Coming off a glorious series victory in St. Louis, the Baltimore Orioles look to continue their surprisingly good play in Comerica Park against old friend Jonathan Schoop and the Detroit Tigers.
The O’s are actually coming off three series victories out of their last four, while winning eight out of their last 12 games. The last series loss came against the Yankees back on April 26-28.
Oriole fans will see a couple of familiar faces, one being former farm arm Eduardo Rodriguez, who will start game one for the Tigers. The second is Jonathan Schoop, the much beloved former O’s second baseman.
This will be a fun series against two rebuilding teams, both of whom are decently far along in their respective rebuilds.
Believe it or not, the Orioles are well favored in this set. The Tigers come in at a very disappointing 9-23, while the Orioles sit at 14-18.
The Birds will send their best three arms to the mound, starting with Jordan Lyles in game one, followed by Bruce Zimmermann and Tyler Wells in games two and three. For the Tigers, Michael Pineda will follow Rodriguez in game two and Tarik Skubal in game three.
The Orioles may be without a few key pieces in this series. Austin Hays is dealing with a laceration on his hand caused by having his hand stepped on while sliding into first last series. Ramón Urías is also still battling abdominal pain, which leaves the door open for Rylan Bannon to get more starts in this series.
In a stadium shaped like Comerica Park, defense and timely hitting will be of utmost importance over the long ball, as this is one of the hardest stadiums to hit a lot of them. Tyler Nevin has started to heat up, so look for him to have a good series.
Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander have been offensive leaders thus far, and they look to continue that in this series. With production coming from the bottom of the lineup from guys like Jorge Mateo and Nevin, Santander and Mullins’ at-bats become even more important.
The Baltimore Battery’s ❌-Factor for this series will be timely hitting from the offense. The O’s offense will see three pretty good starters, followed by a bullpen that is not so good.
It will be important for this lineup to take advantage of each opportunity, especially later in the games when our stellar bullpen can help hold down the Tigers’ lineup.
Roster Moves:
The Orioles have announced that they have reinstated Jorge López off the bereavement list. López missed all of the Cardinals series.
Additionally, Ryan Mountcastle has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left wrist/forearm strain, retroactive to May 11.
Game 1 Starting Lineups:
Detroit Tigers (9-23):
1. Robbie Grossman RF
2. Javier Báez SS
3. Miguel Cabrera DH
4. Jeimer Candelario 3B
5. Jonathan Schoop 2B
6. Willi Castro LF
7. Spencer Torkelson 1B
8. Tucker Barnhart C
9. Derek Hill CF
SP. Eduardo Rodriguez LHP (0-2, 4.50)
Baltimore Orioles (14-18):
1. Cedric Mullins CF
2. Jorge Mateo SS
3. Trey Mancini DH
4. Anthony Santander RF
5. Tyler Nevin 1B
6. Rougned Odor 2B
7. Rylan Bannon 3B
8. Robinson Chirinos C
9. Chris Owings LF
SP. Jordan Lyles RHP (2-2, 4.05 ERA)
For good measure, just because I want to, the Orioles currently sit 2.5 games ahead of the last place Boston Red Sox!
You can catch each game MASN or on your local Orioles Radio Network station. Game one is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. EST, with game two at 4:10 p.m. EST and game three at 1:40 p.m. EST.
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