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The Orioles winning streak came to an end last night, which is not much fun. The good news is that they can win tonight to start a new one up. It’s been two months since the Orioles have won on a Friday night. Really! So if they wanted to change that, tonight would be a good night.
Can they do it? Sure, if they play better than they did yesterday. “Play better” mostly means “have better starting pitching,” because good grief, was Chris Tillman poor yesterday. It’s Kevin Gausman’s turn tonight. Gausman is coming off three straight good starts, an exciting development. What remains to be seen is whether the Rangers offense - who he faced in two of those starts - is just bad.
Gausman will be squaring off against Justin Verlander, last year’s AL Cy Young runner-up. It’s not been as great of a year for Verlander, however, though he would still be the leader in ERA on the O’s staff. It’s been so bad for the O’s, you guys! I know you know this already. I just can’t get over it.
A win tonight will get the O’s back within a game of .500. A loss sends them in the wrong direction. To have any playoff hopes, they probably can’t lose many more than 20 games for the rest of the season. So don’t let one of them be tonight!
Trey Mancini is out of the lineup tonight after fouling a ball off of his knee last night. Manager Buck Showalter said he may have to go on the disabled list if he’s not better tomorrow - the Orioles can’t afford to shorten their bench any more right now.