Trying for a series win in Los Angeles behind right-hander Dean Kremer.
Admittedly, I didn’t see it coming that on Tuesday night, Grayson Rodriguez would turn in his worst start in nearly a year and that the Orioles’ scorching-hot bats would be neutralized by the likes of Griffin Canning, at least for five innings.
Oh well, there is still a series to win. And to do it, the Orioles will turn to right-hander Dean Kremer, who is 0-2 with a 4.91 ERA in his last four starts. These numbers may look worse than they are. Kremer pitched a gem against the Pittsburgh Pirates a few weeks ago, and while he’s failed to complete six innings in two of his four starts, his last time out in Kansas City, he’d surrendered just a run when he exited with two on and two out in the sixth, and the bullpen allowed both inherited runners to score.
Meanwhile, as Paul Folkemer put it in his series preview, Angels starter Tyler Anderson—a soft-tossing lefty—is Orioles kryptonite, or at least has been for the Orioles to date this season. Now in his ninth season, and second with Los Angeles, Anderson is having a good year, at 2-2 with a 1.42 ERA in four starts on the season. Despite ranking in just the bottom-third percentile in fastball velocity, he’s not allowing a ton of hard contact (although he’s not striking out many either, at 14.3%). What happens when MLB’s hardest-hitting offense meets a pitcher whose slow stuff tends to produce weak contact? I dunno, ask Isaac Newton. Or stay tuned for this afternoon’s game.
Orioles lineup
1. Gunnar Henderson – SS
2. Adley Rutschman – DH
3. Ryan Mountcastle – 1B
4. Anthony Santander – RF
5. Jordan Westburg – 3B
6. Cedric Mullins – CF
7. James McCann – C
8. Colton Cowser – LF
9. Jorge Mateo – 2B
Dean Kremer RHP
This is basically the same Orioles lineup as Monday night’s game, which also took its swings against a lefty, only Ryan Mountcastle is back in the lineup after missing a couple games with knee soreness. This is good, as he’s OPS’ing .902 in the month of April. Meanwhile, the Orioles’ two recent back-to-back AL Player of the Week winners, Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser, are both in, despite Cowser’s having to take at-bats off a lefty. So far, southpaws are not a problem for him: he’s OPS’ing 1.000 off them in April.
Angels lineup
1. Mike Trout – DH
2. Nolan Schanuel – 1B
3. Taylor Ward – LF
4. Miguel Sanó – 3B
5. Logan O’Hoppe – C
6. Mickey Moniak – CF
7. Jo Adell – RF
8. Luis Rengifo – 2B
9. Zach Neto – SS
Tyler Anderson LHP