Red Sox @ Orioles: Sox start 9-game road trip with red-hot O's

Jon Lester will attempt to play stopper tonight as the Sox look to get to their winnings ways. The Red Sox had won 10 of 13 in August before dropping two in a row to the Jays this weekend. They're now just 1/2 game up on the Twins in the Wild Card race, and 4.5 games behind the Rays in the East...

Lester, who is 8-1 with a 2.87 ERA over his last 12 starts, limited Texas' high-powered offense to three runs and seven hits while fanning six over 7 1-3 innings in an 8-4 win on Wednesday.

Lester has been a stud this year, but he'll have his hands full with a Orioles offense that has scored a league best 114 runs this month... they're also batting .282 (5th) against southpaws this season.

Jeremy Guthrie has also been hot as of late, winning his last four starts, while allowing just one earned run in each of those outings. Guthrie gave up 5 runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Red Sox back in June, but he's buckled down since then and really is a different pitcher.

Who to Watch: Melvin Mora has been out of control since the All-Star break. He's batting .432 in the second half and .500 in August... Nick Markakis has also been hot, posting 8 multi-hit games this month... Youk and Pedroia remain the Sox hottest bats but Sean Casey is batting .385 against Baltimore this year... and JD Drew is batting .417 with 4 homers - but he could be out with back tightness tonight.

Bottom Line: It's not September... yet... but the Sox need to have a winning road trip if they want to be in the hunt for a playoff spot. It starts tonight...