The Orioles are coming off of a lost series in Milwaukee, and are heading to Houston having lost 6 of their last 10 overall. One game over .500 (26-25), Baltimore has fallen 4.5 games behind Toronto in the American League East.

Houston has won 5 in a row, and enjoying the first tangible benefits of their rebuilding as ‘The George Springer Show’ has been unleashed on the American League.

Despite the 5 game winning streak, the Astros remain 10 games under .500 overall, and are in last place in the American League West – 10.5 games behind Oakland.

The O’s are 15-13 on the road, while the Astros are 10-15 at home.

houston_astros_logo_detail

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

Baltimore:
Runs: 14th
Batting Average: 4th
On-base %: 17th
Slugging %: 9th
ERA: 27th
Quality Starts: 30th
WHIP: 27th
Batting Average Against: 28th
Defensive Efficiency: 24th
Run Differential: -11

Houston:
Runs: 21st
Batting Average: 25th
On-base %: 22nd
Slugging %: 14th
ERA: 26th
Quality Starts: 13th
WHIP: 21st
Batting Average Against: 22nd
Defensive Efficiency: 20th
Run Differential: -40

Pitching Match-ups:
5/29: Jimenez vs. Peacock
5/30: Gonzalez vs. Oberholtzer (LHP)
5/31: Tillman vs. Keuchel (LHP)
6/1: Chen vs. Feldman

Houston Astros Depth Chart
C: Castro – .703 OPS
1st: Krauss – .596 OPS
2nd: Altuve – .792 OPS
SS: Villar – .629 OPS
3rd: Dominguez – .699 OPS
LF: Hoes – .633 OPS
CF: Fowler – .743 OPS
RF: Springer – .872 OPS
DH: Carter – .719 OPS

Bench:
Corporan, Presley, Guzman, Gonzalez
Bullpen: Qualls, Fields, Sipp, Farnsworth, Williams, Downs, McHugh

Astros Reading
The Crawfish Boxes (SB Nation)
Houston Chronicle

Series Questions & Thoughts:

1) For the O’s to compete throughout the year, Tillman and Jimenez have to pitch well. Tillman has a 6.61 era in May. Jimenez allowed 1 er in his first 19.2 ip of the Month, and has allowed 10 er in his 9 innings. It’s understood that neither is an ace. They do have to be starters that you can regularly rely on to put you in a position to win. Tillman and Jimenez simply have to be better than this poor Houston lineup.

2) As we mentioned above, George Springer has gone off lately. The rookie enters tonight with hits in 10 consecutive games, and 6 homers in his last 5 games. Make someone else beat you.

3) The O’s took 2 of 3 from Houston in Baltimore. I understand Houston is coming into the series playing well. As well as they are capable of playing. Ultimately, while their future has lots of promise; they remain one of the worst teams in baseball. This is a series where a good team will take advantage of a poor team, and get well. Baltimore needs 3 of 4 here, and really you would like to be greedy and see one of those rare 4 game road sweeps.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

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.

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