After banking two wins during the first leg of the ten-game road trip, the Orioles will now fly to Oakland to take on the A’s for a four-game set before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and heading into San Francisco.
The Orioles (63-47) hold a slim one-game advantage over the Blue Jays for first in the AL East as they hit the West Coast. While the Orioles current road record stands at a subpar 24-30, they have improved slightly away from Camden Yards by posting a 6-8 mark over the last 14 road games. They will also be looking to improve upon their dismal 10-16 record versus AL West opponents.
The A’s (48-63) are currently in the cellar of the AL West and 16.5-games behind the Rangers at the top of the division after getting swept by the Cubs at home while getting outscored 14-3. As a result, Oakland has won just one game out of their last nine, being outscored 52-27 during that span.
Since starting the 2016 campaign with a solid 13-12 mark in April, the A’s have posted a dreadful 35-50 mark.
After taking two of three versus the Athletics at Camden Yards back in May, the Orioles own an impressive 19-13 mark against their West Coast hosts since the start of the 2012 season and a dominant 8-2 record against them since the start of the 2015 season.
Kevin Gausman (3-8, 4.08 ERA) will take on Kendall Graveman (7-7, 4.46 ERA) in the series opener on Monday.
Gausman turned in one of his finest performances of the season in a 3-2 win over the Rangers on Wednesday, allowing just two runs on seven hits over seven innings with just one walk to seven K’s. The 25-year-old flame thrower will be looking to carry that momentum into his outing versus the A’s and finally notch his first road win of the season. Gausman is 0-7 with a 5.62 ERA away from Camden Yards in 2016.
In two career starts versus Oakland, both in 2014, Gausman owns a 1-1 record and a 4.94 ERA. On June 7th, 2014, the Colorado native earned his first win of the season after allowing just a single run on four hits over seven innings with one walk and six strikeouts in a 6-3 victory.
Graveman, 25, will be hoping that his nightmare run of results against the Orioles will come to a halt on Monday. In five games (three starts) versus Baltimore, the Mississippi State alum owns a 0-3 record with a disastrous 10.13 ERA and .351 BAA.
In his last two starts versus the Orioles, the Alabama native has been torched to the tune of 12 runs on 13 hits over just six innings combined…to put it in other words, he owns an 18.00 ERA during that span.
Wade Miley (7-9, 5.08 ERA) will take the mound versus Zach Neal (1-1, 5.25 ERA) on Tuesday.
Miley battled hard in his Orioles debut last Thursday against Texas, but allowed four runs on eight hits over five innings with zero walks to five K’s in a 5-3 loss.
The 29-year-old will be going against a team that he went 2-0 with a stellar 1.29 ERA against in two starts last year with the Red Sox. In 14 total innings, Miley held the A’s to just two runs on 11 hits while striking out seven.
Neal, 27, will be replacing the recently injured Sonny Gray, who exited his last start with a strain in his forearm and was subsequently placed on the 15-day DL. The Oklahoma alum has been impressive as of late and has recorded 9.1 scoreless innings in his last four relief appearances.
Neal will also be making just his second career start on Tuesday. The A’s rookie made his first big league start versus the Mariners on May 25th, but was denied a storybook tale after getting tagged for seven runs on eight hits over four innings in a 13-3 loss.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Due to the depleted state of Oakland’s rotation, which includes a recently injured Sonny Gray and Jesse Hahn, a recently demoted Dillon Overton and the recently traded Rich Hill, the A’s will be forced to use spot starters for the latter part of the series. The following match-ups are only if things go according to plan.
Yovani Gallardo (4-3, 5.47 ERA) will get the nod against Ross Detwiler (0-0, 5.79 ERA) on Wednesday.
Gallardo, like Gausman, hasn’t fared well on the road this season and owns a 2-3 record with a 6.75 ERA away from OPACY on the year.
In five career starts versus Oakland, Gallardo has posted a 0-4 record with a 6.11 ERA. In 2015 alone versus the A’s, the former All-Star posted a 0-3 record with a 5.74 ERA over four contests.
With Jesse Hahn shelved, former National Ross Detwiler is rumored to be called-up for Wednesday’s ballgame after pitching Friday for AAA Nashville.
The 30-year-old was acquired in a trade with the Indians for cash on July 17th, and has registered a perfect 4-0 record with a respectable 3.86 ERA over four games (three starts) with the Nashville Sounders.
Chris Tillman (14-4, 3.50 ERA) will toe the rubber in the series finale against Daniel Mengden (1-5, 5.73 ERA).
While Tillman hasn’t been in top form as of late with a 0-2 record and a 5.94 ERA over his last three starts, the O’s ace still owns an impressive 6-3 mark and a rock-solid 3.25 ERA on the road this season.
In six career starts against the A’s, the 28-year-old owns a perfect 3-0 record and a sparkling 2.58 ERA while holding batters to a lowly .210 average.
Mengden, 23, started his rookie campaign in fine form by going 1-3 with a 2.81 ERA over his first four starts in June, but followed by posting an 0-2 record with a dreadful 9.00 ERA and 2.08 WHIP over five starts in July, resulting in a demotion to AAA Nashville.
But since the A’s need an arm to fill Rich Hill’s vacant slot in the rotation, the Texas A&M alum is speculated to be getting another shot at sticking with the big club after turning in two fine performances in a row since the demotion. In his last two starts with the Sounders, Mengden has allowed just two runs on ten hits over ten innings with eight K’s. He also pitched last Saturday, so a start in the series finale would fit right into the Houston natives throwing schedule.
With the A’s pitching staff ranked 13th in the AL in BAA (.269) and 14th in ERA (4.69) and OBP (.333), they might be running into a buzz saw in the form of the Orioles, who lead the majors in homers (168) while ranking tied for fourth in the AL in batting average (.264) and fifth in scoring (4.74 runs per game).
The O’s also offense seems to be hitting red-hot form after mashing versus Texas and Chicago, so here’s to a continuation of the fireworks!
The Orioles pitching staff, most notably the starters, have been turning heads due to the excellent form that they’ve been in for weeks now, and will now go into a favorable match-up with the Athletics and their slumping offense.
While slugger Khris Davis (.251, 27 HR, 69 RBI), two-time All-Star catcher Stephen Vogt (.266, 8 HR, 31 RBI), 25-year-old shortstop Marcus Semien (.236, 23 HR, 54 RBI) and former Oriole Danny Valencia (.293, 14 HR, 37 RBI) are all having solid seasons for the home squad, the Athletics offense ranks just tied for tenth in the AL in average (.249), 11th in home runs (121) and 12th in scoring (4.04).
While this four-game clash in Oakland seems like a walk in the park for the first place Orioles, you can never write off a team before the first pitch is thrown.
With that being said, here’s to the Orioles taking care of business in the Bay Area and heading out of Oakland with a series win in the proverbial back pocket!
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They will actually cross the Bay Bridge to play the Giants, not the Golden Gate 😉