The Orioles mopped the White Sox and now they’re back at home against the other Sox
It’s safe to say that the just-concluded Orioles road trip didn’t go quite as you might have hoped, but even for that, the team returns to Baltimore riding high off of the four-game mop of the worst team in MLB, the White Sox. The Orioles were supposed to beat these guys every game and that’s exactly what they did, so they don’t get points for difficulty and if you’re feeling angsty about it you might even take points off that none of these were blowout wins.
Now, it’s time for the other Sox, the Red Sox. Bad news for everyone who’d like to see the team shake out of its month-long offensive funk. The Red Sox have the second-best team ERA in MLB at 3.11. (Worse news for everyone who wishes bad things for the Yankees: They’re #1 at 2.80.) The starters have been decent-to-great. The relievers have been decent-to-great. Almost everything’s going right for Boston’s pitching staff – and they’re still just 27-26 for the season. The Orioles swept these guys the last time that they played, scoring seven or more runs in each game. Let’s go ahead and run that one again, shall we, team?
Another day, another Orioles roster move. Don’t worry, no one went on the injured list this time. The small shuffle today is because of the arrival of reliever Thyago Vieira, who the O’s acquired in a modest trade after Vieira had been designated for assignment by the Brewers – basically the same thing that happened with Mike Baumann going to the Mariners, except this time the O’s were the one getting the DFA’d player. Perpetual Norfolk-Baltimore shuttle rider Nick Vespi heads back to Norfolk. Sorry, Nick.
Based on Vieira’s career to date and his statistics earlier this season before the Brefwers sent him to the great DFA in the sky, we should not hope to see Vieira in many games where the team is not winning or losing by double digits.
Orioles lineup
- Gunnar Henderson – SS
- Adley Rutschman – C
- Ryan O’Hearn – DH
- Ryan Mountcastle – 1B
- Colton Cowser – LF
- Jordan Westburg – 3B
- Kyle Stowers – RF
- Cedric Mullins – CF
- Jorge Mateo – 2B
Cole Irvin, friend to all dogs in the greater Baltimore area, hops back into the starting rotation for this game.
Earlier today on Camden Chat, Tyler Young wrote of how the end of an era is nearing for the stalwart trio of Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins, and Anthony Santander, all three of whom bridged the gap from the terrible Orioles baseball of the not-too-distant past to be on last year’s great Orioles team and now this one, which we also hope will end up somewhere great.
Here’s a lineup that shows the possible changing of that guard, with both Hays and Santander on the bench in favor of Cowser and Stowers. I’ve felt like Stowers has deserved more of a chance for two years now and maybe he’ll be getting one.
Red Sox lineup
- Jarren Duran – LF
- Rob Refsnyder – RF
- Connor Wong – C
- Rafael Devers – 3B
- Garrett Cooper – DH
- Romy Gonzalez – SS
- Vaughn Grissom – 2B
- Dominic Smith – 1B
- Ceddane Rafaela – CF
The starting pitcher for Boston is Cooper Criswell.
If you are like me, your reaction to this lineup is, “Wait, are these the Red Sox?” Of course they are, Durran and Devers are names we’ve come to recognize, but even going back to the last series these two teams played, there’s been a lot of turnover within the Red Sox lineup for assorted reasons.
Criswell is one of several good starting pitchers for the Red Sox. This team has gotten great pitching so far this year and Criswell is a part of it, with a 2.86 ERA over eight games. Maybe he’s due for some regression, hinted if not guaranteed by the gap to his FIP (3.90) and by a .280 BABIP, slightly lower than the normal. Criswell is striking out nearly a batter per inning and doesn’t walk many guys.