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vs. NATIONALS, 8/22


Sessh

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<center><b><FONT SIZE="+3"><FONT COLOR="#ff9900">B</FONT><FONT COLOR="#c07400">a</FONT><FONT COLOR="#804d00">l</FONT><FONT COLOR="#402700">t</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">i</FONT><FONT COLOR="#402700">m</FONT><FONT COLOR="#804d00">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#c07400">r</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ff9900">e</FONT><FONT COLOR="#c07400"> </FONT><FONT COLOR="#804d00">O</FONT><FONT COLOR="#402700">r</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">i</FONT><FONT COLOR="#402700">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#804d00">l</FONT><FONT COLOR="#c07400">e</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ff9900">s</FONT></FONT>

VS.

<FONT SIZE="+3"><FONT COLOR="#ba122b">W</FONT><FONT COLOR="#911637">a</FONT><FONT COLOR="#681b43">s</FONT><FONT COLOR="#3e1f4f">h</FONT><FONT COLOR="#14225a">i</FONT><FONT COLOR="#434e7b">n</FONT><FONT COLOR="#727b9c">g</FONT><FONT COLOR="#a2a7be">t</FONT><FONT COLOR="#d1d4df">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ffffff">n</FONT><FONT COLOR="#d1d4df"> </FONT><FONT COLOR="#a2a7be">N</FONT><FONT COLOR="#727b9c">a</FONT><FONT COLOR="#434e7b">t</FONT><FONT COLOR="#14225a">i</FONT><FONT COLOR="#352051">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#571c48">n</FONT><FONT COLOR="#78193e">a</FONT><FONT COLOR="#9a1535">l</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ba122b">s</FONT></FONT>

Game 1 (7:05)

<IMG SRC="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kRA0kohlwpI/TIQSBQQ2KRI/AAAAAAAADmY/_KuXbW6jxfg/s1600/Orioles+-+baby+bird+2009.gif" HEIGHT="80" WIDTH="80" BORDER="0"> |=======| <IMG SRC="http://tsnimages.tsn.ca/ImageProvider/TeamLogo?seoId=washington-nationals" HEIGHT="80" WIDTH="80" BORDER="0">

Team Records

67-56 |=======| 73-50

3rd, -2.5 |=======| 1st, +8.5

Streaks / L10

-3, Lost 9 of 13 / 4-6 |=======| -1, Won 3 of 4 / 6-4

Team Offensive Rankings (MLB)

BA: .262 (9th) |=======| BA: .256 (17th)

OPS: .773 (4th) |=======| OPS: .761 (8th)

Runs: 576 (9th) |=======| Runs: 594 (7th)

HR: 190 (1st) |=======| HR: 162 (6th)

Last 7 Days

BA: .266 (20th) |=======| BA: .306 (4th)

OPS: .834 (11th) |=======| OPS: .877 (4th)

Runs: 37 (16th) |=======| Runs: 59 (1st)

HR: 16 (2nd) |=======| HR: 12 (9th)

Team Pitching Rankings (MLB)

ERA: 4.39 (21st) |=======| ERA: 3.38 (2nd)

WHIP: 1.40 (23rd) |=======| WHIP: 1.18 (3rd)

BAA: .260 (19th) |=======| BAA: .233 (3rd)

TB: 1779 (18th) |=======| TB: 1520 (2nd)

Last 7 Days

ERA: 8.54 (30th) |=======| ERA: 5.27 (17th)

WHIP: 1.98 (30th) |=======| WHIP: 1.43 (14th)

BAA: .320 (29th) |=======| BAA: .268 (13th)

TB: 145 (27th) |=======| TB: 119 (16th)

Starters

ERA: 5.00 (27th) |=======| ERA: 3.48 (2nd)

WHIP: 1.45 (27th) |=======| WHIP: 1.17 (2nd)

BAA: .273 (24th) |=======| BAA: .232 (2nd)

TB: 1186 (21st) |=======| TB: 1040 (3rd)

Relievers

ERA: 3.41 (5th) |=======| ERA: 3.18 (1st)

WHIP: 1.31 (15th) |=======| WHIP: 1.20 (5th)

BAA: .240 (13th) |=======| BAA: .235 (7th)

TB: 593 (16th) |=======| TB: 480 (2nd)

NEW: Quality Start minimum requirements

* - Game ERA must be 4.00 or less with at least six innings pitched

32094.png&w=350&h=254

Dylan Bundy

(6-4)

3.36 (1.29/.260)

70K / 22BB, 11HR

QS: 2

</b>

After his amazing start as a starter, he has looked much more vulnerable lately which was inevitable as a rookie. He allowed five runs in 4.1 innings against Boston in his last start including two home runs, nine hits and two walks and got a bit lucky in his start against the Giants. He also failed to strike out at least a batter an inning in the last two starts after getting at least one an inning in each start prior to that. His velocity is down and stuff isn't quite as good as it was during that hot stretch. Being a rookie, we're all learning about Bundy as we go as is everyone else, but the decline in his velocity and stuff over the last two starts is something to keep an eye on especially considering he is not far removed from quite a few arm injuries.

Splits & Sits

169 vs. left: .248/.298/.396, 6HR

147 vs. right: .275/.347/.374, 5HR

Bases Empty: .251

RISP: .203

RISP w/2 outs: .207

Men on w/2 outs: .269

Man on 3rd, < 2 outs: .250

2016 Home (4 starts, 11 relief)

(2-2) 3.05 (1.14/.252), 6HR

Career vs. WAS (0 starts)

NA

vs. Batter

NA

VS

31595.png&w=350&h=254

A.J. Cole

2016 Debut

QS: 0

With the Nationals making a last minute move to put Strasburg on the DL, A.J. Cole will take his place. Cole made three appearances in 2015 for the Nationals and allowed 11 runs (6ER) in 9.1 IP on 14 hits and one walk. He did strike out nine, though. Still, this could be a big break for the Orioles here. Cole actually has decent numbers at AAA ball for his career with a 3.68 (1.29) and a HR/9 of 1.0, 2.6 BB/9 and 7.2 K/9. He has struggled at AAA in 2016 though putting up a 4.26 (1.33) with 16 homers allowed in 124.2 IP. That's a bit high at 1.2 per nine, but let's see what he's got.

Splits & Sits

0 vs. left:

0 vs. right:

Bases Empty:

RISP:

RISP w/2 outs:

Men on w/2 outs:

Man on 3rd, < 2 outs:

2016 Away (0 starts)

NA

Career vs Baltimore (0 starts)

NA

Career @ Camden Yards (0 starts)

NA

vs. Batter

The Orioles drop another one at home and fall to 1-5 on the homestand. There was a golden opportunity here to gain ground on Toronto and Boston who both lost as well as distance themselves a bit from Seattle who also lost, but fail to come away with a win. Two more home runs, but no one on base. Keuchel was outstanding in this one looking more like the guy from last year throwing eight strong innings allowing two runs on five hits. Gallardo allows four runs in seven innings and the bullpen allows another one in the 5-3 loss. The Orioles will now begin a four game series against the Nationals with the first two being at Camden Yards and the last two being at Nationals Park. Also, Hunter and Bordick together are homer overload. Seriously, no credibility with most of the stuff they say due to the ridiculous bias they have at times.

Aside from the Cubs, the Nationals have the best pitching staff in baseball and are top five in almost every category as far as season stats go while the Orioles have one of the worst pitching staffs in all of baseball. The Nats also have an offense comperable to that of the Orioles and their offense has been red hot lately, but the pitching has struggled over the last week. The Orioles offense and pitching is struggling and the team seems to be in a tail spin at this point. The Nationals are a much better and complete team than the Orioles are.

Welp, Bundy may be hitting that point all rookies eventually reach where they stop being dominant and have to make that ever so important first major league adjustment. Of course, there's also the issue of his diminished velocity and stuff over the last couple starts and in light of his injury history, it is definitely something to keep an eye on. A.J. Cole has done nothing in the majors yet and did not pitch well in three appearances last season for the Nationals. His numbers in the minors are pretty good except for this season, so we'll see what he's got.

The Tigers, Astros and Royals all gain a game on the Orioles as it's starting to get crowded now. Toronto lost to Cleveland yet again in the late innings after Stroman pitched a strong 7.1 innings. Brett Cecil gave up a two run blast to Jose Fernandez to put the Indians up 3-2. Donaldson and Encarnacion both walked with two outs, but got Russell Martin to line out to right field to end the game. Clevinger also pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh by striking out Encarnacion, but the Jays bullpen let them down again. Seattle headed into the ninth inning up by three runs and coughed up four runs and the game to the Brewers. Cano had a man on second with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but was unable to get him home. So, both Toronto and Seattle blew late inning leads and Boston just got blown out by the Tigers. The Royals won their eighth in a row as well to the Twins who have reverted back to their early season ways. I really don't expect the Royals to hang around long, but who knows? Maybe they decided to start acting like defending champions.

So, who's got who up next? Toronto gets another off day before the Angels come to town, Boston plays the Rays, the Yankees play Seattle, Cleveland plays Oakland, Detroit plays the Twins, KC plays Miami who are 1.5 games out of the NL wild card and Houston heads to Pittsburgh to play the Pirates who have lost three in a row and are three games out of the NL wild card.

Wild Card Standings

*Boston +2.0

*Baltimore +1.0

Seattle -1.0

Detroit -2.5

Houston -3.5

KC Royals -3.5

NY Yankees -4.0

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<center><b><FONT SIZE="+3"><FONT COLOR="#ff9900">B</FONT><FONT COLOR="#c07400">a</FONT><FONT COLOR="#804d00">l</FONT><FONT COLOR="#402700">t</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">i</FONT><FONT COLOR="#402700">m</FONT><FONT COLOR="#804d00">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#c07400">r</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ff9900">e</FONT><FONT COLOR="#c07400"> </FONT><FONT COLOR="#804d00">O</FONT><FONT COLOR="#402700">r</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000">i</FONT><FONT COLOR="#402700">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#804d00">l</FONT><FONT COLOR="#c07400">e</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ff9900">s</FONT></FONT>

VS.

<FONT SIZE="+3"><FONT COLOR="#ba122b">W</FONT><FONT COLOR="#911637">a</FONT><FONT COLOR="#681b43">s</FONT><FONT COLOR="#3e1f4f">h</FONT><FONT COLOR="#14225a">i</FONT><FONT COLOR="#434e7b">n</FONT><FONT COLOR="#727b9c">g</FONT><FONT COLOR="#a2a7be">t</FONT><FONT COLOR="#d1d4df">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ffffff">n</FONT><FONT COLOR="#d1d4df"> </FONT><FONT COLOR="#a2a7be">N</FONT><FONT COLOR="#727b9c">a</FONT><FONT COLOR="#434e7b">t</FONT><FONT COLOR="#14225a">i</FONT><FONT COLOR="#352051">o</FONT><FONT COLOR="#571c48">n</FONT><FONT COLOR="#78193e">a</FONT><FONT COLOR="#9a1535">l</FONT><FONT COLOR="#ba122b">s</FONT></FONT>

Game 1 (7:05)

<IMG SRC="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kRA0kohlwpI/TIQSBQQ2KRI/AAAAAAAADmY/_KuXbW6jxfg/s1600/Orioles+-+baby+bird+2009.gif" HEIGHT="80" WIDTH="80" BORDER="0"> |=======| <IMG SRC="http://tsnimages.tsn.ca/ImageProvider/TeamLogo?seoId=washington-nationals" HEIGHT="80" WIDTH="80" BORDER="0">

Team Records

67-56 |=======| 73-50

3rd, -2.5 |=======| 1st, +8.5

Streaks / L10

-3, Lost 9 of 13 / 4-6 |=======| -1, Won 3 of 4 / 6-4

Team Offensive Rankings (MLB)

BA: .262 (9th) |=======| BA: .256 (17th)

OPS: .773 (4th) |=======| OPS: .761 (8th)

Runs: 576 (9th) |=======| Runs: 594 (7th)

HR: 190 (1st) |=======| HR: 162 (6th)

Last 7 Days

BA: .266 (20th) |=======| BA: .306 (4th)

OPS: .834 (11th) |=======| OPS: .877 (4th)

Runs: 37 (16th) |=======| Runs: 59 (1st)

HR: 16 (2nd) |=======| HR: 12 (9th)

Team Pitching Rankings (MLB)

ERA: 4.39 (21st) |=======| ERA: 3.38 (2nd)

WHIP: 1.40 (23rd) |=======| WHIP: 1.18 (3rd)

BAA: .260 (19th) |=======| BAA: .233 (3rd)

TB: 1779 (18th) |=======| TB: 1520 (2nd)

Last 7 Days

ERA: 8.54 (30th) |=======| ERA: 5.27 (17th)

WHIP: 1.98 (30th) |=======| WHIP: 1.43 (14th)

BAA: .320 (29th) |=======| BAA: .268 (13th)

TB: 145 (27th) |=======| TB: 119 (16th)

Starters

ERA: 5.00 (27th) |=======| ERA: 3.48 (2nd)

WHIP: 1.45 (27th) |=======| WHIP: 1.17 (2nd)

BAA: .273 (24th) |=======| BAA: .232 (2nd)

TB: 1186 (21st) |=======| TB: 1040 (3rd)

Relievers

ERA: 3.41 (5th) |=======| ERA: 3.18 (1st)

WHIP: 1.31 (15th) |=======| WHIP: 1.20 (5th)

BAA: .240 (13th) |=======| BAA: .235 (7th)

TB: 593 (16th) |=======| TB: 480 (2nd)

NEW: Quality Start minimum requirements

* - Game ERA must be 4.00 or less with at least six innings pitched

32094.png&w=350&h=254

Dylan Bundy

(6-4)

3.36 (1.29/.260)

70K / 22BB, 11HR

QS: 2

</b>

After his amazing start as a starter, he has looked much more vulnerable lately which was inevitable as a rookie. He allowed five runs in 4.1 innings against Boston in his last start including two home runs, nine hits and two walks and got a bit lucky in his start against the Giants. He also failed to strike out at least a batter an inning in the last two starts after getting at least one an inning in each start prior to that. His velocity is down and stuff isn't quite as good as it was during that hot stretch. Being a rookie, we're all learning about Bundy as we go as is everyone else, but the decline in his velocity and stuff over the last two starts is something to keep an eye on especially considering he is not far removed from quite a few arm injuries.

Splits & Sits

169 vs. left: .248/.298/.396, 6HR

147 vs. right: .275/.347/.374, 5HR

Bases Empty: .251

RISP: .203

RISP w/2 outs: .207

Men on w/2 outs: .269

Man on 3rd, < 2 outs: .250

2016 Home (4 starts, 11 relief)

(2-2) 3.05 (1.14/.252), 6HR

Career vs. WAS (0 starts)

NA

vs. Batter

NA

VS

30373.png&w=350&h=254

Stephen Strasburg

(15-4)

3.59 (1.11/.218)

179K / 44BB, 15HR

QS: 14

Strasburg has been very good for the Nats until recently as he comes into this game with three bad starts on his heels. He has allowed four runs four times this season and more than four runs three times and all three times have come in the last six starts including the last two. He will look to get back to how he was doing in the first four months of the season all with ERAs under four and two of them under three. He has a 10.19 ERA in four August starts and he has seen his season ERA jump from 2.63 to 3.59. However, he has only allowed two home runs over the last month with both coming two starts ago. This will be his first start at Camden Yards.

Splits & Sits

288 vs. left: .203/.272/.319, 9HR

301 vs. right: .232/.286/.336, 6HR

Bases Empty: .206

RISP: .306

RISP w/2 outs: .195

Men on w/2 outs: .181

Man on 3rd, < 2 outs: .625

2016 Away (10 starts)

(8-1) 3.00 (1.15/.221), 3HR

Career vs Baltimore (2 starts)

(1-0) 2.25 (0.75/.182)

Career @ Camden Yards (0 starts)

NA

vs. Batter

Pedro Alvarez (11 AB) .091, S-HR

J.J. Hardy 0/6, 3K

Mark Trumbo 1/6, 3-R HR, 3K

Adam Jones 0/5, 3K

Chris Davis 1/5, 2K

Manny Machado 3/3, 2B

Jonathan Schoop 0/2, 2K

The Orioles drop another one at home and fall to 1-5 on the homestand. There was a golden opportunity here to gain ground on Toronto and Boston who both lost as well as distance themselves a bit from Seattle who also lost, but fail to come away with a win. Two more home runs, but no one on base. Keuchel was outstanding in this one looking more like the guy from last year throwing eight strong innings allowing two runs on five hits. Gallardo allows four runs in seven innings and the bullpen allows another one in the 5-3 loss. The Orioles will now begin a four game series against the Nationals with the first two being at Camden Yards and the last two being at Nationals Park. Also, Hunter and Bordick together are homer overload. Seriously, no credibility with most of the stuff they say due to the ridiculous bias they have at times.

Aside from the Cubs, the Nationals have the best pitching staff in baseball and are top five in almost every category as far as season stats go while the Orioles have one of the worst pitching staffs in all of baseball. The Nats also have an offense comperable to that of the Orioles and their offense has been red hot lately, but the pitching has struggled over the last week. The Orioles offense and pitching is struggling and the team seems to be in a tail spin at this point. The Nationals are a much better and complete team than the Orioles are.

Welp, Bundy may be hitting that point all rookies eventually reach where they stop being dominant and have to make that ever so important first major league adjustment. Of course, there's also the issue of his diminished velocity and stuff over the last couple starts and in light of his injury history, it is definitely something to keep an eye on. Strasburg has been very good most of the season, but has struggled in August to say the least. His two starts against the Orioles were good and he is a good road pitcher this season with eight of his 15 wins coming on the road.

The Tigers, Astros and Royals all gain a game on the Orioles as it's starting to get crowded now. Toronto lost to Cleveland yet again in the late innings after Stroman pitched a strong 7.1 innings. Brett Cecil gave up a two run blast to Jose Fernandez to put the Indians up 3-2. Donaldson and Encarnacion both walked with two outs, but got Russell Martin to line out to right field to end the game. Clevinger also pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh by striking out Encarnacion, but the Jays bullpen let them down again. Seattle headed into the ninth inning up by three runs and coughed up four runs and the game to the Brewers. Cano had a man on second with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but was unable to get him home. So, both Toronto and Seattle blew late inning leads and Boston just got blown out by the Tigers. The Royals won their eighth in a row as well to the Twins who have reverted back to their early season ways. I really don't expect the Royals to hang around long, but who knows? Maybe they decided to start acting like defending champions.

So, who's got who up next? Toronto gets another off day before the Angels come to town, Boston plays the Rays, the Yankees play Seattle, Cleveland plays Oakland, Detroit plays the Twins, KC plays Miami who are 1.5 games out of the NL wild card and Houston heads to Pittsburgh to play the Pirates who have lost three in a row and are three games out of the NL wild card.

Wild Card Standings

*Boston +2.0

*Baltimore +1.0

Seattle -1.0

Detroit -2.5

Houston -3.5

KC Royals -3.5

NY Yankees -4.0

Strasburg's elbow died. DL. So. A.J. Cole instead.

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Strasburg's elbow died. DL. So. A.J. Cole instead.

No reason to believe that he needs second Tommy John Surgery at this point.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Stephen Strasburg Has a Problem <a href="https://t.co/6iqeNF9Ba3">https://t.co/6iqeNF9Ba3</a></p>— FanGraphs Baseball (@fangraphs) <a href="

">August 22, 2016</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

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No reason to believe that he needs second Tommy John Surgery at this point.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Stephen Strasburg Has a Problem <a href="https://t.co/6iqeNF9Ba3">https://t.co/6iqeNF9Ba3</a></p>— FanGraphs Baseball (@fangraphs) <a href="

">August 22, 2016</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/08/22/mlb-stephen-strasburg-elbow-disabled-list/89107388/?hootPostID=10977e05d1de5bc58111a1a011b8c6d4

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Well this is something. O's won't be facing Strasburg after all tonight. <a href="https://t.co/Ndch8B7vdh">https://t.co/Ndch8B7vdh</a></p>— Dan Connolly (@danconnolly2016) <a href="

">August 22, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">More on A.J. Cole, tonight's emergency starter for the Nats vs O's, here: <a href="https://t.co/53shyQaRpO">https://t.co/53shyQaRpO</a></p>— Dan Connolly (@danconnolly2016) <a href="

">August 22, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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