Sunday afternoon Orioles game thread: at Athletics, 4:07

Bruce Zimmermann heads to the mound as the O’s look to complete a three-game sweep of the Oakland A’s.

This is sort of a big game for the Orioles. They are going for their second sweep of the season; the first came against the AL East-leading Red Sox and this would be against the A’s, who are currently at the head of the AL West. Those are two impressive pelts to have on the proverbial wall.

However, the more crucial element may be the way that Bruce Zimmermann rebounds from back-to-back subpar outings on the mound. He has tossed 8.1 total innings in those two starts and allowed seven runs on 15 hits, three walks, and seven strikeouts. Simply put, the southpaw is getting hit too often and giving up lots of loud contact.

Zimmermann finds success when he gets hitters to chase his off-speed stuff to get into favorable counts. If he needs to pitch from behind too often, he is going to have a bad time.

Another bad start here doesn’t necessarily mean Zimmermann is out of chances in the rotation. After all, he would likely still have better numbers overall than Dean Kremer and Jorge López, but it would be a worrying trend for a player that the league will only become more and more familiar with as time goes on.

Orioles Starting Lineup

1. Cedric Mullins, CF
2. Austin Hays, LF
3. Trey Mancini, 1B
4. Maikel Franco, 3B
5. Pedro Severino, C
6. Ryan Mountcastle, DH
7. Freddy Galvis, SS
8. DJ Stewart, RF
9. Ramón Urías, 2B

LHP Bruce Zimmermann

Athletics Starting Lineup

1. Mark Canha, LF
2. Ramón Laureano, CF
3. Sean Murphy, C
4. Matt Olson, 1B
5. Matt Chapman, 3B
6. Jed Lowrie, 2B
7. Mitch Moreland, DH
8. Stephen Piscotty, RF
9. Elvis Andrus, SS

LHP Sean Manaea