After an off-day today, the Orioles will welcome the Seattle Mariners to Baltimore for a three-game series starting tomorrow.
The scheduled pitching match-ups are:
5/11: Cliff Lee vs. Hernandez
5/12: Ryan Rowland-Smith vs. Bergesen
5/13: Felix Hernandez vs. Millwood
7-7 in their last 14 games, the O’s are slowly starting to play better. To show real tangible improvement, you have to win games, and take series. Seattle has a 12-19 record, and is in last-place in the American League West. 2-8 in their last 10 games, the Mariners will come to Charm City with a new hitting coach after firing Alan Cockrell.
While the O’s need to have the mentality of taking 2 of 3, getting that series win is going to be difficult to achieve with Baltimore having to face both Lee, and Hernandez.
The Mariners have a number of bats in their lineup who are due for a raise in their production (Kotchman, Lopez, Figgins all jump out to me). Figgins is having a miserable time in his first-year in a Mariners uniform. After coming off a 2009 season with an onbase % of .362, his 2010 onbase % is just .326. To Figgins’ credit, he has already earned 26 walks on the season.
Getting back to the Orioles, these starts for Hernandez and Bergesen should be interesting. You would have to believe Hernandez is pitching for his right to remain in the rotation. Bergesen is coming off of his best start of the year, and you want to see if he can show some consistency.
Adam Jones had 4 hits and a walk against the Twins. Keep him lower in the lineup and see if he can start to put it together.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.