The Baltimore Orioles did not reach the postseason a year ago, yet their visit to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game series that starts Friday night manages to bring the Dodgers’ most recent run to the World Series to mind.
The Dodgers visited Baltimore in early September and were nowhere near the form that would catapult them to a second consecutive championship. Their fifth-consecutive loss on a six-game trip that included a stop at Pittsburgh came in devastating fashion.
Los Angeles right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto was one out away from a no-hitter on Sept. 6 when Baltimore’s Jackson Holliday ended the bid with a home run. It sparked a four-run rally, all with two outs, as the Orioles finished a dramatic 4-3 victory.
The game marked a turning point — for Los Angeles.
The Dodgers won the final contest of the series and went 15-5 through the end of the regular season. They opened the playoffs with a 9-1 record before defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in a dramatic seven-game World Series.
Yamamoto’s Japanese countryman, right-hander Roki Sasaki (3-4, 4.76 ERA), will start for the Dodgers on Friday. He will face the Orioles for the first time.
Sasaki, 24, had been much improved after a slow start to the season but was crushed for a season-high seven runs over 4 1/3 innings last Friday on the road in an 8-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
“It is a good test for a young player that after he has one like this, how he responds,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “So that’s something that we’re all waiting to see. But I do think that he’s equipped now with kind of a good base of success.”
After a 3-3 road trip, the Dodgers are back on track following a three-game home sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Baltimore will send rookie right-hander Trey Gibson (1-2, 5.91 ERA) to the mound Friday for his first career outing against the Dodgers.
Gibson will make his sixth career appearance and fifth start following an outing Saturday in which he gave up a career-high six runs over 4 1/3 innings in a 9-3 loss to the San Diego Padres.
The Orioles were the last team to get shut out this season when they fell 3-0 on the road to the Seattle Mariners on Thursday. Baltimore had just three hits while losing for the fourth time in its past five games.
“Looking forward to heading down to L.A. and putting together hopefully some good at-bats, some good starts and playing like the team we know we’re capable of,” said Baltimore’s Colton Cowser, who had one of the three hits.
The Orioles have been outscored 20-6 over their last four defeats.
“The big hit eluded us with runners in scoring position but keep dealing with the process, keep having good at-bats and the time will come,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said.
Baltimore was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position on Thursday.
Catcher Adley Rutschman left the game in the ninth inning when he was hit in the helmet by a throw while running out a ground ball to second base.
Rutschman is in a 1-for-18 downturn over his past five games
–Field Level Media
