Thursday night Orioles game thread: vs. Astros, 7:15pm ET

Basallo and Beavers make their Baltimore debuts as the Orioles try to dominate the slumping Astros again.

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Where to watch: FOX/Fox Sports

Probable pitchers: RHP Brandon Young (1 – 6, 5.68 ERA, 46 K) vs. RHP Jason Alexander (3 – 1, 4.74 ERA, 35 K)

For the first time in their major league careers, Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers will play in front of the Camden Yards faithful tonight, as the Orioles take on the Astros. It will almost certainly be the most excitement Camden Yards has seen since Cedric Mullins made a couple of highlight reel catches in his final appearances before being traded. The only downside

of tonight is that Kevin Brown, Ben McDonald and Jim Palmer won’t be on the call, as the O’s get the national TV treatment on FOX’s Baseball Night in America.

With news breaking right before the game that Adley Rutschman will be heading back to the IL, Basallo gets the start at catcher and may see more time behind the dish going forward. The 21-year-old phenom got his first start behind the plate on Monday, and helped guide Trevor Rogers throw seven innings of one-run ball in a 6-3 Orioles win.

Rogers was extremely complimentary of Basallo’s ability to work in tandem with the pitching coaches and help him navigate a potent Red Sox lineup. Hopefully, the same will be true when Basallo gets to work with Brandon Young for the first time.

If not for the home debuts of Basallo and Beavers, tonight would be known as the game after Young almost threw a perfect game. It’s not often that you throw eight innings of one-hit ball and then get to face the same team the next time out, but such is Young’s reality today. The 26-year-old rookie said that one of the things that helped him dominate the Astros last time out was side work he did with Rogers, dissecting his previous start and working on pitch sequencing.

With Basallo having worked with Rogers previously, hopefully, he and Young can get on that same track toward another dominant start vs. Houston. When Mike Mussina almost pitched a perfect game for the Orioles in 1997, he came back the next start and gave the O’s 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER and 2 K. If Young could do something similar tonight, it’d put the Orioles in a great position to take the series opener.

It’s worth noting that Camden Yards hasn’t exactly been friendly to Young throughout his early career. In six career home starts, the big Texan has an 8.10 ERA, vs. a 3.16 ERA in five outings away from Baltimore. We’ll see if his familiarity with the Astros helps him reverse those home splits tonight.