Daisuke Matsuzaka

There is indeed life for the Red Sox after a three-game sweep of the Yankees, even if said sweep was the first to occur in the Bronx since April 2004. That life begins quickly Monday night when Boston, the newest member of the .500 club at 20-20, sets its sights on the Baltimore Orioles (19-20) in the first of a two-game set at Fenway Park. Daisuke Matsuzaka will try to extend the winning streak when he takes the hill against Baltimore’s Chris Tillman.

Matsuzaka (3-3, 4.64 ERA) will take the hill on seven days’ rest, his longest break between starts this season, after being skipped over in the Yankees series. This will be the third time in 2011 that the righty has pitched on more than the regular four days between outings. The extra time off worked quite well back on Patriots Day when Matsuzaka surrendered just one hit and one walk over seven innings in a 9-1 Sox win over Toronto after resting for six days. However 11 days later in his second start with extra rest (five days), he lasted just four innings (3H, 3R, 1 ER, 4BB, 4K) before leaving early with what was deemed elbow stiffness.

In nine career starts against the O’s, the 30-year-old is 4-3 with a 5.73 ERA. Current Baltimore hitters have performed fairly well, led by switch-hitting catcher Matt Wieters’s 6-for-11 performance. With almost twice the experience, Brian Roberts (9-for-20, 4 doubles) has performed equally as admirably.

But if those numbers look scary for the Sox’ prospects of finally bursting through the .500 bubble, those hopes may be restored by looking at the stats for Tillman (2-3, 6.15). The Baltimore righty’s ERA is the highest among the five starters of a staff that ranks second-to-last in the American League in that category.

Tillman only has one career start against Boston and was knocked around for four earned runs over just 1-1/3 innings of work in an 11-0 loss on June 4 of last season. Although lefty Carl Crawford (6-for-12, two triples) may be the only Sox player with more than three appearances against the Baltimore righty, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis may be the biggest benefactors of Tillman’s start Monday night as right-handed hitters have blasted him to the tune of a .352 average in 2011. By comparison, lefties are hitting nearly .100 points lower at .253.

ORIOLES VS. MATSUZAKA

Nick Markakis (27 career plate appearances): .238 BA/.407 OBP/.333 SLG, 4 RBI, 2 doubles, 6 walks, 5 strikeouts

Brian Roberts (25): .450/560/.650, 5 doubles, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts

Luke Scott (20): .308/.500/.615, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 double, 6 walks, 3 strikeouts

Vladimir Guerrero (12): .364/.417/.364, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Matt Wieters (12): .545/.583/1.000, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 doubles, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Cesar Izturis (9): .222/.222/.222, 2 strikeouts

Adam Jones (9): .286/.444/.286, 1 RBI, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Felix Pie (9): .111/.111/.222, 4 strikeouts

J.J. Hardy (3): .000/.000/.000, 2 strikeouts

Robert Andino, Jake Fox, Derrek Lee and Mark Reynolds have never faced the Boston starter.

RED SOX VS. TILLMAN

Carl Crawford (12 career plate appearances): .500 BA/.500 OBP/.917 SLG, 1 RBI, 1 double, 2 triples, 1 strikeout

Dustin Pedroia has a hit, a walk and an RBI in two career plate appearances against the Baltimore starter. J.D. Drew hit a two-run double, David Ortiz walked and Kevin Youkilis struck out in their only plate appearances.

Mike Cameron, Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez, Jed Lowrie, Darnell McDonald, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Varitek have never faced Tillman.