The Orioles and Blue Jays split a four-game set in Camden Yards only a week ago. The peculiarities of MLB scheduling have brought them together once again, this time in Toronto. It’s a three-game set this time, so one team will walk away as a series winner and the other will be a series loser. They open with identical 30-33 records. There will be some separation here.
It is important for the Orioles to keep stacking series wins so that they can keep progressing towards getting, and then staying, above
.500. Depending on results elsewhere in MLB today, the Orioles could actually end today in a postseason spot. That would take an O’s win as well as losses by the Rangers and Athletics. Since this is a pathetic field for the third wild card spot so far this season, just sitting in that spot wouldn’t make me feel like the team has durably improved. I want to see, you know, actual durable improvement.
Can they do it? Maybe! Tonight, they’re going to get a rematch against Jays starter Trey Yesavage, against whom they only scored a single run over five innings last Saturday. This despite Yesavage giving up seven walks! That wasn’t good from the Orioles offense. They ended up coming back and winning that game later, as you probably remember. But also it would be nice to not have to come back.
Heading into tonight, the Orioles are batting just .227/.310/.368 on the road. That is going to need to improve if they are going to go somewhere better this season.
Orioles lineup
- Taylor Ward – LF
- Gunnar Henderson – SS
- Adley Rutschman – C
- Pete Alonso – 1B
- Samuel Basallo – DH
- Coby Mayo – 3B
- Colton Cowser – RF
- Leody Taveras – CF
- Jackson Holliday – 2B
It is a true statement that Brandon Young is the Orioles starting pitcher with the lowest ERA. If you had told me this in March, I would have assumed that the Orioles were on a 100+ loss trajectory. At times in May, you could be concerned they might have been heading for that trajectory. Young was actually not part of the reason, though. He brings a 3.35 into this game. If he can keep an ERA under like 4.20 all season, Mike Elias will finally have a success story for an amateur starting pitcher he signed and developed.
Blue Jays lineup
- George Springer – DH
- Nathan Lukes – RF
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – 1B
- Daulton Varsho – CF
- Ernie Clement – 2B
- Jesús Sánchez – LF
- Kazuma Okamoto – 3B
- Andrés Giménez – 2B
- Brandon Valenzuela – C
Cito still sucks.
