Yep, we are running it back. The Baltimore Orioles take on the Detroit Tigers in the second game of a three-game series in Detroit today at 410pm eastern time. They are coming off a tough 4-2 loss last night where they went just 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position. They left 14 runners on base including leaving the bases loaded in the 9th inning. The Tigers on the other hand were just 1 for 3 with runners in scoring position and they left just 4 runners on base. This should even out today.
Bruce Zimmermann is starting for the Orioles, and he has been very good this season. He has yet to allow more than three runs in a start this season and he is 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA. He will face a Tigers team that is 20th in the league in wOBA against lefties. In the past three weeks, the Tigers are ranked just 22nd in the league in wOBA against lefties.
Quick side note, it is very important not to decrease your view below three weeks with left-handed pitchers because your sample size gets too low. With right-handed pitchers, you can get away with a two- or two-and-a-half-week view because there are many more right-handed pitchers in MLB.
Michael Pineda is starting for the Tigers, and he has been good, but he is due for a bad outing. The Orioles are ranked in the top half of the league in wOBA against righties this season at 14th. In the past three weeks, the Orioles have the 5th highest wOBA in the league against righties, right behind the Astros.
The Orioles best bullpen arms got the night off yesterday so they should all be available today, and they sneakily have one of the best tops of the bullpens in the league. The Tigers have an even better bullpen ranked 3rd in the league in ERA. However, they are very worked after using five pitchers last night. Will Vest picked up the save last night after Gregory Soto was ineffective, and Vest should be unavailable tonight. Gregory Soto should be available, but he didn’t look good last night and he would be pitching his third time in four nights. Alex Lange should also be unavailable after pitching three of the last four nights.
I really like this spot for the Orioles to avoid losing the series for the first time in about two and a half weeks. Time to end the slump.
