Major League Baseball is slowly becoming the sandlot playground for the Baltimore Orioles.
From being swept once in two years to becoming the first team to not be defeated in 22 straight division series, the Orioles are having fun and making it exciting in each game.
After wollaping the Yankees 17-5 to win the series in the Bronx, the Orioles have improved to 14-6 during one of the toughest stretches of baseball this year. A stretch that has seen them play the top two teams in the NL East and top team in the AL, handedly winning each of those series.
The Birds now land in Houston for a three-game set with the Astros, a team many have modeled the O’s after.
The Astros are 35-40 and clinging to second place in the AL West, eight games behind the Seattle Mariners. The Orioles are 49-25 and are a half game behind the Yankees in the AL East, also tied for the second best record in baseball.
Fitting that the Orioles will be playing in Houston, where the Birds will send out some jet fuel. The kid from Texas, Grayson Rodriguez (8-2, 3.20 ERA), will open the series for Baltimore.
Rodriguez is 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA across three starts in June and has not allowed more than two runs in any outing this month. For the season, Rodriguez has only two games in which he has allowed more than two runs in 12 starts.
The Orioles will follow Rodriguez with Corbin Burnes (8-2, 2.14 ERA), who has 12 quality starts in 15 outings this year. Like Rodriguez, Burnes has only allowed more than two runs in three outings this season. Albert Suárez (3-1, 2.05 ERA) will round out the rotation for the series.
The Astros will send 22-year-old rookie Jake Bloss (0-0,—) to the mound to make his Major League debut in the series opener. He will be followed by Ronel Blanco (7-2, 2.43 ERA) and Framber Valdez (5-5, 3.91 ERA) to close out the series.
BATTERY ❌-FACTOR
The Orioles have been playing some strong team ball. They have picked one another up and have a never-give-up mentality.
It’s easy to see how dominating they have been, and one thing that they need to be careful of is the winning trap. After taking out the two top teams in baseball, the Birds must not let off the gas petal and go into Houston, expecting an easy time.
That’s why our BATTERY ❌-FACTOR for this series will be the Birds’ ability to continue playing their game by attacking pitchers, playing smart ball and simply having fun.
The ability to come off a high from drubbing the Yankees and winning a series in the Bronx and continue playing their game will be a key to the Orioles’ ability to win this series. It’s as simple as that.
GAME 1 STARTING LINEUP
The first game of this set starts at 8:10 p.m. EST at Minute Maid Park. Game two will be at 4:10 p.m. EST, with the final game on Sunday at 2:10 p.m. EST. You can catch each game on MASN or on your local Orioles Radio Network station.
Will the Birds show Houston that there’s a new sheriff in town, or will the Astros show the O’s why they have been the top AL team for the last decade?
Find out tonight, as this three-game series gets under way.
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