And the Sox come marching into the Yard

I just wanted to take a more in-depth look at the pitching match-ups to try and either make myself feel better about this series (for the love of God please) or prepare myself for a few more losses (I really, really don’t think I can take another sweep by another despised team).

Tonight (Tuesday):
Career Stats: Clay Buchholz vs. Current Orioles Line-Up
Team Batting Average: .227 (25 for 110)
Team OBP: .328
Team SLG: .355
Team HR: 2 (yeah, only 2 flipping home runs)
Team BB: 16
Team SO: 18

Notable Match-Ups
Vladimir Guerrero is 4 for 9 (.444) with 2 RBIs. I know it’s a small sample, but hopefully Vladdy gets some hits tonight.
Brian Roberts has the most at-bats against him besides Markakis (more on this next) and Roberts has batted .389 (7 for 18) with 3 RBIs and 5 BBs.
Nick Markakis is a pathetic 2 for 20 against Buchholz with a .100 batting average, don’t expect him to heat up tonight.
Luke Scott is also pretty miserable batting .063 going 1 for 16 at the plate.

Career Stats: Zach Britton vs. Current Red Sox Line-Up
Obviously, Britton has yet to face the Red Sox in his career, so we shall see how this goes. He’s been solid in his starts this season, besides his worst outing at Cleveland, which wasn’t even that terrible. Hopefully he can limit the Red Sox awakening bats and get some run support to get a win.

Wednesday
Career Stats: Josh Beckett vs. Current Orioles Line-Up
Team Batting Average: .290
Team OBP: .360
Team SLG: .476
Team HR: 8
Team BB: 20
Team SO: 52

This looks to be a better match-up for the O’s; however, Beckett has been strong this season so far with a 1.93 ERA.

Notable Match-Ups
Luke Scott is 9 for 20 batting .450 with 2 home runs.
Derrek Lee, though he hasn’t faced Beckett much (only 6 times), has batted .500 against him going 3 for 6. 2 of those hits are home runs and the other is a double. Maybe this will be Lee’s night.

Career Stats: Jeremy Guthrie vs. Current Red Sox Line-Up
Team Batting Average: .312
Team OBP: .369
Team SLG: .508
Team HR: 9
Team BB: 24
Team SO: 37

Based on those number, Guthrie needs to limit the free passes he gives. He has also been pretty good at the mound this season, he just needs that run support. COME ON OFFENSE!

Notable Match-Ups
David Ortiz has gone 10 for 31 against Guthrie, batting .323 with 3 home runs and 8 RBIs.
Carl Crawford has a .366 batting average against him, going 15 for 41 at the plate. However, he has no home runs against him.
Jason Varitek is only 5 for 22 against Guthrie, a .227 average, with 1 homer.

Thursday
Career Stats: Jon Lester vs. Current Orioles Line-Up
Team Batting Average: .255
Team OBP: .308
Team SLG: .359
Team HR: Only 1 lonely home run by B-Rob.
Team BB: 12
Team SO: 48

Notable Match-Ups
Robert Andino has only faced him 4 times but has gotten a hit 3 out of those 4, batting .750. With how hot he has been recently, this could be another big night for Andino.
Matt Wieters has gone 8 for 21, batting .381 against the left hander.
Luke Scott has gone 0 for 8 against him.

Career Stats: Brad Bergesen vs. Current Red Sox Line-Up
Team Batting Average: .312
Team OBP: .342
Team SLG: .495
Team HR: 4
Team BB: 6
Team SO: 14

Bergesen really needs to figure out something to enhance his starts or he will lose his job. For some reason though, I have a feeling this may be his best start of the season.

Notable Match-Ups
J.D. Drew is 7 for 19 batting .368 with 2 homers.
Kevin Youkilis (I hate this man) is only .182 with 2 hits at 11 trips to the plate.
Jed Lowrie is 1 for 6 (a double) hitting just .167

I thought I’d try this sort of post to give you guys something to keep in mind every night about the pitchers and for certain players to look for such as O’s guys who hit well against the starter, giving you a tad more hope than for the other sucky players, and for Red Sox guys that do well against the pitcher on the mound so you can root against them even harder and if they do succeed, feel free to curse loudly at the screen and throw things. (Note: If you are actually attending the game, feel free to curse, but I would not recommend you throw things onto the field and/or at the players. While this can be very fun and fulfilling, I don’t think the security guards would approve despite how understanding they may be at your frustrations.)