Saturday night Orioles game thread: vs. Dodgers, 7:05pm ET

The O’s celebrate the 30th anniversary of Cal Ripken’s 2131 while looking to take another game from the Dodgers.

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Where to watch: MASN/MASN+

Probable pitchers: LHP Trevor Rogers (8-2, 1.39 ERA, 81 K) vs. RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-8, 2.82 ERA, 167 K)

It’s hard to follow up Samuel Basallo hitting a walk-off home run (his first in Camden Yards no less) to beat the reigning champions and baseball’s best player. That what’s the Orioles will try to do tonight, while celebrating the 30th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig’s Iron Man streak.

The O’s turn to de facto ace Trevor Rogers as they try to clinch

a series win against the defending champs. The reigning AL Pitcher of the Month is on a streak of his own coming into tonight’s game. In all six of his starts in August, Rogers allowed exactly one earned run. Not only is Rogers’ 1.39 ERA the best ever for an Orioles pitcher in his first 14 starts of a season, but the dominant lefty hasn’t allowed more than one run in his last seven appearances—posting a 1.10 ERA in that stretch.

More importantly, though, is that the Orioles tend to win a lot when Rogers is on the mound. Baltimore is 11-3 when the 27-year-old left-hander toes the rubber, and 4-1 in Camden Yards. Rogers will look to continue his season-long hot streak against a Dodgers team that is mostly unfamiliar to him.

Despite spending the bulk of his career in the National League, Rogers has only faced LA once in his career. That start in 2021 saw him go 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB and 8 Ks in a 5-4 Marlins win. The only player on this Dodgers team who has more than one hit off Rogers is All-Star 1B Freddie Freeman, who’s 2-for-8 with a single, double and 2 Ks.

While Rogers has little familiarity with the Dodgers’ lineup, LA starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto is a complete unknown to the Orioles. The second-year import from Japan was on the IL when the Orioles traveled to LA last season, so he’ll be both facing the O’s and pitching in Camden Yards for the first time today. Yamamoto has been the Dodgers’ best starter this season, and has generally faired well against AL opponents. In 11 career Interleague games, Yamamoto has a 3.20 ERA and .214 BAA.