So what do you say we take the series?
This has been an unpredictable series in many ways. Against an underperforming Mariners team, the Orioles suffered their worst loss of the season on Friday night, then on Saturday they pulled out an extra-innings win in a game they probably deserved to lose—on a walk-off home run by the light-hitting Ryan McKenna, of all people!
The randomness of the last two games will feel a lot less concerning if the Orioles can lock down a series win today. To do so, they’ll have to make something happen against Seattle righty George Kirby (6-6, 3.24 ERA, 3.17 FIP).
As our own Mark Brown explained in his series preview, there are two statistics that stand out right now for Kirby. One is 6, the paltry number of batters walked by the right-hander out of 315 he’s faced, which actually puts him on pace for the lowest strikeout-to-walk ratio of all time by a qualified pitcher. Kirby recently told MLB, “I’m, like, just so obsessed with throwing strikes,” Kirby said. “I hate walking people.” Well, he’s a man of his word!
The other statistic is .772/.582, Kirby’s lefty/righty OPS splits this year. Not surprisingly, Brandon Hyde has penciled in a lineup full of lefties to take advantage. Left-handed hitters have been teeing off on Kirby’s slider/curveball combo, so perhaps a hot Anthony Santander and Gunnar Henderson can take one deep today. Expect aggressive swing decisions to take advantage of the high number of strikes thrown, too.
Facing Seattle today for Baltimore will be Kyle Bradish. His last time out, Bradish did enough to get a win against Tampa Bay, with a short but effective five innings where he allowed two runs and punched out eight. Bradish has had difficulty limiting hard contact, as well as going deep in games. Despite the Friday night shelling, the Mariners offense should pose less of a stiff challenge for Bradish than the Rays. Let’s see if he can take advantage. Of Seattle hitters, only former Blue Jay Teoscar Hernández has seen much of Bradish. He’s 2-for-9 with no home runs or RBIs. JJ Crawford has a home run in two at-bats off the Orioles right-hander. Julio Rodriguez is also 1-for-2 off him. And Ty France is 2-for-3.
Orioles lineup
- Cedric Mullins CF
- Anthony Santander RF
- Gunnar Henderson 3B
- Ryan O’Hearn 1B
- Austin Hays LF
- Aaron Hicks DH
- Adam Frazier 2B
- Jorge Mateo SS
- Anthony Bemboom C
Mariners lineup
- JJ Crawford SS
- Julio Rodríguez CF
- Ty France 1B
- Teoscar Hernández RF
- Jarred Kellenic LF
- Eugenio Suárez 3B
- Cal Raleigh C
- Mike Ford DH
- José Caballero