It’s been an odd summer for the Red Sox. They hovered around .500 until July, a month in which they went 15-8 to place themselves firmly in the playoff discussion. But a subpar August (13-15) torpedoed those hopes, and now it looks like they may need to hold off the Yankees in order to avoid another finish at the bottom of the AL East. The final stretch of the season includes seven games against these Orioles.
A healthy Alex Verdugo will help in that effort. Hamstring tightness has caused him to miss a few games in a row, but he’s avoided an IL stint.