Fresh off of reclaiming first place after sweeping the Cleveland Indians, the Orioles are set to host the Colorado Rockies for the first time in three years at Camden Yards for a three-game showdown before hitting the road again.
The Orioles hold a slim 1.5-game lead over the Red Sox in the battle for the top spot in the AL East, and at 57-40, they currently represent the best that the AL has to offer. The O’s also own the best home record in the majors to date, posting an unbelievable 36-14 record at Camden Yards this season, and come into the three-game clash versus the Rockies on a current four-game winning streak.
The Orioles have gone 5-2 in interleague play on the year with all of their opponents hailing from the NL West. The O’s went 3-1 against the lowly Padres earlier this season and took two out of three from the Dodgers right before the All-Star Break.
The Rockies (47-51) fly into town in the best form that they’ve been in all season after posting a 10-6 mark over their last 16 games while currently riding a four-game winning streak of their own. Despite their recent tear, the Rockies still find themselves 11.0 games behind the red-hot Giants (58-40) for first place in the division and six games behind the Marlins for the second wild card spot in the NL. On the year, Colorado has gone 6-7 versus AL opponents while recording a 22-27 record away from Coors Field.
The last time these two clubs met in August 2013, the Orioles took two out of three from their Denver adversaries at Camden Yards to even their All-Time record against the Rockies at 6-6. Before that, the two clubs had last faced off in 2007. The upcoming three-game set versus the Rox will be just the third meeting between the two clubs in the past decade.
Yovani Gallardo (3-2, 5.69 ERA) will take the mound against fellow countryman Jorge de la Rosa (6-7, 6.07 ERA) in the series opener on Monday.
Gallardo, a member of the Milwaukee Brewers from 2007 to 2014, will take on a familiar foe in the form of the Rockies on Monday, but he will be hoping to not let history repeat itself after posting a 0-5 record with a 6.08 ERA over 10 games (nine starts) versus Colorado.
De la Rosa, 35, is facing the Orioles for just the second time in his career. The long-time Rockie has been pitching in The Mile-High City since 2007 and the veteran southpaw will be looking to record his 100th career win when he takes on the Orioles.
Orioles ace Chris Tillman (14-2, 3.18 ERA) is set to take on Chad Bettis (8-6, 5.31 ERA) in Tuesday’s match-up.
Tillman, 28, will be making his first-ever start against Colorado in this match-up. And for the Rockies sluggers, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Tillman has registered seven-plus innings while allowing just a single earned run in four straight starts. During that span, Tillman is a perfect 4-0 with a stellar 1.29 ERA.
Tillman has also been impeccable at Camden Yards this season, going 8-0 with a 3.23 ERA.
Bettis has been impressive over his last three starts, going 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA while recording 20 strikeouts over 20 innings of work. In his last outing, the 27-year-old Texas Tech alum allowed just one run on four hits over 6.2 innings with three walks and four K’s in a 7-3 win against Atlanta. Tuesday will mark the Lubbock natives’ first career start versus the Orioles.
Dylan Bundy (3-2, 3.30 ERA) will take on fellow Oklahoma native Jon Gray (6-4, 4.12 ERA) in the series finale on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old Bundy recorded his finest performance to date in a 5-1 win versus Cleveland last Friday, allowing just one unearned run on five hits over five innings while walking zero and striking out five. The result? His first major league win as a starter. Here’s to making it two in a row!
Gray has enjoyed an impressive and promising rookie campaign this season after being selected third overall out of The University of Oklahoma in 2013. The 24-year-old phenom has been outstanding as of late, going 1-0 with a 1.33 ERA over his last three starts with 24 K’s in 20.1 innings on the mound and has allowed three runs or fewer in four of his last five outings. In his last 11 games, the Shawnee native has posted a very impressive 2.93 ERA while allowing two runs or less in eight of those 11 starts.
This three-game clash will feature two of the league’s most potent offensive attacks, as the Orioles rank first in the majors in home runs (148), while ranking third in the AL in team batting average (.267) and fourth in OBP (.327) and scoring (4.85 runs per game), while on the other hand, Colorado comes into Birdland boasting the best offense in the NL and the second-best offense in the majors (5.16 runs per game) while ranking second in the NL in batting average (.270) and OBP (.335) and tied for fourth in homers (124).
The Rockies highly potent offense features 25-year-old superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado (.290, 25 HR, 76 RBI), 23-year-old rookie phenom Trevor Story (.275, 27 HR, 69 RBI), the always-dangerous superstar Carlos “CarGo” Gonzalez (.318, 20 HR, 60 RBI), do-it-all second baseman D.J Lemahieu (.329, 6 HR, 34 RBI), dynamic five-tool center fielder Charlie Blackmon (.300, 12 HR, 44 RBI) and a resurgent Mark Reynolds (.273, 20 2B, 10 HR, 41 RBI) manning first base.
So, in other words, forget the traditional three-headed monster. They’ve got a six-headed monster residing in the Wall Street of the West at the moment.
It’s pretty safe to say that the Orioles pitching staff will have their work cut out in silencing these guys. It may even be mission impossible. But the silver lining for the Orioles is that their high-flying offense will be going against a woeful Rockies pitching staff that ranks second-to-last in the NL in total ERA (4.97), starters ERA (4.99) and bullpen ERA (4.92). But again, it’s not easy pitching in the Mile-High City.
Either way, two of the league’s finest heavy-hitting ball clubs will be going toe-to-toe at Camden Yards this week…and with this much firepower in one stadium, it should be a blast to watch.
Grab your umbrellas before heading to the Yard for this one, everybody. Something’s telling me that there’s going to be a high chance of heavy rain over the next three nights.
