Wednesday night Orioles game thread: at Phillies, 7:05

The Orioles wrap up their 2021 interleague slate this evening with the finale of a three-game series against the Phillies. A win would give them an 8-12 record against NL teams, a .400 winning percentage. That would be pretty solid for a club that is going to lose around 110 games overall.

A loss for the Phillies could be a deadly blow to their playoff hopes. The team they are chasing, the Atlanta Braves, have won three straight and take on the NL’s worst club tonight. They could potentially find themselves five games out of a postseason spot with only 11 games left to play. That is not ideal, so tonight is essentially a must-win.

Fortunately for them, Zack Wheeler is headed to the mound. He has been terrific this season, and has allowed only two earned runs over three September starts, spanning 17.2 innings.

The Philadelphia lineup, which has scored only three times in the first two games of this series, get a crack at rookie Keegan Akin. The lefty has had a tough season, and Philly has enjoyed southpaws to the tune of a .747 OPS, a slight improvement from what they have done against righties.

With all of that said, it would be fun to see the O’s pull this off, and then do something similar against the Red Sox or Blue Jays in the next couple of weeks.

Orioles’ Starting Lineup

1. Cedric Mullins, CF
2. Ryan Mountcastle, 1B
3. Austin Hays, RF
4. Pedro Severino, C
5. Ryan McKenna, LF
6. Pat Valaika, 2B
7. Richie Martin, SS
8. Kelvin Gutierrez, 3B
9. Keegan Akin, LHP (2-10, 6.93 ERA)

Phillies Starting Lineup

1. Odúbel Herrera, CF
2. Jean Segura, 2B
3. Bryce Harper, RF
4. J.T. Realmuto, C
5. Andrew McCutchen, LF
6. Freddy Galvis, 3B
7. Didi Gregorius, SS
8. Matt Vierling, 1B
9. Zack Wheeler, RHP (14-9, 2.83 ERA)