The Orioles haven’t been good this year. The Royals have been worse. Tonight is game 1 of a 4-game set.
The freshest Orioles news that there is to talk about as we head into Thursday night’s game against the Royals has nothing directly to do with the team and its roster. Baltimore’s new digital newspaper, The Baltimore Banner, reported on Thursday evening that Louis Angelos, son of Peter, has sued his brother John and mother Georgia in Baltimore County Circuit Court.
Among the allegations in the lawsuit, according to the Banner article:
John intends to maintain absolute control over the Orioles — to manage, to sell, or, if he chooses, to move to Tennessee (where he has a home and where his wife’s career is headquartered) — without having to answer to anyone.
This is the one thing to really set off the anxiety of that segment of Orioles fans who think that some future development will result in the team departing for greener pastures. The memory of the Mayflower vans is ingrained in the psyche of the Baltimore fanbase forever. The idea of Nashville in particular seems wedged into the minds of some, and now it seems it will be wedged in further.
Whatever is going on with this, it will not change tonight. I can do nothing about it so I am not going to spend any time worried about it. I’m more interested in the team in front of me. Can the Orioles put together a good series against a bad Royals team? A good first game leading to a win would sure be a nice way to get it started, to avoid ending up down the Tigers series path where there was a fellow bad team and the Orioles got swept on the road instead.
It’s an Adley Rutschman-less Orioles lineup tonight, which is automatically less exciting than an Adley Rutschman-ful Orioles lineup.
Orioles lineup
- Cedric Mullins – CF
- Trey Mancini – DH
- Austin Hays – RF
- Ryan Mountcastle – 1B
- Anthony Santander – LF
- Tyler Nevin – 3B
- Rougned Odor – 2B
- Robinson Chirinos – C
- Jorge Mateo – SS
Jordan Lyles makes the start for the Orioles. He had more good starts than bad ones in May. We can hope that will continue in June. His first June start saw him give up five runs, four earned, in five innings. Eating more innings would also be preferable.
Royals lineup
- Whit Merrifield – RF
- Andrew Benintendi – LF
- Bobby Witt Jr. – SS
- Salvador Perez – C
- MJ Melendez – DH
- Carlos Santana – 1B
- Emmanuel Rivera – 3B
- Michael A. Taylor – CF
- Nicky Lopez – 2B
Royals starter Kris Bubic has pitched in seven games and has an ERA over 9. What should be done by the Orioles tonight is obvious. Whether they are, in fact, better enough than the Royals to do what should be done is far less obvious.