The Baltimore Orioles have struggled as of late, going 8-11 since taking over first from the New York Yankees.
The Birds were recently swept by the Chicago Cubs and have gone 24 straight innings without scoring a run. The O’s will now welcome the aforementioned Yankees to town, who have had their own struggles since their last meeting with the Birds.
The Yankees have won just five of their last 18 games since they lost two of three to the Orioles in the Bronx. This has allowed the Birds to maintain a two-game lead in the AL East heading into this showdown.
The Orioles are 5-2 against the Yankees this season and can take the season series by winning two of the three games in this three-game set.
The O’s, who are fifth in the majors with a 3.62 ERA and 1.12 WHIP, will send rookie Cade Povich (1-3, 6.51 ERA) to open the series. Povich will be followed by Grayson Rodriguez (11-3, 3.52 ERA) and Dean Kremer (4-5, 4.42 ERA) to close out the first half of the season.
The Yankees will send Gerrit Cole (1-1, 6.75 ERA) to open the series. Luis Gil (9-5, 3.27) and Carlos Rodón (9-7, 4.63 ERA) will round out the series.
The O’s offense has been a little non-existent as of late, being held to just two runs across their last three games. The Birds went a combined 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position during the series with the Cubs, which leads us directly into our BATTERY ❌-FACTOR for this series.
BATTERY ❌-FACTOR
The offense has been struggling as of late, but one area they have struggled mightily all season is when they have runners in scoring position (RISP).
The Orioles are slashing .254/.311/.452/.763 with RISP this season. One of the reasons the O’s are an all or nothing offense is due to their inability to capitalize when runners are 120 feet or less from scoring.
A big factor that will benefit the Orioles going forward and especially in this series will be capitalizing with runners in scoring position.
The big guns HAVE to come through here when the table setters reach base and make the most of these opportunities. With the pitching match-ups, runs might be hard to come by, and both bullpens are strong enough to hold leads.
If the Birds take advantage of these opportunities, they can take the final series before the All-Star break.
GAME 1 STARTING LINEUP
Game one has an expected start time of 7:05 p.m. EST from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Game two is expected at 4:05 p.m. EST on Saturday, and Sunday’s game has an expected start time of 11:35 a.m. EST.
Games one and two will be on MASN and game three on Roku TV. You can also tune in to your local Orioles Radio Network station.
Will the Birds take the season series and end the first half on a bright note, or will the Bronx Bombers knock the Birds off their perch and turn things around? It all starts tonight with a big AL East battle.
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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