:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60633517/usa-today-9401174.0.0.0.jpg)
There is no such thing as a must-win game in the middle of August, which is a good thing for the Orioles because Yovani Gallardo is absolutely not the guy you would want starting a must-win game. It is nonetheless an important game, with the Orioles tied with the Jays for the AL East and with the Red Sox, their opponent tonight, a mere one game back.
So Gallardo starting is still bad news. Alas. The only two people who can make the Gallardo signing seem like a good idea are Mike Wright and Tyler Wilson, and as we have not had to see either one of those gentlemen start a game in quite some time, there is only Gallardo. It leaves you surely wondering what the Orioles might have done with that money instead and what they might have done with the draft pick they gave up. Nothing to be done about it now.
Former Orioles prospect Eduardo Rodriguez had an 8.59 ERA at the end of June. He was demoted to the minors for like three weeks and since coming back has posted a 2.80 ERA. Could that have been the answer to all of his problems? Hopefully not, because it'll be better for the Orioles if Rodriguez isn't good - tonight and into the future. It'll also be better for me if I don't have to hear people whining about the Andrew Miller trade for the next five years.
The Yankees are playing the Blue Jays tonight. If the Red Sox and Yankees both win tonight, it'll be a three way tie atop the AL East. That would be something. Better still if the Orioles and the Yankees win tonight. Then the Orioles will have first place all to themselves. It's weird preferring the Yankees to win at any time, but when the Orioles are battling for first, old hatreds must be set aside, at least temporarily.