BOSTON — Tryouts for the 2015 Boston Red Sox are continuing at Fenway Park.

Brandon Workman will get his chance to impress in a Wednesday afternoon start against the Orioles.

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Anthony Ranaudo, a former Portland Sea Dog, lasted only 3 innings Tuesday night for Boston in losing to the Orioles. He gave up thee homers, raising his ERA to 5.40. The Associated Press

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Anthony Ranaudo did not make the most of his opportunity on Tuesday, which happened to be his 25th birthday.

After four respectable starts, Ranaudo failed to get out of the fourth inning against Baltimore, allowing four runs on six hits, three of them home runs.

These may seem to be meaningless games for the last-place Red Sox, but the Boston front office and Manager John Farrell are watching carefully.

Spring training may be the time when a roster is put together, but the foundation for those decisions are being put together now.

“This is a completely different environment than spring training,” Farrell said. “This is the best gauge that we have available to us to factor in decision-making in the offseason.

“That’s why spring training vs. now, seeing them against everyday major league lineups, this is a key time for us.”

And it’s big for Ranaudo, who is trying to follow two straight Pitcher of the Year seasons (Eastern League, 2013; International League, 2014) with a spot in the 2015 Red Sox rotation.

Heading into Tuesday’s game, Ranaudo looked good. He was 3-1 with a 4.63 ERA, averaging almost six innings a start.

“The mound presence has been good,” Farrell said. “There’s been a willingness to pitch off his fastball and attack the strike zone.

“With each successive start, there’s been a better definition of three pitches (fastball, curve and change-up).”

If there is a concern about Ranaudo, it appears he is hittable, especially if he’s not precise with his fastball.

That was true Tuesday.

All three home runs came on fastballs between 90 and 91 mph.

In his five starts, Ranaudo has allowed eight home runs. The ERA is 5.40.

And the 31/3-inning effort will also count against him. Farrell is looking for pitchers to go deeper into games, say seven innings.

“If they’ve got the ability to get 21 outs instead of 15, that’s a world of difference,” Farrell said.

The Red Sox jettisoned Felix Doubront because, for all his talent, he could not go deep into games.

We keep hearing about Allen Webster’s nasty “stuff.” But his ERA is 6.47 and he averages five innings per start.

Brandon Workman broke out as a reliever in the 2013 postseason. As a starter this year, he’s averaging about 52/3 innings, but with a 5.08 ERA.

Rubby De La Rosa (4-6, 4.01) seems to have the best chance among the young pitchers, averaging over 52/3 innings a game. He’s faded recently, going 0-2, 6.19 in his last five starts.

There a couple of wild-card options, including knuckleball pitcher Steven Wright, who has made two long relief appearances (nine innings, one run).

Matt Barnes has been a starter in Pawtucket all year (2.16 ERA in August) and made his major league debut Tuesday, in relief: three innings, three hits, no runs, two strikeouts. Does he get a chance to start with Boston?

Boston expects to return Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly to the rotation and an ATBNL (ace to be named later). And if the Red Sox don’t like what they’re seeing from their young arms, they may go shopping for more.

“We know that we have to continually address the pitching staff,” Farrell said. “That’s not to slight the guys that are here now. That’s just to get the best assessment that we can and to put together a pitching staff that will be improved over this year.

“We don’t know what or who will be available, or what changes or addition we might make. Knowing our own people would be the priority right now.”

Tryouts will continue through Sept. 28.

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