Are you ready for 6+ hours of Orioles/Astros action? Well, too bad. You’re getting it anyway.
Last night’s rainout has set up the Orioles’ first doubleheader of the season. They’ll play their regularly scheduled 12:35 game followed by the makeup game about half an hour after the first one finishes.
Last season the Orioles played five doubleheaders, getting progressively better at them as the year went on. The O’s were swept in the first two, split the next one, and did the sweeping in the last two.
The only time the O’s and Astros have ever played each other in a doubleheader was on Sept. 29, 2018, when Houston won both games.
The scheduled starting pitchers from Wednesday’s rainout, righties Chris Bassitt and Peter Lambert, will both take the hill in the first game this afternoon. Lambert, a former Colorado Rockies washout, is back in the U.S. after pitching in Nippon Professional Baseball in 2025. He’s filling in for a more high-profile Japanese import, Tatsuya Imai, who landed on Houston’s injured list after three ineffective starts and reportedly has had trouble adjusting to MLB and American culture. As someone who wanted the Orioles to sign Imai, I’ll admit he probably wouldn’t have improved the Orioles’ fortunes up to this point in 2026.
Opposing Lambert is Bassitt, who finally picked up his first Orioles win in his most recent start, but it certainly wasn’t a good one. He gave up five runs in 5.1 innings in Kansas City and was fortunate that the O’s scored eight runs to support him. Bassitt has a 6.75 ERA in five starts as an Oriole and is now facing a quality offense in the Astros. Yordan Alvarez in particular has crushed Bassitt with five career home runs in just 26 PAs. Chris, please don’t pitch to Alvarez. Game 2 of the doubleheader will feature the Orioles’ Brandon Young against Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr.
Game 1 lineups
ASTROS
SS Carlos Correa
LF Yordan Alvarez
3B Isaac Paredes
1B Christian Walker
2B Jose Altuve
DH Yainer Diaz
CF Brice Matthews
LF Dustin Harris
C Christian Vázquez
RHP Peter Lambert
ORIOLES
DH Gunnar Henderson
LF Taylor Ward
C Adley Rutschman
1B Pete Alonso
RF Dylan Beavers
2B Jeremiah Jackson
CF Colton Cowser
3B Coby Mayo
SS Blaze Alexander
RHP Chris Bassitt
