Felix Doubront

Felix Doubront will look to build upon his first win since mid-July as he and the Red Sox look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Orioles, who continue their playoff surge.

Following a seven-start stretch when he went 0-4 with an 8.39 ERA, Doubront (11-9, 5.08 ERA) comes into Sunday’s game with back-to-back quality starts. On Sept. 13 against the Yankees, Doubront had one of his better outings of the season, pitching 6 1/3 innings and giving up two runs, but took the loss in a 2-0 New York victory. However, in his most recent start, Doubront gave up three runs over six innings against the Rays and earned his first victory since July 18.

Unlike the rest of the Red Sox rotation, Doubront has limited exposure to the Orioles lineup after making his first career start against Baltimore on May 22 of this season. Doubront gave up two runs in six innings of work in that start but took the loss as the Orioles went on to win 4-1. Before that, Doubront had only appeared twice out of the bullpen against Baltimore, giving up two runs in an inning in 2010 before pitching two scoreless innings against them in 2011.

In his nine career innings against the Orioles, Doubront has given up four runs, all of which have come from home runs. Fortunately for Doubront, only one current Oriole (Steven Tolleson) hit one of those home runs while the rest have posted meager numbers against the left-hander. As a group, the Baltimore lineup is hitting .233 against Doubront with an OPS of just .636 and no extra-base hits other than Tolleson’s home run.

Taking the mound opposite Doubront will be one of the Orioles’ young upstarts in the starting rotation, 24-year-old Chris Tillman. In two of the past three outings, Tillman looked tremendous, shutting out the White Sox through six innings on Aug. 28. However, he would leave his Sept. 2 start against the Yankees after three innings with an elbow injury. Since then, he has returned to the rotation, looking solid in a one-run, six-inning outing against the Mariners on Sept. 17.

Boasting a 8-2 record with a 3.22 ERA, Tillman has been one of the most consistent cogs in the Baltimore rotation since his first appearance on July 4. One of those losses, though, came at the hands of the Red Sox on Aug. 16. Tillman ended up throwing his third shortest outing of the season at 4 2/3 innings and gave up three runs in the process. Despite the brevity of the outing, Tillman was still forced to throw 110 pitches in the outing, his third-highest total of the season.

Tillman has made one career start at Fenway Park back in 2011 and shut down the Red Sox lineup, throwing five shutout innings. Over his career, though, Tillman’s numbers are less impressive: 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA. Against the lineup he’ll face Sunday, Tillman’s numbers look even worse. In 27 plate appearances against him, the Red Sox lineup is hitting .360 with a .847 OPS against Tillman.

Orioles vs. Doubront (LHP)

Chris Davis (5 plate appearances): .200 BA/.200 OBP/.200 SLG

Adam Jones (5): .400/.400/.400, 2 strikeouts

Matt Wieters (5): .000/.200/.000, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts

Robert Andino (4): .000/.000/.000, 2 strikeouts

Nick Markakis (4): .750/.750/.750, 1 RBI, 2 walks

Wilson Betemit (3): .000/.333/.000, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

J.J. Hardy (3): .000/.333/.000, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Xavier Avery (2): .000/.000/.000

Steven Tolleson (2): .500/.500/2.000, 1 home run, 2 RBIs, 1 strikeout

Red Sox vs. Tillman (RHP)

Dustin Pedroia (8 plate appearances): .429 BA/.500 OBP/.571 SLG, 1 double, 1 RBI 1 walk

Jacoby Ellsbury (4): .167/.167/.167, 1 strikeout

Danny Valencia (3): .333/.333/.333, 1 RBI

Mike Aviles (2): .500/.500/.500, 1 RBI

Pedro Ciriaco (2): 1.000/1.000/1.000, 1 walk

Scott Podsednik (2): .500/.500/.500, 1 RBI, 1 strikeout

Cody Ross (2): .500/.500/1.000, 1 double

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (2): .000/.000/.000, 1 strikeout