The Baltimore Orioles have had games without many baserunners, so they need to be particularly careful when they do get scoring chances.
That’s one of the messages from manager Craig Albernaz going into Baltimore’s Friday night home game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The contest will be the second of seven meetings between the American League East rivals across an 11-day span. The Blue Jays claimed the first 2026 matchup of the teams on Thursday, winning 2-1.
The Orioles had a runner picked off base for the 10th time this season when first baseman Pete Alonso was nailed by catcher Brandon Valenzuela to end the eighth inning.
“It’s something that we’ve got to be on top of and be conscious of, especially with the way Valenzuela can throw and likes the back pick,” Albernaz said.
For a Baltimore team that hasn’t exactly solved many of its offensive woes, such mishaps on the bases become magnified.
“It’s really tough to kind of take ourselves out of the inning like that, from just playing too far over my skis, so to speak,” Alonso said. “I feel awful.”
The Orioles have been held to one run in three of their last four defeats, though they had won three consecutive games and five out of six before Thursday.
The Blue Jays have won three games in a row and seven of their past nine.
Baltimore will give the ball on Friday to left-hander Trevor Rogers (2-6, 6.96 ERA), who lost each of his past six starts and failed to reach the five-inning level in each of his past four outings. Rogers has faced the Blue Jays three times in his career, going 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 15 innings.
The Blue Jays hadn’t announced a starting pitcher for Friday. This was the spot in the rotation held by Dylan Cease, but he was placed on the injured list after his most recent start on Sunday.
Toronto’s cast of potential starters is headlined by minor-leaguers Chad Dallas and CJ Van Eyk, though the Blue Jays might opt for journeyman Austin Voth.
Both teams are introducing young players to the big leagues during the series.
The Blue Jays put infielder Lenyn Sosa on the injury list, so they might have infielder Charles McAdoo in the lineup on Friday for his major league debut. He was added to the roster prior to the series opener.
Manager John Schneider said McAdoo could play just about any infield position, but his bat might be his biggest asset at the moment.
“He can run, but I think (he’s) just putting together a pretty good offensive year,” Schneider said. “(We’ll) take a look at it, for sure.”
Baltimore altered its bullpen in advance of the series, and one of the results was right-hander Cameron Weston making his major league debut by pitching a scoreless ninth inning on Thursday.
“That was fun to see him go out there and do this thing and especially the first strikeout,” Albernaz said. “He looked great, pounded the strike zone, sweeper looked great and the split, too.”
By using Weston, Albernaz protected the availability of others in the bullpen so they will be ready to go on Friday.
–Field Level Media
