Friday night Orioles game thread: vs. A’s, 7:05

The Orioles kick off their homestand tonight against Oakland after coming off a very successful road trip. They won their series against the Astros, they won their series against the Guardians and enter tonight 1.5 games back of a Wild Card spot. However, when it comes to this matchup with Oakland, Camden Chat’s very own Stacey said it best in her series preview:

Winning all of the games means starting with a W in the first game tonight. We’ll see Dean Kremer lead the Orioles against JP Sears and the rest of the lowly A’s (it’s ok A’s fans, Birdland knows your pain all too well). The only other series against Oakland this year was a four-game set during April in Oakland Coliseum. The O’s only won one of those games, but this is a completely different Baltimore ball club. After all, that team had no Adley Rutschman. There was no GUNNAR HENDERSON sparkling on defense while waiting to launch his next bomb.

As for the pitching matchup: Kremer will be making his first-ever start against the A’s. In his last time out against the Astros—the AL’s best team—he showed his best stuff all year. Kremer’s 7.2 innings in Houston were a season high, and any time you can limit Houston to four hits and one run, that’s something to write home about. A strong start against a weak Oakland lineup will also keep Kremer on track to be the first Orioles starter with an ERA under 3.50 (with at least 100 IP) since Wei-Yin Chen in 2015.

Oakland starter JP Sears was one of the key players the A’s got when they traded Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino to the Yankees. The soft-throwing lefty did face the Orioles twice while still on the Yankees, going five scoreless innings with five strikeouts his last time against the O’s in May. He will offer the new-look Orioles—with GUNNAR and Jesus Aguilar—a chance to improve on their struggles against left-handed pitching in 2022.

In addition to GUNNAR making his Orioles Park at Camden Yards debut tonight, tonight will also mark the Baltimore debut for DL Hall (should he enter the game). After a less-than-stellar major league debut in St. Petersburg on August 13, Hall is back on the big league roster in a bullpen role. The strikeout artist currently known as DL would have a prime opportunity to improve on his MLB numbers against an Oakland lineup that features three lefties in their top five hitters.

Orioles Lineup

1. Ryan McKenna (R) CF
2. Anthony Santander (S) RF
3. Ryan Mountcastle (R) DH
4. Ramón Urías (R) 3B
5. Jesús Aguilar (R) 1B
6. Austin Hays (R) LF
7. Jorge Mateo (R) SS
8. GUNNAR HENDERSON (L) 2B
9. Robinson Chirinos (R) C

Athletics Lineup

1. Tony Kemp (L) LF
2. Sean Murphy (R) C
3. Seth Brown (L) RF
4. Shea Langeliers (R) DH
5. Vimael Machín (L) 3B
6. Dermis García (R) 1B
7. Jonah Bride (R) 2B
8. Nick Allen (R) SS
9. Cal Stevenson (L) CF