It’s going to be a late one for us East Coasters, but hopefully the Orioles will be a little more pepped than the rest of us are.
Oh, hello! Thanks for joining us on what’s going to be a late night — and early morning — for those of us on the East Coast, as the Orioles take on the Giants in a game that won’t begin until 10:15 Eastern Standard Time. Get your coffee ready.
If you’re a fool like me who’s going to stay up for this entire thing, it would be nice of the Orioles to at least make it worth our lack of sleep by starting off with a win. The O’s used to be the kings of series-opening victories — they had 11 of them in a row to start the season — but lately it’s been just the opposite. They’ve won the opening game in only two of their past seven series, and have lost their last three in a row.
Perhaps Dean Kremer can change that. After an ineffective April (6.67 ERA and a .908 OPS allowed in six starts), he found his footing in May (2.45, .668 in five outings). The Orioles haven’t played against the Giants since 2019, so Kremer, who didn’t make his MLB debut until the following year, obviously has never faced them. He’ll be opposed by Giants ace Logan Webb, their 2021 postseason star, who is having another stellar season with a 2.75 ERA and 1.069 WHIP in 11 starts.
The slumping Ryan Mountcastle, whose OBP has plummeted to .269, is out of the O’s lineup for the first time since May 16. Aaron Hicks, who reached base three times in his Orioles debut but left with cramps, is back for an encore. And the Birds added some bullpen reinforcements, calling up Bruce Zimmermann to provide length if needed. Mychal Givens, who has never looked right since coming off the injured list, is headed back to the IL.
Orioles lineup:
2B Adam Frazier
C Adley Rutschman
RF Anthony Santander
LF Austin Hays
DH Gunnar Henderson
CF Aaron Hicks
1B Ryan O’Hearn
3B Ramón Urías
SS Jorge Mateo
RHP Dean Kremer
Giants lineup:
1B LaMonte Wade Jr.
3B J.D. Davis
RF Mike Yastrzemski
LF Mitch Haniger
DH Blake Sabol
2B Casey Schmitt
C Patrick Bailey
SS Brandon Crawford
CF Brett Wisely
RHP Logan Webb