Baseball is such a funny game. One day you get no-hit and drop two of three from the Seattle Mariners and the next thing you know, you complete a four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics. It’s so easy to have a football mentality and react to every outcome, but the adage of “it’s a long season” is so true.

However, with fewer than 50 games left in the regular season, wins hold more meaning and losses come with just a bit more sting.

O’s Facing Elite of Elite Starters

The Orioles run of facing legitimate aces started on Monday night with Sonny Gray of the Oakland A’s. Luckily, Oakland wins the award of worst defensive team in the major leagues and an error along with a mistake by Gray led to Steve Clevenger hitting a three-run home run.

Now the O’s will face the New York Mets and starters Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard the next two nights. deGrom is second in the big leagues with a 2.03 ERA and Syndergaard is having a solid season himself with an ERA of 3.07 and averaging 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings. The good news for the Orioles facing Syndergaard is he has yet to win a game on the road and has an ERA of 5.01 in eight starts away from Citi Field.

Kevin Gausman takes the mound tonight for the O’s so it will be a battle of “which starter throws the hardest?” and could turn into a situation where the first team to score three runs wins.

WIETERS, JOESPH, & CLEVENGER IN THE SAME LINEUP?

It’s possible, but I’m not sure how realistic it is. Buck Showalter could always move Chris Davis back to right field and slide Clevenger to first base, and have Matt Wieters DH with Caleb Joseph behind the plate. However, Davis is playing at an elite level defensively at first and I’m not willing to find out if Clevenger can handle the position on an everyday basis at this point in the season.

I’m comfortable with Clevenger remaining the DH and having Wieters and Joseph continue their rotation behind the plate. I strongly believe the reason Joseph is swinging the bat so well right now is because he is staying fresh by not catching everyday.

I also think people are forgetting the type of hitter Wieters is and there’s no doubt in my mind that he will make a big impact as we enter the stretch run of the regular season.

MINOR LEAGUE PITCHER TO FOLLOW

If you have followed my work over the last few seasons you know I love keeping an eye on the minor leagues. The Orioles depth, particularly at pitching, has taken a hit the last couple of years due to trades and injuries. With the potential departure of Wei-Yin Chen this offseason, the O’s rotation will have an opening. The plan was for Dylan Bundy to be ready to take over that spot, but another injury puts his chances to crack to 2016 Opening Day rotation at almost zero.

(Side note: Bundy will have to be on the roster as he is out of options, but that’s a discussion for another day.)

If the organization is going to fork out a lot of money for a starter it would be for Chen, so realistically, the Orioles will look at someone in the organization or sign a veteran on the cheap.

This brings me to Bowie Baysox left-hander Ariel Miranda. The 26-year-old was signed by Dan Duquette in May after spending his entire career in Cuba and he’s immediately made an impact. In 11 starts between the gulf coast league, Frederick Keys, and now the Baysox, Miranda has pitched to a 2.52 ERA with a very impressive 29:9 K:BB ratio.

Miranda pitches in the low-to-mid 90s which I think can still improve as he continues to progress on a consistent training routine (a first for him). Miranda also possesses a split-finger, forkball type pitch and of course he’s left-handed. There’s a chance Miranda could be a September call-up, but more than likely, we will be hearing how he has a chance to be a starter with the big league club next spring.