Orioles Game 43 Game Thread: at Astros, 8:10

There were those who would have rather seen the Orioles sign a pitcher like Doug Fister - or even Fister himself - rather than Yovani Gallardo this past offseason. I do not necessarily disagree. Whether the Orioles destroy Fister tonight or are destroyed by him, that question will not be answered here and now... though the force of the thing we most recently watched will surely attempt to persuade us one way or the other.

The Astros have surprisingly been not so good so far this year. They are nine games below .500 right now which may be just a bit worse than "not so good." You know what this means. The Orioles need to beat them while they are reeling, to whatever extent they may be reeling. The good news is that Chris Tillman has been good this year and he's starting tonight.

The bad news is that same Fister is, at this point in time, a junkballer. He's averaging 86.1mph on his fastball. That's horrible and he should be getting destroyed - but then, so should have Jered Weaver and we saw how the Orioles did against him back on Sunday. I will be prepared for the Orioles to inexplicably embarrass themselves at the plate until they do something to show me differently.

Colin Moran, the 7th overall pick in the 2013 draft, is still looking for his first MLB hit after playing in three games. Keep him off the board, Tillman and whatever relievers may come after you. Thanks.