After sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays in a four-game set for the first time ever, the Orioles are set to soar into San Diego to take on the Padres for a two-game mini-series at Petco Park. This kicks off a nine-game road swing on the West Coast.
The Orioles (45-30) now find themselves tied with the Cleveland Indians for the second-best record in the AL, and head into their cross-country road trip on a five-game winning streak.
The Orioles have also been on an excellent run of form in June (17-8) and have used their superb display this month to propel themselves to a 4.5-game lead over the Boston Red Sox (45-31) for first place in the AL East.
The Padres (33-44) find themselves buried in the cellar of the NL West and will look to dig out of a massive 15.5-game deficit, as the San Francisco Giants (49-29) are looking like the easy favorites to win the NL West.
However, the Padres have bounced back from a dismal month of May in which they registered an 11-18 record by posting a very solid 13-11 mark thus far in the month of June and own a 6-2 record over their last eight games.
After not facing the Padres for almost three years, the O’s will now take on their West Coast hosts for the second series between the two clubs in a single week after the teams split their recent two-game set at Camden Yards last week.
Ubaldo Jimenez (4-7, 6.97 ERA) will take on Erik Johnson (0-3, 9.82 ERA) in the series opener on Tuesday night.
Jimenez, 32, seems to have earned his place in the rotation back (at least for the time being) after producing an excellent outing versus the Padres last Wednesday. He allowed just two runs on four hits over six solid innings with four walks and seven strikeouts in the 7-2 Orioles victory.
It also doesn’t hurt that Jimenez now owns an 8-4 record with a 3.87 ERA over 14 career starts versus San Diego while holding the Padres to a .192 batting average.
Johnson, 26, has seen his tenure in San Diego get off to a turbulent start after posting a 0-3 record with a dreadful 9.82 ERA while allowing nearly as many home runs (seven) as strikeouts he’s registered (eight) in 14.2 innings.
The former California Golden Bear was tagged against the O’s potent line-up to the tune of six runs on nine hits and two homers over four innings in his first career start versus Baltimore last Wednesday in a 7-2 loss.
Yovani Gallardo (2-1, 6.04 ERA) will take on Christian Friedrich (4-2, 3.60 ERA) in the series finale on Wednesday.
Gallardo, 30, has looked rejuvenated in his first two starts off the DL, posting a 1-0 record with a solid 4.36 ERA in starts against Toronto and Tampa Bay. He has already seen his ERA come down from 7.00 to 6.04 in just 10.1 innings.
Gallardo will be looking to build onto his recent momentum by notching a win against a club that he’s registered a 4-4 mark with a 4.08 ERA over 12 career starts against in his career.
Friedrich’s form has dipped a bit as of late, going 1-1 with a 5.29 ERA over his last three outings, but the Padres 28-year-old southpaw is having a semi-breakout season in 2016 and finally looks to be realizing his potential after being drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the first round back in 2008. The Eastern Kentucky alum is locked in to make his first career start versus the Orioles in Wednesday’s ballgame.
The Padres pitching staff that ranks 10th in the NL in ERA (4.47) will have their hands full in containing the Orioles white-hot offense. The Orioles now own the second-best scoring offense in the AL (5.02 runs per game) while still leading the majors in home runs (120) and ranking third in batting average (.271).
While early-season MVP candidate Manny Machado (.325, 18 HR, 44 RBI) and joint-MLB HR leader Mark Trumbo (.279, 22 HR, 55 RBI) have been the diamonds in the cast of stars in the O’s line-up, Jonathan Schoop (.292, 13 HR, 43 RBI) is in the middle of a bona fide breakout season while Adam Jones (.265, 15 HR, 48 RBI) is also on an outstanding run of form as he heads into his hometown.
Not to mention that Matt Wieters (.278, 9 HR, 37 RBI) should be in the contention for AL comeback player of the year if he can continue his impressive campaign and Chris Davis (.240, 18 HR, 50 RBI) seems to be heating back up as we roll deeper into summertime baseball.
Let the good times roll.
Looking at the hosting Padres, star first baseman Wil Myers (.282, 17 HR, 50 RBI), two-time All-Star Matt Kemp (.262, 16 HR, 53 RBI) and the enigmatic Melvin Upton Jr. (.261, 11 HR, 36 RBI) make up San Diego’s “Big Three,” but there isn’t nearly enough production outside of their talented trio. The Padres rank ninth in the NL in runs per game (4.23) and HR (81) while ranking 10th in batting average (.242) and 13th in OBP (.300).
After taking on San Diego, the Orioles will jet up to the Emerald City to take on the Mariners for a four-game clash before concluding their West Coast trip by taking on the Dodgers for a three-game set in sunny LA.
Here’s to kicking off the road trip with a couple of wins in SoCal!
