The Boston Red Sox began their season with seven victories during a 10-game road trip, and they'll try to build on that momentum when they play their home opener against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday afternoon.
Boston has displayed power at the plate (13 home runs) and strong starting pitching during its first 10 outings. Following Sunday's 12-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels, Boston led Major League Baseball with a 1.49 ERA.
"It was a great road trip," Boston manager Alex Cora said. "Going into this season we recognized how challenging it is to come to the West Coast right away. The organization did everything possible to put these guys in a situation where they were going to be fresh and ready to go."
Red Sox outfielder Tyler O'Neill, who was acquired in an offseason trade with St. Louis, has five home runs in nine games (28 at-bats), and Boston's starting pitchers have allowed nine earned runs in 53 innings.
"This group bought into it in spring training, and for the first road trip it was amazing," Cora said. "But now, we just got to be ready for it. Baltimore is probably the best team in the division. Everybody knows how good they are. This year is different with them right now. A lot of people picked them to go to the playoffs or win the World Series. So we know the challenge. We know who they are and what they do. We just got to be ready for Tuesday."
Baltimore enters Tuesday's contest on a two-game losing streak, and the Orioles lacked offense in each loss. Baltimore had four hits during Saturday's 5-4, 11-inning loss against Pittsburgh, and collected six hits in Sunday's 3-2 setback against the Pirates.
"Tough to win that way," Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. "We're not making it easy on ourselves offensively right now. We're not creating any sort of traffic right now. We're not taking walks, and I think we're getting out early in the count quite a bit.
"You don't want to discredit the other team's pitchers, but we have to do a better job of putting pressure on by getting on base."
Tuesday's probable starters are Baltimore's Corbin Burnes (1-0, 2.31 ERA) and Boston's Brayan Bello (1-0, 5.40).
Burnes was acquired in a February trade with Milwaukee to bolster the front of Baltimore's rotation. He had 11 strikeouts in six innings to earn the win in an opening-day victory over the Angels, and then surrendered nine hits and two runs in his second start, a no decision against Kansas City.
Burnes surrendered three runs (two earned) on five hits, struck out five and walked three in five innings during his only career start against the Red Sox. He did not figure in the decision.
Bello is 1-1 with a 5.23 ERA in two career starts against Baltimore. He has 11 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings. The Red Sox signed Bello to a six-year, $55 million extension during the offseason.
Tuesday's game will be the start of a 10-game homestand for the Red Sox. It includes three games against Baltimore, three against the Angels and four against Cleveland.
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