Is there a better way to spend your Fathers’ Day weekend than by watching the Orioles and Phillies face off in a sold-out postseason-esque series?
Luckily for all you fathers out there, that is exactly how you will get to spend your weekend. This Friday through Sunday, the Phillies come to town in a match-up of the AL and NL’s best.
This set will feature some premiere pitching match-ups. Game one will be Kyle Bradish (2-0, 2.62 ERA) vs. Ranger Suárez (10-1, 1.81 ERA), with game two’s match-up being Grayson Rodriguez (7-2, 3.27 ERA) against Taijuan Walker (3-1, 5.40 ERA) and finally game three featuring Corbin Burnes (7-2, 2.08 ERA) vs Zach Wheeler (8-3, 2.16 ERA).
The starters will have a real test this weekend facing the Phillies lineup. Luckily, the rotation the Birds will be sending out are all on fire as of late, highlighted by the ace in Burnes, who has pitched seven innings in all of his last three starts.
In those starts, Burnes has allowed just four runs with 16 strikeouts. There truly is no better way to go into a game three against a team like the Phillies.
For the Orioles, this series precedes a long awaited off-day. What that means is they are on their 15th, 16th and 17th straight days of playing. The starters providing length in this series will be crucial, as the bullpen got worked a little more than what we would have hoped in game three against the Braves.
BATTERY ❌️-FACTOR
The most exciting thing about this series is each team’s powerful lineups facing off. Our BATTERY ❌️-FACTOR for this series is actually about the less powerful part of the lineup.
We know the bats of Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Ryan Mountcastle are needed for success. However, the strong part of the Phillies’ lineup matches up and maybe even beats the beef of the Orioles’ lineup with bats like Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos.
The bottom of the lineup bats must produce and get on base for the aforementioned strength of the Oriole lineup. Luckily, Cedric Mullins has heated up recently with five hits in his last seven games, and Austin Hays is hitting an eye-opening .351 with eight extra-base hits since his return from the IL on May 15.
How the bottom portion of the lineup fares against the Phillies will play a huge role in this series.
GAME 1 STARTING LINEUP
This series kicks off on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. EST, with games two and three starting at 4:05 and 1:35 p.m. EST, respectively. 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 (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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