After going winless during their six-game stay on the West Coast, the Orioles will now return home to take on the Royals over a three-game set.
The Orioles (8-26) will also be hoping that their upcoming nine-game home stand can help them climb out of the darkness. They’ve now dropped ten of their last twelve contests and have ended up in the win column just four times over their last 24 games. As a result, the O’s now dwell in the cellar of both the division and the American League.
The Royals (11-23) also started out on a miserable note by going 5-20 through the first 25 games of 2018, but have rebounded as of late by winning six of their last nine contests. Now fully healthy for the first time all season, the Royals should be confident coming into town after taking three of four against Detroit over the weekend.
Dylan Bundy (1-4, 3.76 ERA) will take on Danny Duffy (0-4, 5.63 ERA) in tonight’s series opener.
Bundy was rocked during his outing in Los Angeles and exited the game after allowing seven runs (five earned) over just 4 1/3 innings. The Orioles ace has seen a drop-off in form as of late, and as a result of two consecutive subpar starts in which he’s allowed twelve earned runs over a combined nine innings, his ERA has jumped from 1.42 to 3.76.
Duffy saw his rough start to the 2018 campaign continue after allowing five runs on ten hits over six innings in his last start versus Boston. He’s now turned in a quality start just twice in seven attempts and has allowed four or more runs on four of those occasions.
Andrew Cashner (1-4, 4.89 ERA) will take the mound against Eric Skoglund (1-2, 6.84 ERA) on Wednesday.
Cashner allowed three runs on six hits over just 4 2/3 innings during his last start in Oakland, but took the no-decision in the O’s 6-4 loss. Cashner has also seen his form trend in the wrong direction as of late and has allowed thirteen runs over his last 14 2/3 innings.
Skoglund coughed up five runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings during his last start against the Tigers, but took the no-decision. Skoglund hasn’t had the best of starts to his rookie campaign and has recorded just one quality start on the year while allowing four-plus runs in four of his five contests.
Kevin Gausman (2-2, 3.30 ERA) will match-up with Ian Kennedy (1-3, 2.92 ERA) in the series finale on Thursday.
Update 3:45 PM:
Chris Tillman now listed as thursday starter vs KC. #orioles
— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) May 8, 2018
Gausman turned in an incredible performance en route to holding the Athletics to just two hits over nine stellar shutout innings during his last start, but the O’s stagnant offense couldn’t put up a single run in order to give him the complete-game shutout that he deserved in an eventual 2-0 Orioles loss.
Gausman has been in sparkling form as of late and after his gem in the Bay Area, he has now allowed just five runs over his last 28 2/3 innings of work. In addition, after allowing six runs over four innings during his season debut, the Orioles flamethrower has posted a spectacular 2.27 ERA over 39 2/3 innings in his six starts since.
Kennedy also took a tough no-decision in his last start despite throwing six shutout innings versus Detroit. The former Yankee has been pretty outstanding in the early goings this season by notching five quality starts in seven attempts while allowing one run or less on four separate occasions.
That’s it for now, folks!
Here’s to getting back in the win column.
