Baltimore Orioles: Showdown at the Fens

I circled this weekend’s series on the schedule last autumn; tonight the Orioles and Red Sox will meet for the first time since September 28, 2011. That of course was the magical night when the O’s knocked the BoSox out of the playoffs. Over time Boston’s been a bully of a team so to speak, which is part of the reason why that moment was so sweet for Oriole fans. However thus far it’s also represented a sort of paradigm shift for both teams. Literally hours after that game was over manager Terry Francona and GM Theo Epstein were out, and of course a couple of weeks later the news about chicken-and-beer-gate broke. (I’ve often wondered what the players were watching in the clubhouse. The game itself, or perhaps something else…Real Housewives of Beverly Hills?!) To top it off, Boston’s struggled mightily out of the gate, they’re currently in last place, and they have numerous injuries.

In contrast, that moment might go down as a launching point for what the fighting Showalters have done thus far in 2012. At 16-9, the O’s are in second place in the AL East. Please do not misread what I’m saying; this weekend’s series at Fenway Park is going to be tough for the O’s. Wei-Yin Chen will get his first career start at the Fens this evening, coming off of his first seven inning game in the majors. However here’s another point worth making…in Chris Davis, the Orioles have a lefty first baseman that’s starting to hit for some power. Is the Pesky Pole in right field at Fenway not a nice target for Davis?

In tonight’s game the Orioles will face John Lester, who’s 14-0 lifetime against the O’s. One concern that I have in conjunction with that is that Chen is a fly ball pitcher; how’s that going to play at Fenway? The wild card in this is that the Red Sox are dealing with a reduced amount of power as it is. Oriole killer Kevin Youkilis is on the DL, as is Carl Crawford. Captain Jason Varitek retired over the off season as well, leaving Jarrod Saltalamacchia as the BoSox’s starting catcher. Having said that, these are still the Red Sox and they still play at Fenway Pahk. They often find a way to win, especially at home and especially against the Orioles.

Having said that, how many times has the bullpen blown games against Boston in which the Orioles had the lead? Heading into league play tonight, the Orioles’ bullpen has a 1.73 ERA  (lowest in the majors). In contrast, Boston’s bullpen has been shaky to start the season…so shaky in fact that Red Sox fans are starting to feel the angst that Oriole fans used to feel when a starter would leave the game. As I said above, Chen is a fly ball pitcher. That doesn’t mean he’s going to get beaten around mercilessly as other Oriole starters have been in the past at Fenway. However it is something to watch; Chen also has pin point accuracy, so if he can get the ball by the Boston hitters he’ll rack up the K’s instead of the home runs.

The Red Sox are probably thinking that they owe the Orioles somewhat of a knuckle sandwhich for what happened last year. However in reality I think that moment in itself was payback for years of the Orioles being Boston’s whipping boy. One has to hope that Buck Showalter can channel that feeling again tonight and this weekend in order to get the team up for these Red Sox. This certainly isn’t the 2004 0r ’07 Red Sox, however even at a diminished power they’re probably much better than their record indicates. But why should the O’s bow at the altar of the Fens and allow them to get a grip back on their season? They certainly didn’t allow it the last time the two teams met.

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