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Matt Harvey has not given up a run in 12 innings pitched since the All-Star break. If he’d had more innings like that in the first half of the season, he might well have been dealt prior to today’s trade deadline. Harvey did not have many outings like that. Even after those 12 scoreless innings, his ERA for the season is 6.65. So he’s starting tonight against the Tigers, looking to keep the streak going.
Those truly dedicated to the idea of tanking for better draft position may rather Harvey not pitch well at this point, as the Orioles are now within a half-game of being passed by the Texas Rangers for the #2 spot in the draft. Texas recently lost 12 straight games and they unloaded several key players in the days leading up to the trade deadline.
The most interesting plotline for either team in this game belongs to Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera, who’s closing in on the 500 home run mark for his career. He hit two home runs in Thursday’s series opener against the O’s to bring him to 497. There would be no surprise at all if Cabrera hits that 500 milestone with another three games to come against O’s pitching.
Cabrera also has the 3000 hit marker in sight, though that’s not imminent and likely won’t happen this season. Cabrera sits at 2939 hits with 57 Tigers games left to be played. It’s not impossible he could get another 61 hits in 57 games, though he’s not on that pace for the season. Cabrera has played in 80 of Detroit’s 105 games and is averaging fewer than one hit per game played. Hopefully, Orioles pitching can keep him from increasing that pace, though I won’t be holding my breath too much.
If this game turns in to a dismal affair, or even if it doesn’t, be sure to check in on the Orioles farm teams tonight. Grayson Rodriguez is on the mound for Bowie, and Mike Baumann makes his debut for Norfolk. It’ll be fun if they can give us some good news, especially since we need some good news to balance the bad news that DL Hall won’t pitch again this year due to a stress reaction in his elbow.
Orioles lineup
- Cedric Mullins - CF
- Austin Hays - LF
- Trey Mancini - DH
- Ryan Mountcastle - 1B
- Anthony Santander - RF
- Ramón Urías - SS
- Pedro Severino - C
- Maikel Franco - 3B
- Pat Valaika - 2B
Since Galvis was on the injured list for over a month, the Orioles don’t even have a subtraction from their regular lineup in trading him. Note the return of Santander from the COVID injured list. Thomas Eshelman was optioned to Norfolk for Santander’s return. No 40-man roster move was necessary due to the trade of Galvis.
Tigers lineup
- Akil Baddoo - LF
- Jonathan Schoop - 1B
- Robbie Grossman - RF
- Miguel Cabrera - DH
- Jeimer Candelario - 3B
- Eric Haase - C
- Harold Castro - SS
- Willi Castro - 2B
- Derek Hill - CF
On the mound to start for Detroit is Tarik Skubal, who’s struck out 113 batters in 99.2 innings this year but only has a 4.42 ERA to show for it. Using ERA+, that’s below league average, and his FIP of 5.05 is even higher. Perhaps the O’s hitters can do something with that.