After giving up 4-0 leads in back to back games against LA this weekend, the Baltimore Orioles now head to Seattle.
The O’s are 36-46 overall, including just 12-26 on the road. Baltimore makes their second trip to Seattle in a month, to face the Mariners, who are 42-39, and 21-15 at-home.
When the O’s visited in early June, they went 1-2.
Seattle visited Baltimore the following week, and again took 2 of 3 against the O’s.
A bit of payback is due, and winning this series needs to be the goal after losing 3 of 4 against the Angels.
If you can win 2 of 3 here, a 3-4 West Coast road-trip is livable, and it sets you up to potentially take 2 of 3 from Toronto heading into the All-star break.
The pitching match-ups are:
7/6: Bergesen vs Washburn
7/7: Guthrie vs Bedard
7/8: Hernandez vs Vargas
When the O’s faced the Mariners in Seattle in June; Washburn allowed only 1 er in 7 innings, but took the loss.
Bedard is coming off the DL (left-shoulder inflammation) to face his former team. In his previous outing against the O’s, Bedard pitched 6.1 innings, with 7 k’s.
You have to make Bedard work early, and get his pitch-count up. Coming off the DL, Bedard will probably be done after 90 pitches.
The O’s were able to put together 8 hits in 5.1 innings against Vargas on June 3rd, but could only get 2 runs to cross the plate. When they faced him again in Baltimore, the O’s had 7 more hits in 5.2 innings, but limited to 3 runs.
Reimold had extra-base hits vs Vargas in both games.
From the O’s perspective, it will be interesting to see how the Mariners face against the O’s pitchers. The O’s have the right pitchers going, to be able to win 2 of 3 here.
Bergesen has faced Seattle twice already, and in 15 innings of work, allowed just 4 er.
Guthrie took the loss against the Mariners in Baltimore, going 6 innings, and allowing 3 er.
Hernandez’s 1st away game was at SAFECO, and he was tagged for 10 hits, and 5 er in 5.1 innings.
With Hernandez now making his 3rd start in a row, and 2nd start in Seattle, I am expecting improved results this time around.
Someone might ask what does it matter?
2009 has always been about development of the core you are moving forward with, I get that. There has been nobody that has said that any louder than myself.
However, there are enough pieces on the roster at this point; that wins and losses do matter.
It is one thing to know you are not ready to contend in the American League East; it would be quite another if this season were to totally get away from the O’s.
I said anywhere from 72-77 wins was realistic for this team, depending on the arrival of some of the prospects. I still think that is realistic. That said, you are 10 games under 500 with 43 games left against the Division.
You also have to expect that some of the top arms will be shut-down in September, as the O’s will be cautious about giving them too many innings.
You have to put some wins together now, or you risk another 65-68 win campaign.
I want the organization to go into the up-coming off-season with as much momentum as possible.
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.