THE Baltimore Orioles picked up where they left off before the star break, and they can’t wait to continue
Baltimore brings a six-game winning streak to its Saturday night clash with the Visit Miami Marlins. THE Orioles opened the three-game series with a 5-2 win on Friday night
“Guys want to come back after this,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said.
THE Orioles provided a quick surge, hitting three homers in Game 1 of a six-game homestand. Two of those bombs came from second baseman Adam Frazier, who posted the first multi-home run of his 905-game career. He has a career-high 12 long balls this year
“Really, the work I did with the hitting coaches,” he said, describing the attempts to put his body in a better position to unleash more power. “It was good. Keep working day by day.”
Miami entered the break with five wins in its previous seven games. Friday’s result was a rarity in that it dropped the marlins at 11-5 this season in American League stadiums
The key against the Orioles will be to avoid any major deficit. Miami was 3-2 down after the start of the eighth inning, but Baltimore had a pair of relievers in the All-Star Game for a reason.
“They’ve got some really good bullpen guys,” marlins said manager Skip Schumaker. “You never want to have more (behind a run).
Right-hander Kyle Gibson (9-6, 4.60 ERA) gets the call for the Orioles SATURDAY. He will aim to be the team’s second pitcher in as many nights to hit the 10-game mark after Dean Kremer did so with six strong innings on Friday.
Gibson snapped a three-game personal losing streak Sunday at Minnesota. He held the Twins to two runs in seven innings and had 11 strikeouts to tie his career high.
Gibson is 2-3 with a 4.61 ERA in seven career starts against Miami. Pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies, he teamed up with the marlins in back-to-back starts last September, giving up four runs in five innings in a no-decision, then giving up just one run in six innings of what became his final win of the season
THE marlins will counter with southpaw Braxton Garrett (5-2, 3.70 ERA). He’s won his last four decisions and hasn’t lost since May 8. Even though he ended up with seven no-decisions in his two undefeated months, Miami almost always wins when he pitches.
THE marlins are 10-1 in Garrett’s last 11 outings and 14-4 this year. He never faced the Orioles in his four major league seasons, all with the marlins
Miami used left-hander Robert Garcia as relief Friday night to face three batters in the seventh inning in its major league debut. He was a little nervous allowing a jab and a walk, but Schumaker saw reason to be encouraged.
“I can’t wait to see him back there,” the manager said. “He throws shots, he’s good. He’s got deception. It’s hard to pick up his slider. His fastball is 95 (mph).”
–Field-Level Media
