The Baltimore Orioles currently hold the fourth best record in baseball and the third best in the American League.
As they continue a stretch referred to as “Hell Month,” the depth and health of the team are being challenged like never before.
The Orioles recently lost John Means and Tyler Wells to season-ending injuries, Jorge Mateo is in concussion protocol and Dean Kremer is on the 15-day injured list in arguably the most difficult stretch of the season.
The good news is that GM Mike Elias has built a team fashioned to deal with these issues, and it will be put to the test against the Tampa Bay Rays, whom the Orioles open a four-game series with starting tonight.
What is different from the last series, played a week ago, is that the Orioles have Connor Norby and Cade Povich up, both showing why they are high prospects in the organization.
With Austin Hays’ bat starting to come around, Anthony Santander on a hot steak and Adley Rutschman doing Adley Rutschman things, the Orioles possess a lineup that has a +86 run differential and has scored three or more runs in the last 15 games.
The O’s have named Cole Irvin (5-2, 2.84 ERA) as the game one starter for the series but have not announced who will pitch the following three games.
For the Rays, Aaron Civale (2-4, 5.37 ERA) will open the series and will be followed by Taj Bradley (1-3, 5.81 ERA), Zack Littell (2-3, 3.87 ERA) and Ryan Pepiot (4-2, 3.96 ERA).
The Orioles’ offense leads the league in home runs (95) and slugging percentage (.445), is third in OPS (.753) and RBIs (302) and is fourth in runs scored (311). The lineup from top to bottom is one of the most dangerous in the league and has allowed the Birds to improve to 15-0-6 against the AL East since last April.
With eight players totaling six or more home runs in the lineup, that brings us to our BATTERY ❌-FACTOR for the series.
BATTERY ❌-FACTOR
The Rays have allowed the third most home runs as a pitching staff and have the sixth highest ERA in the majors. This puts all the focus on the Orioles’ offense to produce, mainly with the long ball.
One way the Birds can take advantage of the pitching staff and help their own starters is to insert the long ball as part of their offensive production.
Gunnar Henderson (18), Adley Rutschman (12), Anthony Santander (12) and Ryan Mountcastle (10) are pacing the team in home runs and each have been catalysts over the last two series in producing home runs and leading the offense.
How many long balls can the Orioles produce in the series will be a determining factor in how the series plays out and if the Birds can keep their AL East dominance alive.
GAME 1 STARTING LINEUP
The series will be played at Tropicana Field, with the first game starting at 6:50 p.m. EST. Game two is at 4:10 p.m. EST, game three at 1:40 p.m. EST and game four at 6:50 p.m. EST.
Will the Birds find a nest at the Trop, or will the Rays turn the Trop into a stormy time? It all starts tonight in Tampa.
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 (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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