First pitch: Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. ET
Line: Baltimore +150, Boston -160, Total: 9.0

The Orioles will be looking to chip away at the Red Sox’s lead in the AL East when the two teams meet at Fenway Park on Wednesday.

Baltimore has played rather well recently, as the team has now won three of its past four games coming into this one. The Orioles have gotten some surprisingly excellent production out of their rotation recently, as they have allowed just three or fewer earned runs in three of the past four contests. Baltimore will be hoping to keep this Boston lineup in check once again on Wednesday. The Red Sox, however, were also hot before losing on Tuesday night. Boston has won five of its past seven games and the team had put up 11 or more runs in three of its previous four games before scoring only three on Tuesday. The Sox will be hoping to find their bats in Wednesday’s matchup with RHP Kevin Gausman (7-10, 3.61 ERA, 155 K). Going up against Boston will be Cy Young hopeful RHP Rick Porcello (20-3, 3.21 ERA, 161 K). Porcello is having a career year and will be hoping to keep it going, as he’ll definitely want to head into the postseason with some momentum. It’s worth mentioning that Gausman is 2-12 against the money line as an underdog of +100 to +150 with Baltimore over the past two seasons.

The Orioles are only two games back in the AL East and a win over the Sox would come a long way for the team. Kevin Gausman is going to be the guy tasked with shutting down the Red Sox and he has been brilliant recently. Gausman has allowed two or fewer earned runs in seven of his past 10 starts, and he has thrown shutouts of at least six innings in four of those outings. Gausman did, however, allow a lousy six earned runs in three innings the last time he faced Boston (Jun. 15). He’ll need to do his absolute best to avoid giving up the long-ball in this one. Offensively, OF Adam Jones (.277, 27 HR, 80 RBI), 1B Chris Davis (.226, 37 HR, 81 RBI), 3B Manny Machado (.305, 35 HR, 91 RBI) and OF Mark Trumbo (.249, 41 HR, 99 RBI) should all be looking forward to this one. They are a combined 32-for-106 with seven homers and 22 RBI against Porcello in their careers. Nobody in the group has weighed the team down, as all of them have hit Porcello hard in the past.

The Red Sox currently find themselves atop the AL East, but it’s important that they win as many games as they can against division rivals moving forward. Each of their next four series will be played against an AL East team, so Boston is in control of its own destiny. On the mound on Wednesday will be Rick Porcello and that has been a good thing for the Red Sox all season. The team is 14-0 against the money line with Porcello on the mound at home this season and the righty has not allowed more than three earned runs in a single start since Jul. 24. Like Gausman, however, Porcello struggled in his last meeting with the Orioles. That game was on Jun. 2 and he allowed five earned runs in six innings of work. It’d be big for the Sox if he can be better this time around. As for Porcello’s run support, the guys he can really count on in this one are 1B Hanley Ramirez (.285, 24 HR, 97 RBI) and DH David Ortiz (.316, 33 HR, 111 RBI). Ramirez hit a three-run homer off of Gausman the last time these teams played and Ortiz is 6-for-18 with three doubles, two homers and five RBI versus the young pitcher in his career. It’d be big if they can provide some power in this one, as Boston will surely have plenty of guys that will get on base for them.