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Does it still count as two games for the price of one when the games are only seven innings each? No one will find out on Wednesday since there’s no paid attendance. The Orioles and Marlins will play two nonetheless, and if either game gets an eighth inning they’ll have the free runner rule come into play.
This all gets stranger still since the Orioles will be the home team in the first game of the doubleheader and the road team in the second game. MLB, in rescheduling this series, decided that this was the best way to go to get two home games for the Orioles and two home games for the Marlins without leaving Baltimore.
The Tuesday loss that opened this series was something of a trap game, probably not for the Orioles themselves, but definitely for fans. It was easy to think, “Ah, the Marlins haven’t played in over a week and they had turnover in more than half of their roster spots. They must be in chaos!”
Perhaps it could have worked out that way in a different universe, but in this one, the Marlins get the “triumph over adversity” narrative working in their favor. We’ll see if that continues into today’s doubleheader.
The Orioles will be one player short on the roster for this game. Last night’s starter, John Means, was placed on the bereavement list and the team did not make a corresponding roster move. As Means was last night’s starting pitcher and would have been unavailable today anyway, the actual effect on the roster for this doubleheader is minimal.
Game 1 Orioles lineup
- Hanser Alberto - 2B
- Anthony Santander - RF
- Jose Iglesias - DH
- Renato Núñez - 3B
- Dwight Smith Jr. - LF
- Austin Hays - CF
- Chris Davis - 1B
- Chance Sisco - C
- Andrew Velazquez - SS
Alex Cobb is the starting pitcher for the first game.
Iglesias is back in the lineup after several days off nursing a sore quad. He remains as the designated hitter rather than the shortstop. Hopefully it goes well and he can be back in business soon.
It’s not tremendously exciting to see Núñez at third base after he cost the Orioles a run last night, but perhaps this is one of those games where there’s not a lot of expectation that there will be many ground balls to the left side, given that Cobb is something of a fly ball pitcher.
Game 1 Marlins lineup
- Jonathan Villar - SS
- Jon Berti - RF
- Corey Dickerson - LF
- Jesus Aguilar - 1B
- Brian Anderson - 3B
- Matt Joyce - DH
- Francisco Cervelli - C
- Eddy Alvarez - 2B
- Monte Harrison - CF
Starting for the Marlins is 25-year-old righty Elieser Hernandez, who has a 5.11 career ERA in 53 big league games.