vs. WHITE SOX, 6/12

[OFFNY]

o

 

The Orioles will try to stop the bleeding in northeastern Illinois.

Both starting pitchers have the same middle name, although they spell it differently.

 

BALTIMORE O RIOLES

Garry Seth Smith - RF

Adam Jones - CF

Manny Machado - 3B

Mark Trumbo - DH

Chris Davis - 1B

Jonathan Schoop - 2B

Trey Mancini - LF

Welington Castillo - C

James Jerry Hardy - SS

Wade Allen Miley - P  (2-3, 3.27 ERA)

 

CHICAGO WHITE S OX 

Tim Anderson - SS

Melky Cabrera - LF

Jose Abreu - 1B

Avisail Garcia - RF

Todd Frazier - 3B

Matthew Davidson - DH

Willy Garcia - CF

Kevan Smith - C

Yolmer Sanchez - 2B

Michael Alan Pelfry - P  (2-5, 3.80 ERA)

 

http://www.baseballpress.com/lineups

 

o

[OFFNY]

o

 

 

 

 

o

[SteveA]

Fresh start:

1) Manny is back.   This is the best lineup we can put out there now.   (OK, Tejada might improve over Hardy a tad, but it's close).   We have a full bench.

2) We are out of New York.   No more absurdly, sureallistic hot bats that defy all logic.   No red hot team, no packed house, no dominant bullpen to face.   Small, uninterested crowd in New Comiskey this week.

3) Considering what we just went through, the bullpen isn't TOO shot.   Givens went an inning and can probably go if needed.   Brach is rested.  Bleier, Ubaldo, and Wright are probably all available.   For a team that gave up 30 runs the past two days, that's not as bad as it could be.   [Edit:   And we now have Castro too].

4) We're facing a castoff pitcher who was cut by the Tigers even though they owed him quite a bit of money.

The next few weeks is where we determine where we stand.   We have had an atrocious stretch since May 10.  9-20, and we have looked horrible doing it.   But of those 29 games, 3 were against first place Houston, 6 were against first place Yankees, 2 were against first place Washington, 3 were against first place Minnesota, and 4 were against the team picked to win our division this year.

Our next stretch of 23 games features 13 games vs teams with losing records, and 10 games with teams that are each just two games above .500 (and happen to be the two teams currently a half game ahead of us for the last wild card spot).   If we don't do well in this stretch (say 14-9 or better) then I think it will be obvious that we are not going to be able to compete this year.   And this stretch ends on July 5, which would give the front office plenty of time to start planning and executing a fire sale at that point.

If we do well in this 23 game stretch, we will likely be once again at least in wild card position, since we would probably have done well in our 10 games vs Tampa and Cleveland as well as our 3 vs Toronto, with Britton's return in the mix at that point.

That's how it all sets up to me, looking at the schedule.   Now I have no answers for how to deal with our pitching woes, other than the bump we will get just getting away from the impossible hitting Yankee lineup until Labor Day.   But the schedule provides the Orioles an OPPORTUNITY to prove they can still compete, or to show that they are completely incapable of doing so.   If we can't prosper in the next 24 days, I think that is all she wrote for 2017.

[SteveA]

16 hours ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

 

 

 

o

Lew?

Dan?

Dave?

[OFFNY]

4 minutes ago, SteveA said:

 

Lew?

Dan?

Dave?

 

o

 

Lew.

 

o

[Norfolk orioles]

New day, new game, Bob Seger it.

[NashLumber]

6 minutes ago, Norfolk orioles said:

New day, new game, Bob Seger it.

Take their old record off the shelf?

[SteveA]

2 minutes ago, NashLumber said:

Take their old record off the shelf?

Go to Kathmandu?

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, SteveA said:

Go to Kathmandu?

It's what I really want to do.

[Norfolk orioles]

5 minutes ago, NashLumber said:

Take their old record off the shelf?

I'd give you 5 likes if I could.

 

But clearly I was stating that I hope we turn the page and aren't still the same because then we'd just be pissing against the wind.

[NashLumber]

1 minute ago, SteveA said:

Go to Kathmandu?

I'd prefer to avoid the post-game analysis to be "Still the Same".  

Maybe "The Distance" from the NY series will feel like a faint memory. 

 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Norfolk orioles said:

I'd give you 5 likes if I could.

 

But clearly I was stating that I hope we turn the page and aren't still the same because then we'd just be pissing against the wind.

I thought maybe you were suggesting involving Lucifer in some Damn Yankees scenario.

[Can_of_corn]

Whoohoo baserunner.

[Norfolk orioles]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

I thought maybe you were suggesting involving Lucifer in some Damn Yankees scenario.

I'm not ruling anything out after those last 3 games in NY. Might be the only chance we've got..........tonight.

[Norfolk orioles]

That's our leader.