Wednesday night Orioles game thread: vs Blue Jays, 7:05 pm

The Orioles changed the game plan today, pulling starting pitcher Tyler Wells from his scheduled rehab start and inserting him as the big league starter instead of Dean Kremer. Roch Kubatko has the details on this move and what it means for both Wells and Kremer in his pre-game blog post. The quick rundown is this:

• Wells is functioning as an opener tonight and won’t go much beyond the the 30 pitches he threw in his last rehab start.
• Wells will continue to be built up as a starter, just at the major league level.
• Kremer will pitch in relief tonight but then he’s back in the rotation. Never fear, Kremerheads!

This is good news. The bullpen has been worked hard of late and if Wells can perform the way he was pre-injury, it will be a real boost.

I know that we all sound like broken records at this point, but this is a must win game. A win will get the Orioles back to 2.5 games behind the Blue Jays. They can’t afford to be down 4.5 with so few games remaining.

Alek Manoah will be a very tough nut to crack for the Orioles. In his 26 starts he’s given up two or fewer runs 20 times. Four times he has given up four earned runs, and one of those times was to the Orioles! So that’s...something?

Orioles lineup

1. Cedric Mullins (L) CF

2. Adley Rutschman (S) C

3. Anthony Santander (S) RF

4. Ryan Mountcastle (R) 1B

5. Gunnar Henderson (L) DH

6. Kyle Stowers (L) LF

7. Ramon Urias (R) 3B

8. Rougned Odor (L) 2B

9. Jorge Mateo (R) SS

SP: Tyler Wells (RHP)

Blue Jays lineup

1. George Springer (R) DH

2. Vladimir Guerrero (R) 1B

3. Bo Bichette (R) SS

4. Alejandro Kirk (R) C

5. Matt Chapman (R) 3B

6. Raimel Tapia (L) RF

7. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (R) LF

8. Santiago Espinal (R) 2B

9. Jackie Bradley Jr. (L) CF

SP: Alek Manoah (RHP)

Let’s go O’s!