Orioles, Red Sox talk down beanball carryover

Stats, LLC

BOSTON -- Will there be a beanfest in Beantown?

That is the big question ahead of the Baltimore Orioles' visit to Fenway Park for a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox that opens Monday night.

The drama began April 21 in Baltimore, when Orioles third baseman Manny Machado spiked Boston's Dustin Pedroia on an eighth-inning slide at second base.

Pedroia said he didn't think the play was dirty, but that wasn't good enough for Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes, who buzzed Machado's head with a pitch in the April 23 series finale.

Barnes was ejected and suspended four games for the incident, and Pedroia has since spoken spoke out against the ill-advised head-hunting.

Pedroia missed three games with left knee and ankle injuries that stemmed from the play, and Barnes returned from his suspension Sunday night to earn a win against the Chicago Cubs.

Don't expect either side to be particularly keen to talk about last weekend's events. Boston's Hanley Ramirez, for one, has already moved on.

"OK, no more talking about what happened in Baltimore. It's over," Ramirez said in the aftermath last week. "We're ready to play baseball out there and keep winning."

Any retaliation from Baltimore could begin with right-hander Dylan Bundy (3-1, 1.65 ERA), who also started the game in which Machado injured Pedroia.

But for now, he is playing coy.

"I don't have any thoughts about it," Bundy said in New York on Sunday. "To me, that's blown over. We're playing baseball now. We try not to worry about stuff that we can't control, so we're just going to go in there and look to win."

Bundy held Boston scoreless on six hits and a walk while fanning three over seven innings in the Orioles' 2-0 victory on April 21.

His first start against the Red Sox this season didn't go as well. On April 11, he surrendered three runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts in a 6 1/3-inning defeat at Fenway.

Bundy is 2-3 with a 4.76 ERA in nine career outings (five starts) versus Boston. He is 1-1 with a 4.02 ERA in five prior appearances (two starts) at Fenway.

He coughed up two solo home runs in a 6 1/3-inning no-decision against the Tampa Bay Rays last Wednesday, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out three.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter considered pushing Bundy back until Tuesday, but said in New York on Saturday that he decided to start him Monday.

Pedroia is 6-for-15 (.400) with three RBIs lifetime against Bundy. Mookie Betts (5-for-15, .333) has a pair of homers and three RBIs versus the right-hander.

Boston's Monday starter, Rick Porcello (1-3, 4.75 ERA), looks to reverse his early-season struggles after a rare four-walk game his last time out against the New York Yankees on Wednesday.

The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner had not walked that many batters since May 29, 2014, a span of 88 starts. He allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and struck out nine.

Like his counterpart, Porcello has also struggled against his Monday opponent, going 4-8 with a 4.88 ERA over 15 career starts against the Orioles.

Adam Jones (11-for-45, .244) has three homers and nine RBIs against Porcello. Chris Davis (8-for-36, .222) and Mark Trumbo (8-for-26, .308) also have three homers and seven RBIs apiece off the right-hander.

Baltimore (15-8) enters the series after losses in two of three games against the Yankees, while Boston (13-11) took two of three games against the visiting Cubs.

The Orioles have won three of their first five games against the Red Sox this season with 14 left to play. Boston went 11-8 in its season series with Baltimore last year.