Series 25 (of 52) Preview: Orioles Visit Houston

Tonight at 7:10 p.m. CT, the Astros will host the Orioles for the first game of a three-game series.

This is the first time this year that Houston and the Orioles have met. There is also a four-game set in Baltimore scheduled for August 22-25. In the history of the game, the Astros are 42-32 with a .568 winning percentage, their fourth-best mark against anyone and the highest winning percentage against an AL East team. The two clubs have never met in the playoffs.

Game times and starting pitchers

Friday, 7:10 p.m. CT: Grayson Rodriguez (8-2, 3.20) vs. Jake Bloss (debut)
Saturday, 3:10 p.m. CT: Corbin Burnes (8-2, 2.14) vs. Ronel Blanco (7-2, 2.43)
Sunday, 1:10 p.m. CT: Albert Suárez (3-1, 2.05) vs. Framber Valdez (5-5, 3.91)

Last season, Houston and Baltimore split their six meetings with three victories each. Houston lost two of three in the last of them, September 18-20. They came away with a 2-1 victory in the final. The Orioles scored a walk-off Cristian Javier in the first, and Houston trailed until tying the game in the eighth on an RBI double by Jeremy Peña. Mauricio Dubón brought home Yainer Díaz in the ninth for the win. Ryan Pressly (4-5, 3.77) took the win. Javier ended up striking out 11 batters in just five no-decision innings.

From now on, the mindset is “Win ​​every game”. We started the day like this, so let’s finish here together. – Good

Houston is coming off a three-game series against the MLB-worst Chicago White Sox, winning the final two games after losing the opener. They won the final on Thursday by a final score of 5-3. Yordan Alvarez (15) gave Houston a 1-0 lead in the first inning by sinking a 439-footer to right center. Starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti kept the Pale Hose scoreless until he gave up three runs in the fifth inning. Tayler Scott (3-2, 1.69) picked up the win in relief after spelling Arrighetti. In the seventh, Jose Altuve brought home Mauricio Dubón with an RBI single, then scored the tying run on an RBI single by Alvarez. Alex Bregman scored the go-ahead run on an error, then Jeremy Peña drew a loaded walk for an insurance run. Josh Hader struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 11th save.

He made a statement straight away. — Joe Espada, on Alvarez

The Orioles just completed a three-game set against the New York Yanees, winning the final two games of the series. In the last game on Thursday, they demolished the Bombers by a final score of 17-5. Bryan Baker (1-0, 0.00) got the win in relief. Cedric Mullins (7), Anthony Santander (19) and Austin Hays (3) each contributed to the victory.

Just know that when the game starts, that’s all that matters. We have a lot of hard-nosed, grinder type players who show up and play hard. — Ryan O’Hearn

Heroes and zeros (Highest and lowest collected WPA compared to Chicago)

Brown Hunter (25.9)
Cesar Salazar (21.8)
Yordan Alvarez (17.8)
Bryan Abreu (16.6)
Ryan Pressly (14.4)

Cabbage Trey (-5.5)
Jérémie Peña (-11.1)
Spencer Arrighetti (-12.4)
Mauricio Dubon (-18.4)
Yainer Diaz (-28.9)