After suffering through a beat down in the Bronx, the Orioles will look to bounce back and do some damage versus the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the final series of August.
Yes, that’s right. We are now just three games away from September baseball, or in other words, the grand finale which separates the contenders from the pretenders. It’s time to put up or shut up.
The Orioles (71-59), currently in third place in the AL East, will have a shot at diminishing the Blue Jays’ lead in the division going into the three-game clash at Camden Yards. The O’s find themselves three games out of first place and just a game behind the second-place Red Sox.
The O’s also own a two-game advantage over the Tigers for the AL’s final wild card slot and a three-game lead over Seattle, Houston and Kansas City. The race for the division and the wild card is still wide open, and it would probably take a crystal ball to find out how all of this will shake out at this point.
The Blue Jays (74-56) will carry a two-game lead over the Red Sox for first in the division as they head into town, and have been on a warpath for quite some time now. The Jays have recorded a 63-42 record since the beginning of May and an outstanding 31-18 mark since the start of July.
The Orioles have struggled mightily against Toronto as of late. After going 3-1 versus the Jays through the first four meetings of the campaign, the O’s have dropped six of their last nine against their Canadian rivals and have posted just a 6-7 record against them on the year.
Wade Miley (8-10, 5.51 ERA) will take the mound against Marco Estrada (7-6, 3.47 ERA) in the series opener on Monday.
After finally recording his first win as an Oriole versus the Nationals last Wednesday, Miley will be looking to make it two in a row against a club that he’s posted a 1-3 record and a 6.04 ERA against over five career starts.
In five starts as a member of the O’s, the southpaw has gone 1-2 with a bloated 8.18 ERA.
Estrada has labored through the month of August, recording a 1-2 record and a 6.00 ERA. In addition, the 2016 All-Star has struggled since the All-Star Break and owns a 2-3 record with a 5.18 ERA in the second half of the season to date.
In nine games (seven starts) versus Baltimore, the CSU-Long Beach alum has registered a 3-1 record and a 3.53 ERA.
Ubaldo Jimenez (5-11, 6.62 ERA) is set to take on J.A Happ (17-4, 3.19 ERA) in Tuesday’s contest.
Making his first start since July 28th, Jimenez was on point last Thursday versus the Nationals and allowed just one run on five hits over six innings, but received the tough luck loss in the 4-0 defeat to the hands of Max Scherzer & Co.
In 16 games (14 starts) versus Toronto, the former All-Star has registered a 6-5 record along with a 4.91 ERA.
J.A Happ has been absolutely sensational for the Blue Jays this season, and has been red-hot since the start of July. The 33-year-old southpaw owns a sparkling 8-1 record and a 2.26 ERA over nine starts during that span.
In 11 games (ten starts), versus Baltimore, the Northwestern alum has posted a 4-3 record and a 3.48 ERA.
Yovani Gallardo (4-6, 5.69 ERA) will get the nod against Blue Jays ace Aaron Sanchez (12-2, 2.99 ERA) in the series finale on Wednesday.
Gallardo will be looking to shake off what was arguably the worst game of his career when he allowed seven earned runs over just 1 1/3 innings in a 14-4 drubbing versus the Yanks last Friday. In five starts this month, the former All-Star has recorded a 1-3 record along with a 5.68 ERA.
In five career starts versus Toronto, Gallardo owns a 4-1 record and an impressive 3.03 ERA.
Sanchez has been simply outstanding all season long for the Blue Jays. The Barstow native and 2016 All-Star has been an integral part of the Blue Jays success this season as the 24-year-old put the team on his shoulders and went 7-0 with a stellar 2.20 ERA over 11 outings from June through July.
In 11 games (six starts) versus the Orioles, the 2010 first round pick has registered a 3-2 record with a 4.85 ERA.
The Orioles pitching staff will be going up against a club that owns the second-highest scoring offense in the AL (4.92 runs per game) and the second-most home runs in the league (190).
Three-time All-Star Edwin Encarnacion (.270, 36 HR, 106 RBI), five-time All-Star Troy Tulowitzki (.253, 22 HR, 65 RBI) and 2015 AL MVP Josh Donaldson (.294, 33 HR, 91 RBI) lead the way for the Jays while they are joined by a talented supporting quintet consisting of Jose Bautista (.229, 15 HR, 50 RBI), Kevin Pillar (.264, 7 HR, 45 RBI), Devon Travis (.300, 10 HR, 38 RBI), Russell Martin (.247, 15 HR, 59 RBI) and Michael Saunders (.266, 21 HR, 51 RBI).
The Orioles hitters will also be facing the AL’s best pitching staff, as the Blue Jays carry a 3.81 team ERA into Baltimore.
Even though there is still an entire month to play, the upcoming series versus the Jays may prove to be crucial come the end of September. There’s no sugarcoating it; a series loss could serve as a potentially crushing blow.
On the positive side, a series win would pull the O’s to just two games away from first place, while a sweep would bring them level with the first place Jays. If you needed any extra motivation to get psyched for this series, there it is.
It’s going to be a war in Camden Yards.
Here’s to shaking off the nightmare in the Bronx, and getting this thing back on the winning track again…
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haha! who are the pretenders now. make sure you watch tonight…it will be even worse with Happ on the mound.
Happ? More like Crapp!