The Orioles can come away with a sweep if they can pull off a win.
People who live outside of the Eastern time zone are probably plenty used to getting baseball that begins in the morning hours. Today’s Orioles game is going to be a strange one for those of us who aren’t used to it, with this 11:35am start time. The game will only have a TV broadcast through the Roku Channel.
It’s been a good series so far, not to say perfect, but the Orioles have come away with two wins and they’ve got a chance at a sweep today. That’s fun. As far as their longshot wild card hopes go, the wins have not gained them any ground, because the Mariners have also won their last two games. That means the Orioles remain 7.5 games back of a wild card spot. It’s tough math still.
All that the Orioles can do to keep trying to reignite that spark is to win. They’ll gain ground on somebody even if it’s not on the Mariners if they can rip off a lengthy winning streak. Any team they get past and stay past would improve their chances. Next to pass would be the Guardians, who’ve lost nine straight games. That’s a hard fall. Not even the Orioles, at their worst point this season, lost nine in a row. They stopped at eight.
Can the Trevor Rogers renewal tour continue in this game? That’s going to be my biggest question for the Orioles today. He really got people’s attention by throwing eight shutout innings against the Rangers two starts ago. Last time around, he allowed two runs over 5.1 innings, a more pedestrian but still acceptable kind of start. Sustaining at an acceptable level would at least make it feel like he could be a guy to be counted on for a 2026 rotation spot. It’s going to be important to find those guys in the waning months of this disappointing year for the team.
Orioles lineup
- Jackson Holliday – 2B
- Ramón Laureano – RF
- Gunnar Henderson – SS
- Ryan O’Hearn – DH
- Ramón Urías – 3B
- Colton Cowser – LF
- Cedric Mullins – CF
- Coby Mayo – 1B
- Jacob Stallings – C
The Orioles catching situation has shuffled again. The team placed Gary Sánchez on the injured list ahead of Sunday’s game against the Braves. To replace him on the roster, the team selected Alex Jackson from Norfolk. Jackson was not even an Oriole officially two hours ago, as the team had to acquire him from the Yankees for some international bonus pool money plus either a player to be named later or cash.
Over parts of five big league seasons, Jackson has hit extremely poorly. He was on a minor league deal with New York. Hopefully, nothing happens to Stallings today that requires us to find out just how quickly Jackson got to Atlanta.
Braves lineup
- Jurickson Profar – LF
- Matt Olson – 1B
- Austin Riley – 3B
- Sean Murphy – C
- Ozzie Albies – 2B
- Drake Baldwin – DH
- Eli White – CF
- Stuart Fairchild – RF
- Nick Allen – SS
Braves starting pitcher Grant Holmes brings a 3.47 ERA into this game. Crucially for the 2025 Orioles, Holmes is not left-handed. With Atlanta’s bullpen getting heavily used yesterday, it would be nice if the Orioles can get to him early and chase him, but we all know better than to expect this from the Orioles this year