MLB Game Preview - Boston at Baltimore

Thu Jun 1, 2017 7:05 PM EDT

BALTIMORE -- Wade Miley will take the mound for the Orioles in the opener of a four-game series with the Boston Red Sox on Thursday as Baltimore continues to try to get back on track.

The Orioles (27-24) just took two of three games against the first-place New York Yankees and now will need their inconsistent starting pitching to improve.

Miley (1-3, 3.02 ERA) has thrown well but has battled control issues that have driven up his pitch counts and often limited him to around five innings.

Opponents are batting just .246 vs. the left-hander, but he has battled control problems so often that it has limited his outings. The Orioles would like to see that corrected.

Miley is 0-1 with a 40.50 ERA vs. Boston thanks to allowing six runs on eight hits in 1 1/3 innings during his one appearance vs. the Red Sox. That game was a Sept. 12, 2016, start at Fenway Park.

Former Oriole prospect Eduardo Rodriguez (4-1, 2.77) starts for Boston on Thursday. He has won his last three starts to help the Red Sox (29-23) move up in the American League East.

Rodriguez is 3-3 with a 3.46 ERA in eight starts vs. his former organization.

The Orioles played better against the Yankees, capturing the series with a 10-4 victory Wednesday. Baltimore had lost 12 of 15 heading into the series.

Now, the Orioles face another division rival.

"We get up for every game, but our division is important and our division is tough, so it's always good to have good games against them," said Baltimore center fielder Adam Jones, who returned from an ankle ailment to homer and drive in five runs Wednesday.

Manager Buck Showalter was glad to see the Orioles take two of three from the Yankees, especially since Baltimore is in the midst of a difficult stretch of the schedule.

"It's a tough row, and our guys found a way," Showalter said.

The Orioles' pitching carousel continued on Thursday with right-hander Mike Wright coming up from Triple-A Norfolk and right-hander Logan Verrett going back down.

Baltimore also placed catcher Welington Castillo on the 10-day disabled list due to a testicular injury. Francisco Pena came up from Triple-A Norfolk to fill in.

With Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia going on the disabled list earlier this week, the Red Sox hope to get some offensive punch from Pablo Sandoval, activated on Tuesday.

Sandoval had just a .213 average when he sprained his right knee against the Orioles in late April.

"I'm excited to be back," Sandoval told the Boston Globe before he went 3-for-4 on Wednesday in a 4-1 win over the White Sox. "I feel healthy again. Everything feels good."

Sandoval drove in the go-ahead run in the victory.

The Orioles and the Red Sox also have experienced quite a few dramatics this season with pitchers throwing (or not throwing) at batters, who are getting angry (at times).

Some of it also goes back to a slide that Manny Machado made into second base that injured Pedroia and upset the Red Sox.

Commissioner Rob Manfred eventually talked to both teams about it in early May, basically telling everyone to settle down. That was probably why Orioles starter Kevin Gausman got ejected in the second inning after hitting a Boston batter the night Manfred came forward.