Orioles Preview

The Red Sox host the Orioles this Sunday, July 29, at 1:00 p.m. at Cumberland Valley High School.

The weather forecast calls for scattered thunderstorms with highs in the low 80s.

The Orioles have had a tough year and are hungry for a win. The Sox have stumbled to ugly losses in each of the last two weeks and now find themselves trailing the Astros and Dodgers by a full game.

Last week's loss to the Astros was a disappointment, but a few positives did emerge. Dave Strock played a full game at secondbase for the first time in over a month and made a couple of nice plays. Greg Williams continued to heat up at the plate after a slow start this season. Bill Miller showed he can help out on the mound, and kept up his hot hitting at the plate. John Lindholm and Tim Wendel were effective at the top of the order, as usual.

The Sox should be near full strength this week for the first time in a long while. Michael Plank will have a week of vacation time to brood over his recent slump, but his absence will be more than offset by the return of several key players. Mike Craig is due back and will likely get the ball to start. Keith Humes should return also, and Matt Eckenrode might be able to slip away from new dad duties to toss a few innings. Bart Miller and Troy Jensen are ready to return and eager to get their batting numbers back to their customary levels. The big question is whether Matt LaBuda is recovered from his shoulder injury, or whether he needs another week of rest.

Things won't get any easier for the Sox from here on out. No matter what happens this Sunday, next week's matchup against the Dodgers will be a key to sorting out the playoff picture in the division. The season finale against the Mets could also have major playoff implications.

But the Sox can't worry about those games yet. First, they have to take care of business against the Orioles. If they start looking past them, they'll be asking for trouble.