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Series Preview: Orioles (61-46) @ White Sox (52-56)

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After taking two out of three against the best team in the American League, the Orioles will take a trip to the South side of the Windy City to take on the Chicago White Sox for a three-game set before hitting the Bay Area next week.

The Orioles (61-46) are currently locked in a two-way tie with the Toronto Blue Jays (62-47) for first place in the AL East as they prepare to begin the imminent ten-game road swing. While the O’s aren’t as hot as they were in the first half of the season, the seas have still been smooth in Birdland as the Orioles own a solid 10-10 mark in the second half of the campaign so far.

The O’s haven’t been at their best on the road this season, with a dismal 22-29 record away from Camden Yards, but they have crushed AL Central opponents, posting a 19-7 record versus them going into the three-game clash with the Chi ‘Sox.

The White Sox (52-56) have seen their 2016 season continue to trend in the wrong direction as of late, and own a subpar 12-17 mark since the start of July. Since their red-hot 17-8 start to the season back in April, the Sox have gone just 35-48. As a result, the Sox find themselves ten games behind the Cleveland Indians for first in the division and 7.5-games behind the Boston Red Sox for the second wild card spot in the AL.

After splitting a four-game set at Camden Yards in late April, the Orioles own a commanding 20-11 advantage over Chicago since the start of the 2012 season. The Orioles also boast an 8-5 record at U.S. Cellular Field during that same span.

Yovani Gallardo (3-3, 5.70 ERA) will take on former Oriole Miguel Gonzalez (2-5, 4.06 ERA) in the series opener on Friday.

Gallardo has been off his game lately, posting an 0-2 record with a 5.50 ERA over his last three outings, and his 1-3 record and 7.32 ERA on the road won’t do much to inspire confidence, but the fact that Gallardo absolutely dominated the White Sox last season despite having never faced them beforehand has to count for something.

While a member of the Rangers in 2015, Gallardo faced Chicago twice and despite posting a blank record, the former All-Star silenced the Sox to just eight hits over 11 shutout innings while recording seven K’s.

The 32-year-old Gonzalez has been in top form recently, and will probably be anxious to show exactly why the Orioles shouldn’t have thrown the towel in on him back in March. Gonzalez posted a 1-2 record with an outstanding 2.50 ERA and 0.98 WHIP over six starts in the month of July while recording 31 strikeouts in 39.2 innings of work.

In his last start versus the Twins on July 30th, Gonzalez allowed just one run on five hits over seven innings with one walk and five K’s, but received the no-decision in Chicago’s eventual 6-5 victory.

Chris Tillman (14-3, 3.46 ERA) will take the mound against Carlos Rodon (2-8, 4.67 ERA) in the middle game of the series on Saturday.

Tillman, 28, has been the Orioles shining staff ace all season long. You could even say that he has put the team on his right shoulder as the O’s have went a remarkable 19-4 with Tillman on the mound.

Tillman boasts an impressive 6-2 record and a 3.13 ERA on the road this season against a club that he’s registered a 3-1 record and a 3.29 ERA against over five starts in his career. However, the native Californian will be hoping to erase the memory of his last start against Chicago on Independence Day 2015. Tillman allowed two runs on ten hits over 4.2 innings in a 3-2 loss.

Rodon, 23, has endured a frustrating sophomore season filled with injuries and inconsistency on the mound after turning heads as a rookie in 2015, but still remains one of the game’s top young up-and-coming arms.

In three career starts versus the O’s, The NC State alum owns a 0-2 record with a 4.85 ERA. The 2014 first-round pick (third overall) last faced the Orioles on April 29th and allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits over seven innings with just one walk to seven strikeouts in a 6-3 loss.

The in-form Dylan Bundy (4-3, 3.05 ERA) will face off against veteran James Shields (3-6, 5.64 ERA) in the series finale on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Bundy has been superb over his last three outings, going 2-1 with a sparkling 1.53 ERA while striking out 20 batters over 17.2 innings. The Tulsa native is also coming off of a start in which he took a no-no into the sixth inning and allowed just a lone hit over seven stellar lights out innings of work while registering seven K’s in a 5-1 win versus the Rangers.

Bundy will be making his second career appearance against Chicago after facing them out of the bullpen in a 10-2 Orioles win on April 28th when he allowed three hits over two scoreless innings with one strikeout.

Shields, 34, is also coming off of an outstanding month of July in which he posted a 2-3 record with a glittering 1.78 ERA and 0.99 WHIP.

In 26 career starts versus Baltimore, the California native owns an impressive 11-7 record and 3.52 ERA.

With the Orioles starting rotation’s recent surge in form coupled with some lights out performances from the O’s ever-reliable bullpen, the Orioles pitching staff as a whole is probably as in sync as it’s been all season. I don’t know if it’s the emergence of Bundy or the return of Darren O’Day, but I like what I’ve been seeing as of late. More of the same please!

With that being said, the Orioles in-form pitching staff will be facing a squad that boasts a slumping offense that’s yet to find its rhythm this season and comes into the clash against the O’s ranked 11th in the AL in average (.249), 12th in home runs (108) and 13th in scoring (3.99).

But we also have a match-up to definitely keep an eye on. The league’s current home run champ, Mark Trumbo (31 HR), will be going toe-to-toe with the runner-up Todd Frazier (30 HR) this weekend.

Frazier will be joined by Jose Abreu (.269, 12 HR, 58 RBI), Adam Eaton (.274, 8 HR, 38 RBI), Avisail Garcia (.238, 9 HR, 34 RBI) and Melky Cabrera (.306, 9 HR, 50 RBI) in the top half of the ChiSox line-up.

While the Sox aren’t at the top of their game, they are still a club that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

And with the O’s set to kick off a lengthy ten-game road trip with a first leg stop in Chicago, here’s to setting off the tour on a high note!

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