Red Sox at Orioles
The Boston Red Sox absorbed quite the blow in addition to being shut out for the fifth time this season in their series-opening setback against the host Baltimore Orioles. With Hanley Ramirez's availability in doubt, the Red Sox look to dust themselves off when they continue their three-game series at their American League East rival on Wednesday.
Ramirez exited Tuesday's 1-0 setback shortly after he fouled a ball off his left kneecap during the third inning. Manager John Farrell noted that X-rays were taken during the game and the veteran did not suffer any structural damage. While Ramirez may have avoided serious injury, Boston's offense was ailing as it went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and the team fell to 10-16 against division foes this season. Baltimore, which has won four of five overall following a five-game skid, has claimed five of the eight meetings between the clubs in 2015 and 11 of the past 16.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), MASN2 (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox RH Rick Porcello (4-5, 5.01 ERA) vs. Orioles LH Wei-Yin Chen (1-4, 3.18)
Porcello suffered his third straight loss on Thursday despite allowing just two runs on five hits in eight innings in a 2-0 setback to Minnesota. The 26-year-old permitted just one hit over his last six frames, but was undone by a lack of offense. Porcello fell to 3-6 with a 5.21 ERA in his career versus Baltimore after yielding a season high in both runs (eight) and hits (12) over five innings in an 8-3 setback on April 19.
Chen saw his winless drought stretch to five starts despite striking out a season-high nine in 6 1/3 innings en route to a no-decision versus Houston on Thursday. The 29-year-old Taiwan native is 0-3 and has permitted six homers in that stretch. Chen fell to 5-4 in his career versus Boston after yielding five runs (none earned) and issuing five walks in 4 1/3 innings in a 7-1 setback on April 20.
WALK-OFFS
1. Baltimore SS J.J. Hardy recorded two of his team's five hits in the series opener and is 8-for-20 (.400) against Porcello.
2. Boston 2B Dustin Pedroia saw his seven-game hitting streak halted on Tuesday, but he is 15-for-32 (.469) in his career versus Chen.
3. Orioles 3B Manny Machado has recorded five hits in his last three games and is 5-for-15 (.333) in his career against Porcello.