Monday night Orioles game thread: at Diamondbacks, 9:40

Tonight will be the first of many late games for the Orioles, who kickoff their West Coast trip in Arizona. The O’s lose the designated hitter in this series and are forced to bat pitcher Aaron Brooks.

By the way, this will be Brooks’ third start with the Orioles. He’s been used effectively as an opener in his first two appearances, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings on 32 pitches and 2.2 innings of one-run ball on 56 pitches. It will be interesting to see if Hyde will try to extend the right-hander further in hopes of turning him out into a full-time rotation member, or if he keeps Brooks’ workload down and brings in a reliever to eat innings early.

In the interest of offense, Brandon Hyde is keeping Renato Nunez in the lineup by giving him a glove and sending him out to first base. Nunez has appeared in eight games this season at first versus 77 at designated hitter. With Keon Broxton off the team, Stevie Wilkerson will navigate center field tonight.

In the very first matchup against his former team, Adam Jones is batting fifth and playing right field for Arizona.

Orioles lineup

1. Jonathan Villar 2B
2. Hanser Alberto 3B
3. Trey Mancini RF
4. Renato Núñez 1B
5. Anthony Santander LF
6. Pedro Severino C
7. Stevie Wilkerson CF
8. Richie Martin SS
9. Aaron Brooks RHP

Diamondbacks ineup

1. Jarrod Dyson LF
2. Ketel Marte CF
3. Eduardo Escobar 2B
4. Christian Walker 1B
5. Adam Jones RF
6. Jake Lamb 3B
7. Nick Ahmed SS
8. Carson Kelly C
9. Robbie Ray LHP