The All-Star break is over, newly drafted No. 1 overall pick Jackson Holliday has signed and the Orioles are set to start the second half with a series against the division rival New York Yankees.
The Yankees, who were swept in a doubleheader yesterday, come to town losers of seven out of their last 10 games, including a four-game road losing streak. Their other-worldly first half was the talk of baseball, and all eyes will be watching to see if they maintain that pace.
The Orioles are coming off a .500 first half where they finished winning 11 of their final 13 games, with one of the top rotations over the last six weeks.
Of course, the Orioles will play underdog once again, and that’s just fine. The Orioles are 4-9 against the Yankees this year but have given the Bronx Bombers their fair share of struggles.
The goal this year was to show improvement, that has and continues to show and get some fans on the bandwagon.
“They can jump on it. Going into this year, for me, that was the No. 1 goal, was to have our players continue to improve but also show Orioles fans that we are improving and that we’re putting a good product on the field.”
– Orioles manager Brandon Hyde on the bandwagon concept
Of course, Aaron Judge even has taken notice of Baltimore and the catcher (we, of course, know him as Adley Rutschman) the O’s just called up.
The Yankees will start Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes this series. Taillon, who opens the series, is 1-0 with a 3.91 ERA against the Orioles in five career starts.
The Orioles will counter with Tyler Wells, Jordan Lyles and Dean Kremer. Wells is 0-2 in nine career games (three starts) with a 3.32 ERA against New York.
❌️-FACTOR:
The Baltimore Battery ❌-FACTOR for the series will be the Orioles’ starting pitching. The bullpen has been one of the best in the league, but in order to take advantage of the bullpen, the O’s need to have their starting pitching keep games within reach and give five or six innings of work.
This will maximize the strength of the bullpen and let the starting pitching continue it’s run of controlling games. The offense will score its share of runs, so it will be up to the starting pitching to dictate how the game will unfold.
Game 1 Starting Lineup:
First pitch of game one is set for 7:05 p.m. EST. You can catch each game on MASN or on your local Orioles Radio Network station.
How do you see this series playing out? Let us know in the comments below! And make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook and Twitter, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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