Ladies and gentlemen, the home stretch is officially upon us.
This roller coaster of a 2024 season possesses one last week, with that week for the Baltimore Orioles beginning with a showdown against the AL-East-leading New York Yankees.
This series, whichever way it turns out, will determine the winner of the AL East. Unfortunately for the O’s, the Yanks are in prime position to lock up the division, as they enter with a six-game lead and only need one victory over the Birds to secure it.
However, this series begins with a plethora of ways the Orioles can clinch both a postseason berth and the top AL Wild Card spot. Regardless of a victory, the Birds will need some help from other clubs.
Hoping to slow down the Yankees’ division championship in game one will be Dean Kremer (7-10, 4.19 ERA), who will opposite Clarke Schmidt (5-4, 2.37 ERA). Game two will feature Zach Eflin (10-9, 3.53 ERA) against Nestor Cortes (9-10, 3.77 ERA). Finally, this series will conclude with the match-up of Corbin Burnes (15-8, 2.95 ERA) vs. Gerrit Cole (7-5, 3.67 ERA), a battle of the aces.
ROSTER MOVES
Prior to the start of this three-game series, the O’s made a roster move many have been hoping to see over the last month.
The club announced that Ryan Mountcastle has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. To make room on the active roster, Eloy Jiménez has been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.
Mountcastle hasn’t played for the Orioles since spraining his left wrist on August 22. During his short rehab assignment with the Tides, Mounty went 1-for-11 with six strikeouts.
Also, Craig Kimbrel, who was designated for assignment last week, cleared waivers and elected free agency.
BATTERY ❌️-FACTOR
The reason the Orioles are still in a clinch situation coming into this series comes down to one thing: small ball. It was completely non-existent against the Detroit Tigers, and eventually, paired with some poor coaching, led to a series loss. In this set, the BATTERY ❌️-FACTOR relies solely upon small ball.
The Yankees are going to hit some home runs, and they’re going to score runs. So can the Orioles. However, going a whole series hitting under .200 with runners in scoring position will be a miserable time if the Birds cannot manufacture runs in other situations.
Against control pitchers like Schmidt, Cortes and Cole, the Orioles have to do everything they can to not enter home run mode as soon they get runners on. Having a high contact bat in Jordan Westburg returning, as well as now being able to utilize Jackson Holliday as a pair of late game legs may go a long way in this one.
GAME 1 STARTING LINEUP
This pivotal series begins on Tuesday evening, with each game scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EST on MASN. You can also catch each game 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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