Sunday afternoon Orioles game thread: at Blue Jays, 3:07

It’s been a challenging road trip for the Orioles, with their struggles starting in Tampa Bay and continuing now in Buffalo against the Blue Jays. The O’s have lost the first two games of the series, but they still have the chance to split.

Today marks the first start for Jorge Lopez as an Oriole. The right-hander was claimed off waivers from the Royals on August 9th and in three relief appearances since then he’s thrown four, four and one inning(s), with pitch counts of 55, 66 and 14, respectively. For those reasons, it will most likely be a bullpen-heavy kind of day. Currently, Lopez has an ERA of 7.00 and a WHIP of 1.33.

Right-hander Tanner Roark — who spent the first six seasons of his career down the road in Washington, DC — will start for the Blue Jays in the third of this four-game series. Last year, Roark put up a 4.35 ERA and 4.67 FIP while splitting his time between the Reds and Athletics. Five starts into 2020 — the first year of a two-year, $24 million deal with the Jays — he’s pitching to a 4.91 ERA/6.32 FIP and is also allowing a lot of baserunners, as indicated by his 10.2 H/9 and 5.3 BB/9 stats.

Over the span of his career, Roark has a 5.73 ERA in 22 innings against Baltimore. Of the current Orioles with more than three career at-bats against Roark, third baseman Rio Ruiz is 2-for-7.

Orioles lineup

1. Hanser Alberto 2B
2. Anthony Santander RF
3. Jose Iglesias DH
4. Renato Nunez 1B
5. Pedro Severino C
6. Ryan Mountcastle LF
7. Mason Williams CF
8. Rio Ruiz 3B
9. Andrew Velazquez SS

Jorge Lopez RHP

Blue Jays lineup

1. Cavan Biggio 2B
2. Randal Grichuk CF
3. Travis Shaw 3B
4. Teoscar Hernandez RF
5. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. DH
6. Rowdy Tellez 1B
7. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. LF
8. Joe Panik SS
9. Reese McGuire C

Tanner Roark RHP