The Orioles come home from Canada after a fantastic four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays. The O’s took the series win 3-1 and will now face the New York Mets from Camden Yards.
The Mets are 50-58 coming into this series after being swept by the Kansas City Royals in a three-game series. The Orioles enter this series 67-42 and remain first in the AL East division.
It’s been a tale of two different seasons for these organizations. The Mets were heavy sellers, trading away Hall of Fame starters Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, along with closer David Robertson and outfielders Mark Canha and Tommy Pham.
The Orioles, on the other hand, were buyers, landing former Cardinals ace Jack Flaherty and international bullpen arm Shintaro Fujinami, thanks to having the best record in the American League.
This series marks the first time former O’s skipper Buck Showalter has returned to Baltimore since 2018. It’s also a big weekend for the organization, as a celebration for the 40th anniversary of the 1983 World Series will be held prior to Friday’s game.
Are the O’s likely to take this series with the Mets and widen the gap between them and the Rays? Let’s take a look at the match-ups.
MOUND MATCH-UPS
Friday 8/4 – 7:05 p.m.: Dean Kremer RHP (10-4, 4.66 ERA) vs. David Peterson LHP (3-7, 5.92 ERA)
Saturday 8/5 – 7:05 p.m.: Kyle Gibson (10-6, 4.53 ERA) vs. TBD
Sunday 8/6 – 1:35 p.m.: Kyle Bradish (7-6, 3.32 ERA) vs. Jose Quintana (0-2, 3.57 ERA)
BATTERY ❌-FACTOR
Approaching this series, the Orioles have improved their pitching greatly. The Mets this season are very 50/50 on scoring high on pitchers. If their lineup has a good day, they could hit over seven runs, but more often than not, they are a low-scoring club.
The Mets also in the past few weeks are scoring late in games, and with how good the O’s pitching staff has been in recent weeks, this could anticipate a low-scoring series for the Mets. Although many of the Mets’ batters have faced veteran Kyle Gibson in their careers, none have faced Dean Kremer nor Kyle Bradish.
The three O’s starting pitchers overall have a winning record, while the Mets two available pitchers have losing records. With the notion of Baltimore’s pitching level in comparison to the Mets’ hitting ability, O’s pitching is this series’ BATTERY ❌-FACTOR.
GAME 1 STARTING LINEUP
This three-game interleague series begins tonight, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EST on Friday and Saturday and 1:35 p.m. EST on Sunday afternoon. 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! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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