The Orioles start a 3 game series against The Blue Jays tonight.
The O’s will enter Toronto with 9 wins and 13 losses. Baltimore is 5 games behind Toronto in the American League East, who is 15 and 9.
The Blue Jays are 7-3 at home, have lost their last 2 overall, and are 5-5 in their last 10.
The Orioles are 2-5 on the road, have lost 3 in a row, and 3-7 in their last 10.
May 1st: Hendrickson vs Halladay
May 2nd: Bergesen vs Purcey
May 3rd: Guthrie vs Richmond
If there is any benefit of starting May against Roy Halladay, it is that things can only get easier for the O’s going forward.
Halladay will take the mound tonight at 4-1, 3.75 era, with 36 innings pitched, 35 hits allowed, 15 earned runs, 4 homers, 4 walks, with 32 k’s.
He is holding hitters to a .681 OPS against, with a 1.33 Grounder to Flyball ratio.
When you describe an ‘ACE,’ you are talking about Roy Halladay.
I am looking forward to seeing Bergesen’s 3rd Major League start on Saturday. Bergesen was roughed up by Texas, as he allowed 10 hits, and 3 homers in 4 innings…. You want to see how he rebounds from an outing like that.
Toronto’s David Purcey is a 27 year-old lefty. In 25.2 innings, he has allowed 28 hits, and 18 walks… he does have 26 k’s, which indicates he has decent stuff.
Sunday will be a very interesting day for the Oroles. Guthrie struggled in his 5 April starts… and he labored through his outing Monday. That said, I thought he showed improved fast-ball command, with good velocity and movement.
It is important for Guthrie to get going a bit, and provide a strong outing.
The Blue Jays will be countering with 29 year old journey-man Scott Richmond. Richmond has won 3 consecutive starts, pitching at least 6 innings and allowing 2er or less, in each of the three outings.
Even if the O’s run out their traditional Sunday ‘B’ lineup, I expect reality to set in for Richmond, and have Baltimore knock him around a bit.
The Jays have a strong everyday lineup, featuring the veterans Vernon Wells, A.Rios, Scott Rolen, and Lyle Overbay… combined with talented younger players like Travis Snider, Aaron Hill, and Adam Lind.
Former Oriole Kevin Millar is on the bench… and former O’s closer BJ Ryan is on the DL.
The current closer is lefty Scott Downs, who has 14 k’s, and 0 walks in 10.2 innings so far in 2009.
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.