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It’s been a tough week, but if the Orioles are feeling the loss of clubhouse leaders Trey Mancini and Jorge López, they aren’t showing it on the field. After convincing 7-2 and 8-2 victories in the first two games of the series, Baltimore has the chance to sweep and preserve a 1.000 win percentage in the month of August.
The main thing standing in their way is Texas ace Martín Pérez, who ended up being one of the most surprising non-moves of the trade deadline. The left-handed former Red Sock is in the middle of a career year with a 9-2 record, a 2.52 ERA and 107 strikeouts over 125 innings. He was widely expected to be dealt to a contender, but ... well, wasn’t. Since becoming a sinkerballer (Pérez leans sinker-cutter-changeup, throwing only 8% four-seam fastballs), batters are having greater difficulty barreling him up. This will be a tougher matchup for the Orioles than Jon Gray or Spencer Howard.
An on-his-game Kyle Bradish could go blow for blow with Pérez, though. In his first start since returning from the injured list with shoulder inflammation, Kyle Bradish showed the same swing-and-miss stuff in Cincinnati that impressed out of the gate earlier this season. Length has been a challenge for Bradish, who can struggle with command and get into deep pitch counts. But after giving up a first-inning home run, Bradish managed to complete five innings for the first time in two months, quieting the Reds’ offense while striking out seven.
So far, no grist for the speculation-about-Brett Philips’-role-mill: Today’s Orioles lineup could have been put together pre-Trade Deadline. Against the lefty Pérez, both he and Terrin Vavra (who reached base four times last night) are sitting.
Orioles lineup
1. Cedric Mullins CF
2. Adley Rutschman DH
3. Anthony Santander RF
4. Ryan Mountcastle 1B
5. Ramón Urías 2B
6. Ryan McKenna LF
7. Jorge Mateo SS
8. Tyler Nevin 3B
9. Robinson Chirinos C
Rangers lineup
1. Marcus Semien SS
2. Corey Seager DH
3. Jonah Heim C
4. Nathaniel Lowe 1B
5. Adolis García RF
6. Leody Taveras CF
7. Ezequiel Duran 3B
8. Josh H. Smith LF
9. Charlie Culberson 2B
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