The Boston Red Sox, after taking two of their first three series of the 2024 campaign, finally return to Massachusetts to play their first set of games of the year at Fenway Park against the Baltimore Orioles.
On Tuesday, Boston will send Brayan Bello to the mound, and the group of players behind him will line up as follows:
- Jarren Duran LF
- Rafael Devers 3B
- Tyler O’Neill RF
- Triston Casas 1B
- Masataka Yoshida DH
- Ceddanne Rafaela CF
- Enmanuel Valdez 2B
- Reese McGuire C
- David Hamilton SS
Rafaela just received an extension on Monday that's reportedly set to pay him $50 million over eight seasons, so this will be the first time he sees the field since that news broke.
Five members of the Orioles' lineup have hits off of Bello in his young career - Gunnar Henderson (1-for-4), Tony Kemp (1-for-2), Ryan O'Hearn (1-for-2), Adley Rutschman (1-for-5) and Cedric Mullins (4-for-5).
Baltimore is sending out 2021 Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes to the mound for the first game of the series. Only three Red Sox have hit Burnes - Duran (1-for-2), O'Neill (1-for-11 with an RBI and seven strikeouts) and Connor Wong (1-for-2).
This is a huge series early in this season. If Boston can go out and compete with the Orioles, they can prove that they aren't just a team that won some games against some mediocre West Coast teams.
