Our feisty Orioles will be facing off against Texas for the second game of a four-game set tonight. Will there be any lingering hard feelings towards Ty Wigginton for his fantastic base-blocking tag-out of Andres Blanco last night? I guess we'll find out if the Rangers put a fastball in his ribs, which may very well result in a little extracurricular activity. The O's have looked to be on the verge of throwing down a couple of times this season.
I might be a little biased in wishing for this scenario because I'll be in attendance at the game tonight and I've never personally witnessed a baseball brawl. I think the brawl itself would be kind of awesome, although the inevitable fines and suspensions would be significantly less awesome. It's my dad's birthday tonight and that would make quite a memory. I'm not sure why I'm mentioning that here because it's not like my dad's going to read it. This is probably for the better because I wouldn't want to have to explain to my grandma why yesterday I posted something entitled "We F***ed The Texas Rangers".
The pitching matchup that you and I will be treated to this evening features Texas' C.J. Wilson against Jake Arrieta. Wilson's been a relief pitcher for most of his career and this year was thrust into the rotation. He's enjoying something of a career year in compiling an 11-5 record with a 3.19 ERA on the season in 24 starts. Sounds fairly impressive for the Rangers' lefty, but a .260 BABIP probably has something to do with that. The FIP stats are less kind. So there's some potential to tee off on the guy, even if his basic stat line looks a little daunting.
It seems like you never know what you're going to get from Arrieta. He walks too many guys, but sometimes he's on his game and you can see why the O's were aggressive in signing him to an overslot deal with a 5th round pick. A good sign for Jake is that he pitched well against this Rangers team the last time around. Plus, that noted Oriole-killer Ian Kinsler is currently on the DL. Throw some strikes tonight, Jake. Just maybe not strikes that Josh Hamilton will park on Eutaw Street.
Here's hoping tonight we take our sixth straight game against Texas. Go O's!