Orioles Game #90 Game Thread: vs. Marlins, 7:05

Two trends collide as the Orioles open their second half of the season on Friday night against the Marlins. The first trend is that the O’s have not yet lost a game since the arrival of prospect Colton Cowser. They’re 5-0. The second trend is that the Orioles have, for whatever reason, been pretty bad on those occasions where they’ve been wearing the City Connect Jerseys - with a 1-4 record in those games so far. If you include games where the other team was in their own jersey, it’s worse.

Of course, there is no rational reason to believe that the City Connect jerseys have placed some kind of curse on the team. There is not much rational reason to believe that Cowser brings some essential quality that was lacking, such that his arrival immediately halted a gloomy stretch of baseball and brought on a five-game winning streak. However much causation there actually is, these are the things that have actually happened.

If you are out there believing in these two trends, I have bad news for you, because Cowser is not in the Orioles starting lineup. The O’s demolished the Twins with the 15-2 beatdown right before the All-Star break without Cowser in the starting lineup, so it has been done before.

All that has to happen is the Orioles play well. That’s not too much to ask, right? Well, maybe. They need to hit against last year’s NL Cy Young winner, Sandy Alcantara. Things haven’t gone as well for Alcantara this season, as he’s got just a 4.72 ERA (91 ERA+) in 18 starts. And then they need to pitch well too. That’ll be up to Dean Kremer, owner of a 4.78 ERA in his own 18 starts. Kremer has thrown about an inning fewer per game than Alcantara.

Orioles lineup

1. Gunnar Henderson - SS
2. Adley Rutschman - C
3. Anthony Santander - DH
4. Ryan O’Hearn - 1B
5. Austin Hays - LF
6. Cedric Mullins - CF
7. Aaron Hicks - RF
8. Adam Frazier - 2B
9. Jordan Westburg - 3B

The Orioles did not make any roster moves before this game, so they’re rolling into the second half with only a seven-man bullpen and with an extra person - Ryan Mountcastle - on the bench.

I thought they might add an extra pitcher, but that’s not the choice they made. Maybe they won’t worry about that spot until they’ve had a game or stretch of games where the bullpen has gotten hammered. Hopefully Kremer can at least go six tonight and not pitch such a game or begin such a stretch of games.

Marlins lineup

1. Luis Arraez - 2B
2. Jorge Soler - DH
3. Bryan De La Cruz - LF
4. Jesús Sánchez - RF
5. Garrett Cooper - 1B
6. Jean Segura - 3B
7. Joey Wendle - SS
8. Jacob Stallings - C
9. Dane Myers - CF