Afternoon Red Sox Delight – 7/8

Zach Britton (L), Josh Beckett (R)

After winning and jumping back into first place in the AL East last night, the Boston Red Sox look to remain there AL in game two of a four-game set with the Baltimore Orioles tonight at Fenway Park.

Tonight’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and you can watch the game on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Orioles television market, you can catch the game on MASN. And if you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.

Here’s the latest update on the weather from the Red Sox:

The current weather forecast (provided by the Red Sox private weather service, Telvent DTN) in the vicinity of Fenway Park calls for showers and thunderstorms during the late afternoon and evening hours.

All Fenway Park gates will open as regularly scheduled at 5:40 p.m. with a limited opening on Yawkey Way at 5:10 p.m. The Red Sox hope that tonight’s game against the Baltimore Orioles, which is scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m., will be played. However, the Red Sox want to alert our fans to the possibility of a delay.

This forecast is of course subject to change as the evening progresses. Additional updates will be provided as necessary.

Josh Beckett will make his final start before heading to Phoenix on Sunday for the 2011 MLB All-Star Game. He’s made 16 starts this season and is 7-3 with a 2.12 ERA. He’s made one start against the Orioles in 2011 that came back on April 27 at Camden Yards. In that start, Beckett received a no decision after allowing four runs in six innings. He’s made 15 career starts against the Orioles and is 6-3 with a 3.68 ERA. Four of those starts have come at the Fens where he is 1-1 with a 5.25 ERA.

Rookie Zach Britton makes his 18th start of 2011 for the Orioles. In his previous 17 starts, Britton is 6-6 with a 3.47 ERA. His only career start against the Red Sox came on April 26th at Camden Yards. In that start, he picked up the win after allowing one run in six innings of work.

Click on the read more button below to see tonight’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day if you’re on the home page.

Here are this evening’s lineups:

36-49		52-35
1. J.J. Hardy	SS	1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF
2. Nick Markakis	RF	2. Dustin Pedroia	2B
3. Adam Jones	CF	3. Adrian Gonzalez	1B
4. Vladimir Guerrero	DH	4. Kevin Youkilis	3B
5. Matt Wieters	C	5. David Ortiz	DH
6. Derek Lee	1B	6. Jason Varitek	C
7. Mark Reynolds	3B	7. Marco Scutaro	SS
8. Felix Pie	LF	8. Darnell McDonald	RF
9. Robert Andino	SS	9. Yamaico Navarro	LF
Zach Britton	SP	Josh Beckett	SP