in runs scored (47) and first in home runs (15). They're team stat line is an impressive .270/.340/.473/.813 thanks to fast starts from outfielders Adam Jones and Travis Snider. First baseman Chris Davis is back as he looks to get in a rhythm following his suspension for Adderall that ended after Opening Day.
Tonight could provide an interesting offensive matchup since Boston has been tearing the cover off the ball with good at-bats from Hanley Ramirez, Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts. Just imagine if David Ortiz and Pablo Sandoval were driving in runs too.
Check out the live stream for tonight's game at 7:10 p.m. ET here as well as the live radio broadcast here (if you're a Red Sox fan) or here (if you're an Orioles fan).
