Red Sox-Orioles: Brad Penny Tries To Remain Boston's Only Undefeated Starter

Of the six losses in nine games start to the 2009 season, Boston Red Sox starting pitchers have taken the loss in five of them. But Brad Penny won his only start against Anaheim, and is already the last remaining undefeated starter on the Red Sox staff.

Penny will try to build upon his first start when he takes the mound Friday against the Baltimore Orioles in the opener of a nine-game home stand at Fenway Park.

Against the Angels last Saturday , Penny threw six quality innings, limiting the Angels to three runs on five hits while throwing just 86 pitches.

Penny's pitch count stands to be extended a bit further in his second start. If he is as efficient as he was against the Angels, he could pitch over seven innings.

With Daisuke Matsuzaka landing on the disabled list with arm fatigue, the Red Sox will need to count on Penny more, perhaps more than he was expecting. Penny said after his first start that he finally felt 100 percent healthy after battling injuries throughout 2008.

“It feels great,” Penny told Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald. “It’s been a long time [since I was healthy]. To go out there and not feel anything on any pitch, it was awesome.”

A newcomer to the American League, Penny has never faced the Baltimore Orioles. But current Orioles hitters are batting .333 off him lifetime; third baseman Ty Wigginton is 7-for-18 with a home run in his career off Penny.

Penny will oppose Baltimore ace Jeremy Guthrie, who owns a 3.43 lifetime ERA against the Red Sox. In four starts against Boston in 2008, Guthrie was 1-2 with a 4.12 ERA, 17 strikeouts, and 12 walks in 24 innings.

Guthrie pitched 8.1 shutout innings at Fenway on May 13, 2007 in the famous "Mother's Day Miracle" game, in which the Red Sox exploded for six runs off the Baltimore bullpen to overcome a five-run deficit.

Penny hopes to be the beneficiary of a sudden explosion of offense from the Red Sox in Oakland. In a near-no-hitter for Tim Wakefield, Boston scored eight runs, including six in the eighth.

Coming back to Fenway may be the best thing for the Red Sox, who still have some early ground to make up in the standings. But with a healthy Penny on the mound, there's reason to be confident in their ability to turn it around.