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The main reason why it's bad when you don't beat Vance Worley is because then you have to face Scott Diamond the next day. That felt like an absurd sentence to type. Diamond's results so far are nothing to sneeze at, though, with a 3.03 ERA through five starts.
Diamond gets a lot of ground balls, doesn't strike out many people, hardly walks anyone, and has done well with this formula. He really doesn't walk many dudes. Steve Johnson had more walks in four innings last night than Diamond has walks all season. Diamond has issued three walks. I wonder what it's like to have a pitcher like that. I don't think Orioles fans will ever find out.
For all that, he's averaging slightly less than 6 IP/GS for the Twins, so we aren't exactly talking ace territory here. However, he threw seven shutout innings against Boston in his last start, and there's also the fact that the 6-9 hitters for the Orioles are: Pearce, Hardy, Casilla, Snyder. Does that make your soul erode a little? It does for me.
The good news is that Wei-Yin Chen is pitching for the Orioles. Hopefully that's good news. His brand of fly balls may play well in the generous dimensions of Target Field. Chen's more than cut his home run rate in half compared to last season. He's only thrown 42.1 IP, so that's likely still small sample size territory. So far, so good, though. He's made a quality start in five of his seven games. Consistent quality is a good thing, and also not a thing Orioles fans are used to from starting pitchers.
This is only the fifth game all year where the Twins go up against a left-handed starter. That's the fewest in all of MLB. They're 2-2 in those games so far. How do you face only four lefties in 33 games? The Orioles have faced lefties in ten of 37 games, and since Diamond is a lefty, today will make 11 out of 38.
The O's are 1-4 on Sundays this year, and we all know to fear Mother's Day from not-so-distant history. Please don't put another stinker on the pile, guys. Win it for your moms, and also our moms.
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My mom won't see this post, because she doesn't do the Internet. Nonetheless, I'd like to take this moment to say that my mom is the best mom, and I feel fortunate every day. Love you, Mom!
It's likely that I owe my presence here to my mom in this way: she hauled me along to Game 2 of the 1983 World Series. I got in for free, owing to the fact that it was one month before I was actually born. I came into the world loving baseball and I've never really stopped. Now you know who to blame the next time I make a bad pun.