Think Boston is worth a little something. They've almost finished digging the 6 foot hole which Baltimore's playoff hopes are going to be buried in, and Sunday - their last home game of the season - gives them a chance to complete the job. Certain older heads have surely recalled what transpired down the stretch of 2011's reg. season during their efforts over the previous 2 days. This must taste at least a little like payback for them.
O's hitting a miserable .237 vs. lefties, and I like what I've seen so far of Owens (0 ER in 7.1 IP @Balt on 9/16). A couple of poor starts hide what has otherwise been a pretty decent beginning to his debut mlb stint.
Jimenez has a 1.50 whip & 5.62 era over his last 4 road starts vs. AL teams (4 ER in 5.0 IP @home vs. Bos on 9/15). He recorded a win in Boston in June (3 ER in 5.0 IP), but the Sox sucked hard back then (12-18 over the previous month) and were in the immediate letdown spot off a 13-2 road trip ending win; Here they're 18-12 over the previous month & 21-7 their L28 games scoring at least 3 runs.
Sox started '15 0-4 on Sundays, have gone 11-8 since: 6-3 vs. losing teams, 5-5 vs. winning teams (Sox averaging 5.92 rpg in Sun. home games, which climbs to 6.33 rpg vs. losing teams). Of the Sox 23 Sunday games, only 2 have totaled less than 7 runs (in both the loser was shutout): 16-7 to Over overall.
O's the opposite: started 11-6 on Sundays, gone 2-6 since (1-3 vs. losing teams; 0-4 on the road). One thing has stayed consistent over the entire season is the O's sucking in close Sun. games: 1-5 in those decided by 1-2 run margins.
Losing Adam Jones (purportedly to back spasms) can't be any help for a lineup that hasn't scored a run since his absence.