We have a three game series with the Orioles, at Rogers Centre, starting tonight.
The Orioles are two games behind us, and three games out of the last wild card spot.
They have had a rough time of it lately. They are 2-7 in their last nine games. I hope that continues.
They are a good offensive team, 5th in the AL in runs per game, at 4.50 (Jays are second from the bottom at 4.01).
They are 11th in runs allowed per game at 4.68 (Jays are 6th at 4.27).
The scheduled starters are:
- Tonight: Chris Bassitt (6-5, 4.96) vs. Max Scherzer (2-7, 6.03). Does kind of make you wonder about how the standings would be if we had re-signed Bassitt instead of Scherzer.
- Tomorrow: Kyle Bradish (7-13, 3.91) vs. TBD.
- Sunday: Trevor Rogers (10-9, 4.15) vs. TBD (who seems to get overused).
The team has to decide
if they want Dylan Cease to have an extra day of rest this time through the rotation. Odd are they will announce who is starting the second and third game as soon as I publish.
The Orioles offense is centered around:
- Pete Alonso: Hitting .268/.363/.498 with 34 home runs, 97 RBI, 74 walks and 4.0 bWAR.
Other ‘top WAR’ players:
- Gunnar Henderson: .219/.303/.395 with 22 home runs, and leads the league with 647 PA and a 2.4 bWAR.
- Colton Cowser: .213/.306/.364 with 13 home runs, and a 2.0 bWAR.
They seem to be using a ‘bullpen by committee’, with no reliever in double figured in saves:
- Andrew Kittredge: 3.83 ERA, 9 saves, 5 blown saves. Batters are hitting .282/.320/.431 against him.
- Rico Garcia: 3.03, 7 saves, 6 blown, 18 holds. Batters are hitting .180/.254/.338 against him.
- Anthony Nunez: 4.02, 3 saves, 7 holds. Batters hitting .208/.305/.340.
- Grant Wolfram: Lefty.4.86, 1 save, 12 holds. Lefties hit .281/.354/.382 against him.
- Yennier Cano: 3.20, 3 saves, 13 holds. Batters hit .221/.278/.291.
We still don’t have to run the table. Taking two of three would be good. We play them again in our second last series of the season. Hopefully, those games will still mean something to us by then (or maybe we’ll have wrapped up the Wild Card spot) (let me dream please).
I’m going to be missing for most of today. Taking our middle boy (and my name sake) out for a birthday supper. And I have to make dessert. He asked for a dessert I used to make when he lived here. It is nice to know he has fond memories of something I did for him. So, unless there is major news, there likely won’t be much posted today (other than the GameThread).
