The Orioles will travel to the West Coast for the third and final time this season for the weekend. Baltimore will take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, a team they swept earlier this month when Buck Showalter first took over as manager.
Friday night, the O’s get to face Trevor Bell (1-3, 5.48 ERA) for a second time. In his last outing against the Birds, Bell was only able to last 5.1 innings, giving up just two runs and striking out five. The O’s went on to win that game 6-3 to get off to a good start under Showalter. For the Orioles, Brad Bergesen (5-9, 5.84) will take the mound. Bergesen didn’t pitch against the Angels when they visited Baltimore. Bergesen has been pitching better of late and won his latest outing against the Rangers.
Saturday night, Scott Kazmir (8-11, 6.33) will take the hill for the Angels. The lefty didn’t face the O’s when LA came east for their three-game series. Baltimore has had struggles against left-handed pitchers for years, but they have had mixed results this season. His opponent will be Kevin Millwood. Millwood (2-14, 5.63) has had an up and down year in his first season with Baltimore. Millwood didn’t pitch against the Angels when they visited Baltimore.
Sunday afternoon’s matchup features Jered Weaver for the Angels and Jeremy Guthrie for the O’s. Weaver (11-9, 3.21) is LA’s ace and has pitched fairly well this season. In his last outing against the Twins, Weaver went six innings, allowing four runs and six hits. Guthrie (7-13, 4.13) beat the Angels earlier this season, going seven strong innings, allowing just three runs and five hits.
It’s very possible the Orioles would win the series or lose the series. Baltimore has been playing some its best ball since Showalter took over, but the pitching has been questionable during some games. This series, as with every series, depends on the starting staff. If the starting staff has a few big games, this could be a very good series for the O’s.
