How we see it goin' down: Orioles - Sox series

First Pitch: Monday (Gm. 1) 1:05, Monday (Gm. 2) 7:10, Tuesday 7:10,  Wednesday 7:10

Arms: Monday (Gm. 1): Jeremy Guthrie, RHP (8-17, 4.22 ERA) vs. Kyle Weiland, RHP (0-2, 7.58 ERA)

Monday (Gm. 2): Brian Matusz, LHP (1-7, 9.84 ERA) vs. John Lackey, RHP (12-12, 6.19 ERA)

Tuesday: Rick VandenHurk, RHP (0-0, 6.00 ERA) vs. Erik Bedard, LHP (1-2, 3.66 ERA)

Wednesday: Tommy Hunter, RHP (3-3, 5.31 ERA) vs. Josh Beckett, RHP (13-5, 2.50 ERA)

                           Yard: Fenway Park   Watch it:  NESN  Hear it:  WEEI

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The Match-up

Record: 62-89 (Last AL East)	Record: 87-65 (2nd AL East)
On road: 25-48	At home: 44-33
Streak: Lost 1	Streak: Lost 2
Leaders at the plate	Leaders at the plate
Average: Guerrero (.293)	Average: Gonzalez (.333)
Homers: Reynolds (34)	Homers: Ortiz (29)
RBI: Jones/Reynolds (80)	RBI: Gonzalez (111)
Leaders on the mound	Leaders on the mound
Wins: Arrieta/Britton (10)	Wins: Lester (15)
ERA: Guthrie (4.22) | Uehara (1.72)	ERA: Beckett (2.50) | Papelbon (2.56)
K's: Shields (210)	K's: Lester (174)

Last time

These two teams last met in the middle of July for a 3-game series in Baltimore. The Red Sox beat the Orioles in a game 1 slug-fest by the score of 15-10. Reddick and Salty each hit a solo homer in that game, and 6 Red Sox batters record 2 or more hits. The match-up in game 2 of the series was Guthrie vs. Weiland, and Jeremy Guthrie got the only win for the Orioles in that series with a 6-2 victory. Salty hit his second homer in as many nights, it was of the 2-run variety and ended up to be the only 2 runs in that game for the Sox. The Red Sox got 5 2/3 of strong pitching from Andrew Miller in the final game of the series, as they blanked Baltimore 4-0. Ellsbury hit a solo home run and drove in 2 in that game to cap off a 6-for-12 series.

This time

Laser Show: Jacoby Ellsbury

Ellsbury has been the most reliable and best hitter in this lineup over the last 3 months. As noted earlier, Ellsbury went 6-for-12 against the Orioles in their last meeting and has a career .371 batting average against the O's.

Pitch Around: Adam Jones & Mark Reynolds

Adam Jones is the biggest all-around threat in their lineup. Jones is batting .280, with 23 homers, and 80 RBI, placing him second on the team in average and home runs, and first in RBI. Jones hit a home run off of Wakefield during their last meeting and went .364 in the series.

Mark Reynolds also homered in that series, off of Aceves in game 2. Reynolds is a big home run threat and that is about it. He has struck out 182 times this season (2nd in MLB) and is batting an awful .219. Sox pitching can't give him any junk balls, or he will crush them. It is not hard to out-pitch Reynolds, and Sox pitching cannot forget that.

Don't Fall Behind: Jeremy Guthrie

Guthrie got a win in his last outing against Boston and he is their best arm. Overall, he is not that good and if the offense can wake up, they can beat the crap out of him and do the same to the other 3 starters.

How we see it goin' down

We all know it is very hard to sweep a 4-game series, and it is harder when the series consists of a double-header. The Sox need a sweep in the worst way, but I don't think they have the mindset to do so. Boston will win 3 and get back on track to close out the final home series of the season.