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When/Where to Watch
Game time: 7:05, Oriole Park at Camden Yards
TV: MASN (BAL), FSKC (KCR)
Radio: WBAL1090 (BAL), KCSP (KCR)
Pitching Matchup
To me, Jeremy Guthrie still feels like an old friend, but the truth is that there has been so much turnover on the Orioles since Guts was traded after the 2011 season that only about a third of the players who Guthrie played with are still on the 25-man roster. If you want to be taken back to a much more terrible time, some of Guthrie's teammates in 2011 included Vladimir Guerrero, Derrek Lee, Matt Angle, Jake Fox, Kevin Gregg, and Jo-Jo Reyes.
Guthrie has made four starts this season, and in three of the four he allowed four runs. And just like the Guthrie we all remember, he has been prone to giving up the long ball. His five homers allowed in 25 innings makes for 1.8 HR/9. In that way he'd fit right in with this year's O's rotation, but hopefully it also means that the Orioles will be able to hit a few balls over the wall tonight.
Going against Guthrie tonight is Wei-Yin Chen, who so far this year has actually been the best at stopping the home run on the O's rotation. Of course, he's bound to bounce back sometime to his near his career HR/9 of 1.2. His HR/FB is just 4.9%, which is crazy. Hopefully that bounce back doesn't happen tonight, though. So far this season Chen has made four starts with similar results to Guthrie, but unlike Guthrie he hasn't been able to pitch much past the fifth inning this year.
If you're looking for a feelgood stat for this matchup, here it is: While both Guthrie has the edge on Chen in ERA (4.68 vs 4.91), Chen outshines Guthrie in both FIP (2.81 vs. 5.77) and xFIP (3.49 vs. 5.08).
Lineups
Royals (with stats vs. Chen)
| Norichika Aoki - RF (L) | N/A |
| Omar Infante - 2B (R) | 1-for-3, HR |
| Eric Hosmer - 1B (L) | 5-for-11, 2 HR |
| Billy Butler - DH (R) | 7-for-12, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3B |
| Alex Gordon - LF (L) | 2-for-9, 3 K |
| Salvador Perez - C (R) | 0-for-8 |
| Danny Valencia - 3B (R) | 0-for-3 |
| Justin Maxwell - CF (R) | 0-for-3, 2 K |
| Alcides Escobar - SS (R) | 3-for-12, K |
Orioles (with stats vs. Guthrie)
| Jemile Weeks - DH (R) | 2-for-5 |
| Nelson Cruz - RF (R) | 4-for-19, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K |
| Nick Markakis - 1B (L) | 2-for-5, BB |
| Adam Jones - CF (R) | 0-for-5, BB, 2 K |
| Matt Wieters - C (S) | 4-for-5, 2B |
| J.J. Hardy - SS (R) | 1-for-8, K |
| Ryan Flaherty - 3B (L) | 1-for-2, BB, K |
| Jonathan Scoop - 2B (R) | N/A |
| David Lough - LF (L) | N/A |
Yikes. That Orioles lineup is kind of horrifying, as is Chen's line against Butler and Hosmer. At least it's small sample size?
Weather
According to weather.com, the temperature at game time will be 68 degrees, but there is a chance of scattered thunderstorms early in the game and then showers after that. The chance of precipitation at game time is just 35% and drops as the evening goes on, so it doesn't look like there is threat of a rain out. It just might not be that pleasant at times for those attending the game (myself included).