After breaking even against the Red Sox over the weekend, the Orioles will now host the Pittsburgh Pirates for a quick two-game set to conclude their nine-game stand at Camden Yards.
While some may not consider this to be as bad-blooded as the other historic Baltimore vs Pittsburgh rivalry, Birdland veterans will beg to differ. This is still the same club that snatched two titles away from the Orioles back in the golden era of the 1970’s.
The Orioles have only played the Pirates sixteen times since 2005, but when I talk to my parents, relatives or fans that still remember the Pirates winning game seven at Memorial Stadium in the 1971 World Series or coming back from 3-1 down (and again winning game seven at Memorial Stadium) to snatch the 1979 World Series title away from the Birds, there’s a lot of resentment that still lingers.
I think it’s safe to say that the Orioles don’t consider the Pirates as “Family.”
The Orioles (29-26) find themselves in the middle of a five-horse race for the division title and trail the first-place Yankees by 3.5-games. The second place Red Sox are just 1.5-games out of reach, but the fourth-place Rays are just two games behind the Orioles and the cellar-dwelling Blue Jays are only 2.5-games back. It’s going to be an intense summer.
They’ll be looking to build upon their sparkling 19-10 record at Camden Yards before hitting the road for an eight-game stretch.
The Pirates (26-31) find themselves in the cellar of the clustered NL Central division, and only trail the first place Cubs (29-27) by 3.5-games as they roll into town. The Pirates have notched a dismal 12-18 record away from PNC Park on the year.
However, things have started to look up for the visitors as of late. They’ve gone a respectable 5-5 over their last ten games, including taking two of three from the Mets in New York over the weekend.
For the Orioles’ sake, hopefully the Pirates cool down a bit after their red-hot weekend in NYC. They notched twelve runs in Friday’s 12-7 win and then followed up by posting eleven runs in Sunday’s 11-1 dismantling of the Mets at Citi Field.
Let’s take a look at the starters that will be faced with said task:
Game One
Kevin Gausman (3-4, 5.92 ERA) will take on former longtime Yankee Ivan Nova (5-4, 2.92 ERA) in tonight’s series opener.
After going through a nightmare month of April, Gausman has steadily turned his season around and has posted an impressive 2-1 record and 3.50 ERA over his last three starts. In six starts at Camden Yards this season, Gausman is 2-1 with a 4.54 ERA.
Nova hit the ground running this season with a 3-2 record and a stellar 1.50 ERA over five starts in April, but has come down a bit since, going 2-2 with a decent 4.17 ERA over six starts in May. Still, Nova has posted quality starts in nine of his eleven outings on the year. He’s 2-2 with an impressive 3.09 ERA in six starts on the road in 2017.
Game Two
Wade Miley (2-3, 2.82 ERA) will take the mound against Chad Kuhl (1-5, 6.02 ERA) in the series finale on Wednesday.
Miley has been superb for the Orioles as of late, and after holding the Red Sox to just a single run over seven stellar innings in his last start, he now owns a sparkling 2.37 ERA over his last three starts. The Orioles southpaw has also been incredible at Camden Yards this season and owns a 1.01 ERA over five starts in front of the OPACY faithful.
After breaking into the Pirates rotation last season, Kuhl has hit the sophomore slump in his second season in the bigs. However, the Delaware alum has posted a decent 4.40 ERA over his last three outings and owns a solid 3.80 ERA over four starts away from PNC Park on the year.
Notes
– Since 2011, the Orioles have gone 7-3 versus Pittsburgh. They’ve also gone 5-0 versus the Pirates at Camden Yards during that span as well.
– The Pirates five-time All-Star and 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen (.232, 9 HR, 28 RBI) will be at Camden Yards this week. While he might be having a down year by his standards, he’s still a joy to watch play baseball and has a good shot at ending up in Cooperstown when it’s all said and done.
– In eleven career inter-league starts, Gausman has posted a 3-6 record and a 5.31 ERA. He’ll be making his first career start versus Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
– Look for Wade Miley to continue his red-hot run of form on Wednesday. He’s gone 2-2 with an impressive 3.11 ERA over six career starts versus the Pirates.
– In sixteen career starts versus the Orioles, Ivan Nova has notched a 8-4 record despite owning a 5.01 ERA. He owns a 3-1 record and a 5.44 ERA through eight career starts at Camden Yards.
– Adam Jones (9-for-46) and Manny Machado (5-for-25) have struggled against Nova in the past, but J.J. Hardy (11-for-39), and Jonathan Schoop (4-for-10) have done well versus the former Yankee while Chris Davis (.281, 3 HR, 10 RBI) and Mark Trumbo (.476, 3 HR, 5 RBI) have done some major damage.
