The first series of the Orioles’ season-longest 10-game homestand went reasonably well. The O’s took advantage of a reeling Tigers team to take two out of three games, though let’s not try to think about the fact that they were one strike away from losing the series.
Now the task gets much tougher with a rematch against the majors’ best team, the Rays, who swept the Orioles at Tropicana Field last week. Tampa Bay enters today with a stupendous 34-16 record, 12.5 games better than the Birds. And it’s
only May.
The Rays will throw Baltimore-born ace lefty Shane McClanahan at the O’s in today’s opener. The good news is that the Orioles actually had some success against him last week, tagging him for four runs, tied for his season worst. The bad news is that the O’s still got destroyed in that game, 16-6, so McClanahan cruised to an easy win. Kyle Bradish gets the start for the Orioles. He pitched well in Tampa Bay last week, holding the Rays to two runs in 5.1 innings, but got no run support. Imagine that.
The Birds, as usual against a lefty, are stacking their lineup with righties, even those who can’t hit against southpaws (most notably Tyler O’Neill, who is 2-for-39 against lefties). The exception is Jackson Holliday, a lefty-swinger who’s getting the start today against McClanahan. He probably wouldn’t be if Coby Mayo were healthy, but the O’s third baseman is still sidelined with a back injury.
Today marks Cedric Mullins’ return to Baltimore for the first time since the O’s traded him last July. He’ll surely receive a standing ovation from the Camden Yards crowd and a nice video tribute on the Jumbotron. Best of luck, Cedric. I hope you have a great game individually while your team loses.
Orioles lineup:
LF Taylor Ward
DH Gunnar Henderson
C Adley Rutschman
1B Pete Alonso
3B Weston Wilson
CF Leody Taveras
SS Blaze Alexander
2B Jackson Holliday
RF Tyler O’Neill
RHP Kyle Bradish
Rays lineup:
LF Chandler Simpson
3B Junior Caminero
1B Jonathan Aranda
DH Yandy Díaz
2B Richie Palacios
CF Cedric Mullins
RF Victor Mesa Jr.
C Hunter Feduccia
SS Taylor Walls
LHP Shane McClanahan
