vs. ROYALS, 6/06

[Sessh]

Baltimore Orioles (32-23, T-1st +2.5) vs. Kansas City Royals (30-26, 2nd -1.5)

Streak / L10

BAL: +1, Won 4 of 5 / L10: 6-4

KC: -4, Lost 4 of 5 / L10: 6-4

NEW: Quality Start minimum requirements (experimental, suggestions welcome)

- 6 IP, 2ER

- 7 IP, 3ER

- Game ERA must be 4.00 or less

Game 1 (7:05)

(QS=2)Mike Wright (2-3) 5.88 (1.47/.293), 36/16 (9HR)

vs.

(QS=0)Danny Duffy (1-0) 3.44 (1.12/.245), 40/7 (4HR)

Mike Wright: Wright has failed to get through six innings in four of the last five starts and has allowed 11 runs in his last 12.2 IP with five home runs allowed. He still has no answer for left handed hitters and has not pitched well at home or against KC in two starts.

Splits & Sits

95 vs. left: .369/.421/.537, 4HR

119 vs. right: .234/.305/.412, 5HR

Bases Empty: .305

RISP: .256

RISP w/2 outs: .250

Men on w/2 outs: .250

Man on 3rd, < 2 outs: .222

2016 Home (5 starts, 1 relief)

(1-2) 5.86 (1.52/.299), 5HR

Career vs. KC (2 starts)

(0-1) 7.15 (1.24/.279), 4HR

vs. Batter

Lorenzo Cain 2/6, 2 S-HR

Kendrys Morales 1/5, 2B

Alcides Escobar 1/4, 2B, RBI

Eric Hosmer 2/4, S-HR, BB, 2K

Drew Butera 2/3, 2 2B, RBI

Jarrod Dyson 1/3

Danny Duffy: Duffy has been used mostly in relief this season, but has been brought back to the rotation and has made four starts. As a starter, he has a 3.87 (1.02) with only two walks in 18.2 IP. Duffy has been good on the road this season and done reasonably well at Camden Yards for his career.

Splits & Sits

34 vs. left: .212/.235/.235

115 vs. right: .255/.304/.409, 4HR

Bases Empty: .183

RISP: .324

RISP w/2 outs: .231

Men on w/2 outs: .273

Man on 3rd, < 2 outs: .286

2016 Away (1 start, 9 relief)

(0-0) 1.29 (0.93/.220)

Career @ Camden Yards (2 starts, 1 relief)

(0-1) 3.48 (1.35/.205), HR

Career vs Baltimore (8 starts, 4 relief)

(2-3) 3.83 (1.50/.291), 5HR

vs. Batter

Adam Jones (13 AB) .077, 7K

Manny Machado 0/8, BB, 4K

Chris Davis 1/8, 2B

Jonathan Schoop 2/7, RBI

Mark Trumbo 1/5, RBI

Matt Wieters 2/5, 2B, RBI, 2BB

Nolan Reimold 0/3, 2BB

Paul Janish 1/2

Yet more late inning heroics were needed to win the Yankees series, but at least Orioles pitching allowed only the one run this time leading to the 3-1 win. Again though, the Yankees are one of if not the worst hitting team in baseball and the Orioles still allowed them to score 5+ runs in two of those games. The Royals will now come into town who are coming off being swept by Cleveland in a four game series and scoring only two runs total over the last three games. The Royals are 11-19 on the road.

Duffy has had success against the Orioles especially at Camden Yards and has been very good on the road so far this season while Wright has been bad no matter where he pitches or who he is pitching against. We got Wright/Jimenez back to back going for us against Duffy/Ventura. I am concerned that this will be just what the KC offense needs to get going again.

So, there is once again a tie atop the East with Boston's loss today with Toronto still at 2.5 back making their push having won eight of 10. Boston will head to SF to play the first place Giants who lead the NL West by four games and Toronto will head to Detroit to face the Tigers who are 3.5 back in the Central sitting at .500 having won three in a row. Cleveland now leads there of course with KC in second 1.5 back and the White Sox just keep on losing now sitting three back. In the West, Texas swept the M's and are now three games in first and will face the red hot Astros next while Seattle will face the red hot Indians.

[Chavez Ravine]

Life used to be simple. I just hated the Yankees and Red Sox; perhaps I was mildly annoyed by the [Devil] Rays. Now I despise the Royals as well, and not only want to beat them but want to utterly destroy them. It isn't healthy.

[scOtt]

Life used to be simple. I just hated the Yankees and Red Sox; perhaps I was mildly annoyed by the [Devil] Rays. Now I despise the Royals as well, and not only want to beat them but want to utterly destroy them. It isn't healthy.

Royals are down this year. We need to have our way with them.

[weams]

The Royal Series, June 6-8

The Royals come in at 30-26, on a four-game losing streak after a red-hot streak in which they had gone 11-3. The matchups:

Duffy (1-0 3.44) v. Wright (2-3, 5.88)

Ventura 4-3, 4.82) v. Jimenez (2-6, 6.59)

Volquez (5-5, 4.03) v. Tillman (7-1, 3.33)

Duffy began the year in the bullpen and has only made four starts, slowly building up his innings each time. His last time out he threw 6 innings, allowing 3 ER. He hasn't faced us as a starter this year; in his career, he is 2-1, 2.25 ERA against us in 6 appearances (4 starts). Wright, has been horrific lately and only avoided getting sent to AAA when O'Day had to be sent to the DL. He lost to KC on April 24, allowing 5 ER in 6.1 IP. He actually pitched OK in that game until giving up 3 runs in the 7th, and the case could be made that Buck kept him in too long.

Ventura has struggled in his seven starts since beating Baltimore on April 24, allowing 1 run in 7 IP. Since then, he has allowed 27 ER in 38.2 IP. Jimenez has been terrible for a while, though he did toss 5 strong innings vs. Boston last time out before falling apart in the 6th. Hopefully he is coming out of his funk a little bit. He hasn't faced KC this year. In his career, he is 4-5, 4.79 against them in 12 starts.

Volquez has been inconsistent over his last 8 starts, allowing under 3 ER only twice and getting shelled a few times. We haven't faced him this year. In his career, he is 0-2 against us with a 5.40 ERA in 4 starts. Tillman has been our best starter this year but has been a bit shaky in his last 2 outings. He hasn't faced KC this year, but in his career, he has struggled against them, 2-3 with a 6.25 ERA in 7 starts.

KC's offense has taken a tumble this year, averaging only 3.96 R/G after scoring 4.47 R/G a year ago. They are missing several key players, including Mike Moustakas and Alex Gordon. Salvador Perez was recently sidelined for a week, but returned to action this weekend.

Overall, I can never feel too good about a series in which Wright and Jimenez pitch the first two games, but this is as good a time as any to face KC, with a couple of their best hitters out and the team in a bit of an offensive slump (12 runs in 5 games so far in June). We have to get to their starters early, as the KC bullpen is once again the best in the league (2.60 ERA, slightly ahead of the Orioles' 2.76). And our starters need to step up.

This is worthwhile.

[notyourbuddy]

Why does Buck like to bat Rickard 2nd instead of Reimold?

[weams]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Marin Alsop, the <a href="https://twitter.com/BaltSymphony">@BaltSymphony</a> Orchestra's maestra, is busy training for tonight's first pitch! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IBackTheBirds?src=hash">#IBackTheBirds</a> <a href="https://t.co/NN8IPCkPYk">pic.twitter.com/NN8IPCkPYk</a></p>— Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) <a href="

">June 6, 2016</a></blockquote>

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

[Malike]

This could be a really ugly series.

[ArtVanDelay]

Ugh, Hunter and Bordick. :vader:

[weams]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/Mikewright_Os">@Mikewright_Os</a> warms up for tonight's game. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Birdland?src=hash">#Birdland</a> <a href="https://t.co/DR11H7jmrJ">pic.twitter.com/DR11H7jmrJ</a></p>— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) <a href="

">June 6, 2016</a></blockquote>

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

[ArtVanDelay]

I actually dislike Mike Wright. One of the few O's players in recent years that I could say that about.

[backwardsk]

26 to go.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Malike]

Ugh, Hunter and Bordick. :vader:

Don't forget Mike Wright, too. Shaping up to be an awful experience to both the eyes and ears.

[Malike]

Rookie Sensation Whit Merrifield.

[ArtVanDelay]

Alcides Escobar has to be the worst leadoff hitter in baseball. Ned Yost is a moron.

[Sessh]

Rookie Sensation Whit Merrifield.

It must be nice to have a farm system.