Orioles Game 37 Game Thread: vs. Mariners, 7:05

I still kind of miss Nelson Cruz. What do you think are the chances that he hits a homer tonight? Very high, right? That will just make it all the more painful that we suffered through the slop we suffered through last year when we could have just kept him instead. Well, maybe Ryan Mountcastle, the player whom the Orioles selected with the Cruz compensation pick, will make us miss Cruz less, eventually.

For now, it's what looks like a slugfest tonight between two high ERA pitchers - Ubaldo Jimenez and Wade Miley. Not that the pitchers themselves will be slugging, of course, barring some very peculiar occurrence. Hitters will be slugging against them. Or at least that's the hope - the Orioles are middling against lefty pitchers, which Miley happens to be. With a 90.4mph average fastball he may even be of the dreaded soft-tossing lefty variety.

As of about 45 minutes before first pitch, the tarp is off the field at Camden Yards and it will hopefully remain so for the duration of the night. If the O's want to make sure they stay in first they need to win the game - and if they don't win, they need to hope the Red Sox lose to the Royals. But hopefully the O's just win so they don't have to worry about it.