After being swept by the New York Mets at home and going 2-7 on their nine-game homestand, the O’s head out to the West Coast to take on the San Francisco Giants for a three-game set. The O’s have just six road wins this season and look to win their first road series of the year. They went 0-6 against the Blue Jays and Yankees in their last six road games and face a team that has won eight of their last 10 at home. Winning their first road series of the year will be a tall task considering they must face Jonathan Sanchez and Tim Lincecum, who both have been holding their opponents in check as of late. The O’s will throw two of their youngsters on the mound in Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta for the first two games of the series. This will be a good test for the O’s young starting pitchers to see how they stack up against some of the league’s best hurlers.
Monday, June 14, 10:15pm
Orioles – Chris Tillman (0-2, 5.54 ERA)
Giants – Jonathan Sanchez (4-5, 2.82 ERA)
Tillman recorded his first quality start of the season last Wednesday against the Yankees after a poor outing against the Red Sox. He went six innings and gave up two earned runs on eight hits with a strikeout. Even though Sanchez has won two of his last three outings, he has failed to pitch longer than 6 1/3 innings in those starts. He struggled early in his last start against the Reds, giving up three runs on seven hits in just five innings. Sanchez has appeared in 19 interleague games and is 3-5 with a 3.39 ERA.
Tuesday, June 15, 10:15pm
Orioles – Jake Arrieta (1-0, 4.50 ERA)
Giants – Undecided
Arrieta provided the O’s with one of their few exciting moments last week when he beat the defending World champion Yankees. The much-anticipated major league debut didn’t disappoint as Arrieta pitched six innings and gave up three runs on four hits while striking out six and walking four. His biggest pitch of the game came when he struck out Marcus Thames in the sixth inning with the bases loaded of a tie game. The O’s scored in the bottom of that inning to give Arrieta his first major league win and a shaving cream pie facial, which will hopefully be the first of many for the youngster. The Giants have yet to decide who will take the mound on Tuesday. This was supposed to be Todd Wellemeyer’s start, but he was placed on the 15-day disabled list last Friday for a right quadriceps strain. Manager Bruce Bochy should decide on his starter in the coming days.
Wednesday, June 16, 3:45 ERA
Orioles – Jeremy Guthrie (3-7, 3.83 ERA)
Giants – Tim Lincecum (6-2, 3.12 ERA)
This will be by far the most difficult of the three-game set for the O’s, with the two-time defending NL Cy Young winner on the mound for the Giants. Lincecum has struggled at times this season, but still owns a 3.12 ERA and continues to strike out batters at an alarming rate (96), which is good for second in the majors. In his last outing against Oakland, Lincecum struck out seven batters and walked just one while giving up two runs on seven hits over eight innings. Despite having seven losses on the season, Guthrie still has a respectable 3.83 ERA. He led the AL with 17 losses in 2009 along with a 5.04 ERA, but is pitching much better this year with nine quality starts in 13 appearances. In his last start against the Mets, he made a crucial mistake against his former Stanford teammate, Chris Carter, giving up a three-run homer in the fourth inning, which ultimately led to a 5-1 O’s loss.
Submitted by Steve Giles
That's what happens when you enter a league with me!