The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles are playing on Wednesday night and the MLB game on the schedule is the second for both teams and the O's come in as winners after Monday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the matchup at 7:05 pm ET will have Ubaldo Jimenez and John Lackey going up against each other in the game streaming from MLB.com.
The Red Sox are coming off of a World Series championship, while the Orioles are looking to be in the mix again after missing the playoffs last season in the AL East and these teams have been two of the best in the American League and after last season, both are gunning for the division title along with the Rays and the Yankees. Jimenez has had some problems in the past pitching against the Red Sox and he comes over to the Orioles after pitching with the Cleveland Indians last season and he signed a free agent deal this offseason along with Nelson Cruz.
Jimenez is hoping to bring some stability to the rotation for the Orioles, as the team had 4.50-plus ERA last season and that was near the bottom of the league overall and they are hoping their playoffs streak lasts just one year after missing last season and getting there for the first time in a decade in 2012. Jimenez did not look sharp in the spring and he is looking to settle down against a team that he has an 11.00 plus ERA against and on top of that, Dustin Pedroia, Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava have all had success against him and will be looking to do the same on Wednesday night.
The Red Sox will counter with John Lackey and he comes into the game against the Orioles after winning 10 games last season and he was excellent in the postseason and will be looking to continue that in the matchup with the Orioles after going 3-1 with a 2.77 ERA last year. Lackey has great success against the Orioles and he has gone 13-5 with a 3.35 ERA in 23 starts over that time and he will be one of the key players for the Sox, as the rotation hinges on him in the middle of things and while the team lost Jacoby Ellsbury to the hated Yankees, they feel they have a strong enough team to repeat after winning the World Series last season.
The two teams continue their series on Wednesday and Zach Britton won the first game for the team and Lester ended up with the loss and Tommy Hunter got the save. The AL East could be one of the closest divisions this season.
Check here for the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles live coverage from MLB.com.