At Least We've Still Got Chris Sale Day - Game Preview & Lineups 6/23

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There’s a little less charm in a Chris Sale Day when he’s been counted upon to end a losing streak. A losing streak that started the day after his last start and occurred against a team that hadn’t won 4 games in a row all season prior to the elongated weekend series against the White Sox. The Orioles, on the other hand, have registered a 4-game winning streak, a 5-game winning streak, and currently find themselves only 1.5 games behind the Blue Jays for best in the American League East. Help us, Chris Sale. You’re our only hope.

It’s a flawed way to look at things, because typically all starters have their worst innings just before they’re removed, but if you remove the last inning of Chris Sale’s last 3 starts you’d be removing a third of his runs allowed on the year. The irony is that the bullpen is to be blamed. A lack of confidence in them to log the innings necessary to finish the job forces the managerial hand to allow his ace that extra time even when the game situation doesn’t necessarily dictate it. It doesn’t really matter how long he stays out there, he logs strikeouts and makes guys look silly. Both very fun items.

Wei-Yin Chen has been unremarkable in a very acceptable way since his arrival to the Orioles. The range of his outings isn’t great, but when he steps out the O’s can typically assume they’re going to get 5 or 6 innings and be in a situation to possibly win the game once he leaves. A roughly league average pitcher regularly supporting a roughly league average offensive team seems to produce a better than average chance of winning games as Baltimore has won 8 of the 14 games that Chen has started.

Today’s Lineup:                                                            

  1. Eaton – CF
  2. Beckham – 2B
  3. Abreu – 1B
  4. Viciedo - LF
  5. Ramirez – SS
  6. Konerko – DH
  7. Gillaspie – 3B
  8. Moises Sierra - RF
  9. Flowers – C

Chris Sale - SP

Orioles Lineup:

  1. Markakis – RF
  2. Pearce – 1B
  3. Jones – CF
  4. Cruz – LF
  5. Young – DH
  6. Hardy – SS
  7. Machado – 3B
  8. Schoop – 2B
  9. Joseph - C

Wei-Yin Chen - SP

Where to Watch:

Today’s game will be broadcast on CSN and MASN.  6:05 Central start time.

 

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