Can Albert Suárez dazzle us again?
A better version of this weekend would have the Orioles going for a sweep of the Athletics here on Sunday afternoon. Things on Friday night didn’t go so well, and instead, the O’s need to win to grab the series and avoid what would end up being an annoying home series loss to an Oakland team that has a sad offense.
One big part of what ends up deciding whether the O’s can do it or not will be whether starting pitcher Albert Suárez can pull off a third consecutive good start in his return to MLB after a long absence. With both Kyle Bradish and John Means returning imminently, this could be the last rotation appearance for Suárez for now. Or not, because you never know what the O’s might be thinking.
What’s certain is that Cole Irvin has made a good case to stay with his last couple of starts. So has Suárez. If the latter makes it tough for the O’s to kick him out of the rotation on this spot’s next regular turn on Friday, that’s a good thing.
There may not be much margin for error for Suárez, if Oakland’s starter Paul Blackburn is able to pitch like he’s done over his first handful of starts. The Athletics pitcher brings a 2.03 ERA and sub-1 WHIP into this game. The O’s have done some damage to pitchers with low ERAs going back to the Kansas City series. They may need to find a way to do that again here. We learned on Friday night that you don’t want your favorite team to have a need to score runs against Oakland’s closer, Mason Miller.
Coming up next for the Orioles is the Yankees. These two teams are tied (in the games back column) for the division lead. The Yanks are in Milwaukee facing the Brewers this weekend. That game will begin at 2:10 Eastern. If the O’s and Yankees have the same result again, they’ll be tied heading into their four-game set that starts tomorrow. Some people out there think there’s no point in scoreboard watching in April, but I say whenever the Orioles are in first place there’s always a point in scoreboard watching.
Orioles lineup
- Gunnar Henderson – SS
- Adley Rutschman – C
- Ryan O’Hearn – RF
- Anthony Santander – DH
- Ryan Mountcastle – 1B
- Cedric Mullins – CF
- Colton Cowser – LF
- Ramón Urías – 3B
- Jorge Mateo – 2B
Jordan Westburg gets a day off.. O’Hearn in right field? Let’s hope that doesn’t end up mattering. There has been some outfield chicanery in this series to date, it can be fairly said.
Athletics lineup
- Lawrence Butler – RF
- Tyler Nevin – 3B
- JJ Bleday – CF
- Brent Rooker – DH
- Seth Brown – LF
- Max Schuemann – 2B
- Ryan Noda – 1B
- Darell Hernaiz – SS
- Kyle McCann – C
It’s an awfully sad-looking lineup based on 2024 results to date. It would be awfully sad for the Orioles to lose this series. That it would be sad doesn’t mean it can’t happen. It’s up to the Orioles players to avoid that reality.