Fresh off of a feel-good weekend in the Bronx, the Orioles will look to keep the good times rolling in their upcoming three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays beginning Monday at Camden Yards.
The Orioles (4-6) overcame a rough start to the season with an impressive showing against the high-powered New York Yankees. After scoring just 14 runs over the first six games of the year, the offense has racked up 23 runs over the last four games and is tied for fifth in the majors with 12 homers.
The Blue Jays (6-4) head into Baltimore in decent form and will look to gain ground on the first-place Red Sox, who are off to the best start in their 118-year history.
The Jays won two of three games against the Texas Rangers over the weekend. Toronto’s offense already appears to be in mid-season form, scoring 52 runs over the opening 10 games, third-best in the American League.
Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy (0-0, 0.69 ERA) will be looking for his much-deserved first win of the season tonight against Toronto left-hander J.A. Happ (1-1, 5.40 ERA).
Bundy was superb in his last start in Houston and allowed just a single run on five hits over six innings. Despite his excellence, he ended up in the no-decision in the Orioles eventual 3-2 loss. The Orioles ace has spun 13 incredible innings so far this season, allowing just the one run on 10 hits while racking up 15 strikeouts.
Happ is trying to bounce back from his last start against the White Sox when he gave up four runs on
seven hits over 5 1/3 innings despite notching nine strikeouts.
In the second game of the series, Andrew Cashner (1-1, 4.09 ERA) will take the mound against Toronto right-hander Aaron Sanchez (0-1, 5.40 ERA) on Tuesday. Cashner earned his first win as an Oriole after shutting down the Yankees to the tune of a single run on two hits over six innings on Thursday. He will be looking for a repeat performance in front of the home crowd.
Sanchez took the loss during his last start versus the White Sox after giving up three runs on six hits over six innings of work.
Kevin Gausman (0-1, 8.00 ERA) will toe the rubber against Marco Estrada (1-0, 2.77 ERA) in the series
finale on Wednesday. Gausman shrugged off his nightmare debut start to the season and turned in a solid outing his last time out in the Bronx, allowing two runs on five hits over five innings.
Estrada has been outstanding for the Jays over his first two starts, and has allowed just one run on five hits over six innings in his last start versus Texas.
Inside Pitch:
– Look out: Manny Machado looks to be catching fire. The Orioles star shortstop is hitting .310 with two
doubles, two homers and five RBI through the first 10 games of the season.
– Toronto first baseman Justin Smoak is tearing the cover off of the ball at the moment. Through just 10 games, Smoak is batting .351 with five doubles, two homers and 10 RBIs.
– Blue Jays second baseman Yangervis Solarte has also gotten off to a nice start to his debut season in Toronto. Through eight games, the native Venezuelan is hitting .308 with five runs, two doubles, two homers and three RBI.
– After stumbling out of the gates, the Orioles offense has now scored five or more runs in three of their
last four games. The Orioles pitching staff, however, might have their hands full with the Jays red-hot line-up. They’ve racked up 49 runs over their last eight games, a click over six runs per game.
That’s it for now, folks!
Here’s to a few more in the win column.
