Saturday Orioles doubleheader game thread: vs. Astros

The Orioles season of suffering is finally almost over. There are just three games left and not much more than 24 hours from now they will all be over. None of the games mean anything, either for the O’s or their opponent, the Astros, which was not reason enough to just cancel Thursday’s game rather than make it up with a doubleheader.

It is a single-admission doubleheader. They will start one game at 4:05 and go straight through two games with a short break in between the two. Two games for the price of one is a pretty good value in most cases, although perhaps not in the case of the 2018 Orioles, as the price that is paid is one related more to your sanity as you watch these fellows go about their business.

That said, I’m sure those dedicated fans who are still going to the game will be pleased to get a last chance to watch Adam Jones, who is probably going to depart elsewhere after the season, apparently by the O’s choice.

Those fans will not have to watch Chris Davis play again this season, as his year has been put to bed with a .168 batting average and either a -2.8 or -3.2 WAR depending on which site you look at. This is the lowest batting average for any player to have ever had in a season where he qualified for the batting title (3.1 plate appearances per team game).

Does Jones have any theatrics left in his O’s career? Can Dylan Bundy manage to not give up multiple home runs for once? Will any Oriole do anything positive at all across two games against a 101-win team? At this point, no one will be surprised if they do not.

Here’s the O’s lineup for the first game:

1. Cedric Mullins - CF
2. Jonathan Villar - 2B
3. Adam Jones - DH
4. Trey Mancini - 1B
5. Tim Beckham - SS
6. Renato Nunez - 3B
7. DJ Stewart - RF
8. Joey Rickard - LF
9. Caleb Joseph - C

This will be the game thread for both Saturday games.