After taking two of three against the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards, the Baltimore Orioles will head to Kansas City to take on the reigning world champion Royals in a three-game set at Kauffman Stadium.
Both teams have started the year strongly and head into the series in first place in their respective divisions. The Orioles (10-4) have a 3.5-game lead on Toronto (8-9) for first place in the AL East, while the Royals (10-5) own just a 0.5-game advantage over the Chicago White Sox (10-6) in the AL Central.
The O’s offense has been on fire to start the season and ranks 1st in the AL in HR (25), average (.285) and OBP (.352) while ranking 3rd in runs (70) and t-3rd in RBI (63). They will be facing a tough Kansas City pitching staff that ranks 2nd in the AL in BAA (.227) and ERA among starters (2.84), 3rd in total ERA (2.91), 4th in K/9 (9.07) and 5th in K (134).
But enough prelude. Let’s take a look at the starters:
Yovani Gallardo (1-0, 5.63 ERA) will take the mound on Friday night against the Royals’ Chris Young (0-3, 7.90 ERA). Gallardo shut down the Royals in his last start versus KC as a member of the Texas Rangers on May 13th, 2015, allowing two runs on six hits over seven innings with one walk and two K’s in a 5-2 Rangers win. In two career starts against Kansas City, the 30-year-old is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.
Young, 36, dominated the O’s in his last start versus Baltimore as a member of the Seattle Mariners on July 26th, 2014, allowing just two hits over seven shutout innings with three walks and eight K’s. The Dallas native is 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP in five games against the O’s.
If things go to plan, Vance Worley (1-0, 5.06 ERA) will get the nod on Saturday versus Kris Medlen (1-0, 2.38 ERA). This would be the first time that Worley, 28, would face the Royals in his career, while Medlen, 30, last faced the O’s on August 24th, 2015 and allowed three runs on five hits over six innings with zero walks and six K’s in an 8-3 Royals win. The Californian is 1-0 with a 5.25 ERA in three games versus Baltimore.
Mike Wright (1-1, 5.73 ERA) is set to take on Royals’ flame thrower Yordano Ventura (1-0, 2.81 ERA) in Sunday’s matinee. Wright, 26, allowed four runs on four hits over five innings in his first and only career start versus Kansas City on September 11th, 2015 in a 14-8 Orioles win. Ventura, 24, went 2-0 with a 3.21 ERA versus the O’s in 2015, including a stellar performance in a 5-3 Royals win on August 27th, 2015 in which the Dominican allowed just two hits in six innings of shutout baseball with four walks and eleven K’s. In four starts versus the O’s, he’s 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA.
The Royals pitching staff will have to be at their best to neutralize the scorching trio of Manny Machado ( .407, 7 2B, 5 HR, 9 RBI, .462 OBP), Mark Trumbo (.370, 5 HR, 11 RBI, .414 OBP) and Joey Rickard (.350, 7 R, 5 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI).
In 22 career games against the Royals, Machado has a solid .279 average with 6 HR and 15 RBI, while Rickard is going on his first ever trip to Kauffman Stadium. Trumbo has a .263 average with 3 HR and 20 RBI in 30 games versus Kansas City.
But they aren’t the only ones that the Royals have to try and keep in check.
In 57 career contests versus the Royals, Adam Jones has had moderate success and owns a .268 average with 10 HR and 40 RBI versus KC, while J.J. Hardy has posted a very solid .289 average with 7 HR and 27 RBI in 44 games against Kansas City in his career. O’s slugger Chris Davis comes into the 2016 edition of this match-up with 9 HR and 19 RBI to go along with respectable .254 average in 38 games versus the Royals.
The Royals aren’t the defending champs for no reason. They are more than just pitching, as they have a few sluggers in their midst that can do some major damage. C Salvador Perez (.280, 4 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI), 1B Eric Hosmer (.305, 3 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI) and 3B Mike Moustakas (.259, 3 2B, 5 HR, 6 RBI) are all in fine form heading into the series against the O’s.
In 22 games against the O’s, the 25-year-old Perez is a .253 career hitter with 2 HR and 12 RBI, while Hosmer, 26, struggles against Baltimore. In 35 games versus the Orioles, the Miami native is just a .206 career hitter with 3 HR and 14 RBI. Moustakas on the other hand, is a complete thorn in the Orioles side. In 29 games versus Baltimore, the LA native is a .250 hitter with the most HR (7) and RBI (25) he’s recorded against a non-AL Central opponent in his career.
To join Moustakas, Alex Gordon (.231, 1 HR, 4 RBI) also has a reputation of slaying some birds. In 54 games against the O’s, the three-time All-Star is a .281 hitter and has the most HR (13) and RBI (35) he’s recorded against a non-AL Central opponent. And then there’s the 32-year-old Kendrys Morales (.259, 2 HR, 7 RBI), who owns a stellar .359 average with 6 HR, 34 RBI and a .419 OBP in 42 career contests against Baltimore.
With all of this being said, it looks like we are primed for an excellent series between these two early season AL heavyweights.
Now it’s time to settle it in the ring. Or in this case, Kauffman Stadium.
