The Red Sox Are Coming To Town; Adam Jones; The Rundown...

The Baltimore Orioles tango with the Boston Red Sox, or as I dub them, the Evil Empire 1A tonight and tomorrow at the Yard.

The Red Sox always play us tough; however, this weekend, the Twins took 3 out of 4 from them and they'll be looking maintain their slim division lead (Tampa is 1/2 game back from first in the AL East right now).

The Orioles took three out of four in Kansas City, and despite the excellent pitching from both the starting and relief corps -- they are still struggling woefully on the offensive front.

Matchups:

Tonight: Jeremy Guthrie (1-3, 4.32) vs. Josh Beckett (4-2, 3.70)
Tommorrow: Daniel Cabrera (3-1, 3.54) vs. Jon Lester (2-2, 4.06)

I'd be happy with a split, and even more elated with a sweep in this short two-game series. Game one will be difficult as Beckett seems to back on his game and Guthrie will need a solid effort to win; however, I'm looking eagerly to see game two as it will be a test to see if Cabrera can stifle the Sox potent offense.

The Boston offense is always brutal, and you've got a determined and focused Manny Ramirez looking forward to reaching a milestone, so he's the one in that lineup I am assuredly most afraid of.

For Baltimore, Huff has been leading the way and Bynum has busted open since his return. It looks like Markakis has ended his slump, but Roberts, Jones and several others have been struggling at the plate.

Perhaps home is where the heart is for the Orioles, and they can pick up from their road trip in Kansas City.

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James Baker of Oriole Magic looks at the struggles that Adam Jones has been facing at the majoe leagie level with the Orioles. He points out that many Baltimore fans are a little upset at the lack of success the youngster has shown, and also there was piece by Jeff Zrebiec in the Sun this weekend on that topic.

Whoever is complaining about Jones isn’t seeing the forest from the trees. He’s young and ready tore it up in the minors, so let him get through his lumps at this level.

I think it takes at least 2 years, or maybe roughly 1000 at bats to truly evaluate a player. We have plenty of time on our hands and are not looking to compete for a pennant in 2008, Jones is the future, not so much the present.

People need to relax.

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Kevin Millar has a entry up on the Orioles MLB site about the current slump he's going through. Considering he's a vital part of the offense, as is, he knows all too well that his act needs to get together. He goes on an on about life in 2008, and the struggles the Baltimore team will go through, thus it is a piece worth reading.

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Pete Sabatini laments on the lack of Oriole offense; former Oriole pitching coach Leo Mazzone is bored and restless, so he wants back into MLB in his former position; Nowick Gray of the Orioles Hangout thinks that the loss of Bedard and Tejada have made the Orioles a more cohesive unit; Jon Wilt looks at the pitching stats in the minors; Rick Kranitz is the focus of the PressBox Online cover piece; Aubrey Huff is kicking ass at the plate in the cleanup spot, meanwhile, Garrett Olson is more focused than ever according to the Washington Post.

Finally, I am a little late on this, but Yahoo Sports has a wonderful on Melvin's Mora family honoring Mother's Day...