Houston’s bats have cranked up again and attention will turn to shoring up the pitching as the Astros go for a series sweep of the host Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
The teams wrap up the series after two particularly high-scoring games.
The Astros have scored 26 runs in the first three games of the series after going three consecutive contests without scoring less than a week ago. Friday night’s 10-7 result was followed by Saturday night’s 9-8 outcome.
“Our team and how we stay together,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “We grind and we win that game.”
The sudden turnaround at the plate is pleasing to Espada.
“We’re starting to swing the bats,” he said. “I know that that’s who we are. We’re picking each other up.”
The Astros’ power display has been led by first baseman Christian Walker, who has homered in each game of the series.
“You’ve got to give those hitters credit over there,” Baltimore interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “Every mistake that we made, they hit it over the fence.”
The Orioles had good moments with the bats as well. Jeremiah Jackson, who made his major league debut on Aug. 1, homered for the first time on Saturday night.
“It’s been a long journey to be able to be up here,” Jackson said, “and to have some success in the short time I’ve been here, it’s been awesome. It’s been fun.”
Lefty Trevor Rogers (6-2, 1.41 ERA) goes to the mound for the Orioles on Sunday. He has given up one run across each of his past four starts, with a 2-1 record and a total of 28 innings logged during that stretch.
This will be Rogers’ first matchup as an Oriole against Houston, though he held the Astros two to runs in 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision last summer while with the Miami Marlins before a trade to Baltimore.
Right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (1-4, 6.94) will be Houston’s starting pitcher on Sunday. He’s 0-3 while giving up 12 runs in 13 2/3 innings this month (7.90 ERA) since returning to the big leagues.
In two seasons, Arrighetti has faced the Orioles once, throwing six shutout innings for a victory a year ago this week in Baltimore.
Despite starter Dean Kremer’s struggles in Saturday’s game, Mansolino said it was important that he lasted five innings. That could alleviate some pressure on the Orioles’ bullpen Sunday.
“Definitely means a lot to me as a starting pitcher, being able to eat innings and continue to give the team an opportunity to win,” said Kremer, who yielded seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
Baltimore’s changing bullpen personnel has created concerns in recent weeks. Then one of the usually reliable standbys, right-hander Yennier Cano, surrendered a home run on the third pitch to Walker, the first batter he faced in a costly fifth inning Friday. After a night off, Cano should be available again Sunday.
“We’ve got a lot of faith in him,” Mansolino said. “We’ve seen him so good, and you kind of see him in Boston, that last game, and get through that 11th inning and get that big double-play ball. He’s one of the guys when there’s a big spot, that he’s one of the first names in that bullpen that we think about.”
–Field Level Media
