Wed. afternoon Orioles game thread: at Blue Jays, 4:07

Are we having fun yet, Orioles fans?

I didn’t expect to be able to say this, but the O’s already have two series wins in the bag to begin the 2019 season, and they’re looking to pull off the sweep of the Blue Jays in today’s afternoon finale in Toronto.

It took less than a week for this year’s Birds to do something last year’s sorry club never could: win four straight games on the road. In fact, the O’s hadn’t accomplished that feat since July 2016. Last year, the Orioles didn’t win their second road series until June! And only once all season did they win four games in a row, period. That’s right, the O’s today are a victory away from surpassing the longest winning streak of the entire 2018 season.

The 2018 Orioles were really bad, y’all. In case you forgot.

The Orioles will again employ their “opener,” Nate Karns, with no set limit on how long he’ll pitch. Perhaps Jimmy Yacabonis will be waiting in the wings to relieve him, as he did in Saturday’s win at Yankee Stadium. The O’s tandem will be opposed by Matt Shoemaker, who threw seven shutout innings in his Blue Jays debut last week. He’ll attempt to become the first opposing pitcher to throw a quality start against the Orioles this year.

Orioles lineup:

CF Cedric Mullins

LF Dwight Smith Jr.

2B Jonathan Villar

RF Trey Mancini

DH Renato Nunez

3B Rio Ruiz

1B Chris Davis

C Pedro Severino

SS Richie Martin

P Nate Karns