Josh Beckett winner of 7 out of 7 starts, tries to make it 8 for 8 against the Orioles today. He (7-0, 2.51 ERA, 1.03 WHIP) will be opposed by Jeremy Guthrie (2-1, 4.64 ERA, 1.41 WHIP), making his third start of the season, and the fourth of his career. He has pitched all of 2 innings against the Sox in his entire career. His last start, against the D-Rays, was actually pretty good. Only took 67 pitches to go 6 IP and limited the Rays' offense to one run and six hits.
Sox Lineup:
- Lugo, SS
- Crisp, CF
- Papi, DH
- Being Manny, LF
- Drew, RF
- Youks, 3B
- 'Tek, C
- Hinske, 1B
- Cora, 2B
- Roberts, 2B
- Markakis, RF
- Tejada, SS
- Hernandez, C
- Huff, 3B
- Millar, 1B
- Gibbons, DH
- Payton, LF
- Patterson, CF
Melvin Mora gets the day off, as the O's opt-out of defense at 3B. Lugo is now 11 for his last 25, with 2 SB and 6 RBIs in that span (5 games). Let's hope he gets on a bit today and gives Coco some FBs to hit.I might've posted these numbers before, but here are the favorable matchups for the O's against Beckett:
- Ramon Hernandez: 4/13, 2 2B
- Jay Payton: 6/14, all singles
- Melvin Mora, not starting: 2/7, 2 2B
- Everyone else: Not good. Millar has never faced Beckett.