Saturday afternoon Orioles game thread: at Mariners, 4:05

Cashner, Cashner, he’s our man! If he can’t do it... I mean, truly we’re beyond salvaging at this point. But at least let’s snap this 10-game losing streak! Hey, Mancini is back in the lineup, so we might have a prayer.

Cashner seems to be all recovered from what he called a “hot finger” (I can’t stop laughing at that) that kept him out of a planned start against Boston last week. His last start, on Monday against Oakland, went pretty well: an earned run in six innings, although he got the loss because the run support he’s enjoyed for most of the season has evaporated of late. Cashner has pretty good numbers against the Mariners hitters he’s faced. First baseman Ryon Healy is 0-for-9, catcher Omar Narvaez 0-for-2 (with four walks!), CF Mallex Smith 0-for-11 with 3 strikeouts, 2B Dee Gordon 4-for-16 with a walk, and 3B Kyle Seager 7-for-25 with four walks.

On the hill for the M’s is lefty Tommy Milone (1-1, 3.03 ERA), who’s bounced back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen for Seattle this season, pitching competently in both roles. Milone is a control guy, which usually doesn’t work out well for this lineup, but as a reminder, the splits are better against lefties, .247 BA/.392 OBP/.687 OPS (against righties: .232/.392/.687). The only Orioles who’ve seen Milone are Alberto (0-for-2), Villar (3-for-8 with a walk and a double), and Chris Davis, who has a surprising .357 average against him in 16 at-bats, including two home runs. Wouldn’t it be nice if that version of Davis showed up today...

It wouldn’t be the first time the Orioles have turned to Cash this season to play the stopper. Let’s hope he can go deep into this start, and that, from an offensive standpoint, last night kick-started something...

Orioles lineup

Hanser Alberto 3B

Trey Mancini 1B

Pedro Severino C

Renato Núñez DH

Jonathan Villar 2B

Dwight Smith, Jr. LF

Anthony Santander RF

Keon Broxton CF

Richie Martin SS

- Andrew Cashner RHP

Mariners lineup

Mallex Smith CF

J.P. Crawford SS

Domingo Santana RF

Daniel Vogelbach DH

Omar Narváez C

Kyle Seager 3B

Tim Beckham 1B

Mac Williamson LF

Dee Gordon 2B

-Tommy Milone LHP