Baltimore Orioles Look to Regain AL East Lead
Apr 22, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Miguel Gonzalez (50) throws a pitch during the first inning in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
The Baltimore Orioles will look to bounce back from a lackluster effort on Saturday to attempt to take 2-of-3 games from the Minnesota Twins.
Other than Nick Markakis and J.J. Hardy getting two hits apiece, only three other Orioles managed a single each, as the Birds dropped the Saturday afternoon game 6-1. Kevin Correia pitched well in gaining his first win of the season, but the Orioles performed like the recent series of games and overnight flight had finally caught up with them. Wei-Yin Chen was simply not sharp at all, and there is little to commend about this particular game.
So the Orioles’ stay in first place lasted all of about 16 hours as the Yankees won on Saturday behind Masahiro Tanaka to retake the lead in the AL East.
Let’s just move on …
Miguel Gonzalez is the next Oriole up to see if he can pitch deep into a game. He is yet to go longer than six innings in his first five outings, and he enters Sunday with a 1-2 record on an ERA of 5.19. Gonzalez has never pitched against the Twins.
This will be start #6 for Phil Hughes of the Twins. His first three starts all went five innings with four runs given up in each for a 7.20 ERA. However, Hughes has won his last two outings, including the most recent win over the Tigers where he surrendered only one run on four hits in seven innings.
Against the Baltimore Orioles, Hughes has a career record of 6-5, though his ERA of 5.22 and WHIP of 1.48 would indicate that the Yankees offense got him those wins with a lot of run support.
W |
L
ERA
G
GS
IP
H
R
ER
HR
HB
BB
SO
2014 Stats
2
1
5.14
5
5
28.0
33
17
16
3
1
6
26
Versus Orioles
6
5
5.22
20
17
89.2
110
54
52
15
4
23
69
MLB Career
58
51
4.55
187
137
808.2
820
436
409
115
24
251
682
We can likely look for Nick Markakis to continue his hot-hitting ways, as he is .319 against Hughes with 15 hits, three doubles, and two homers in 47 at bats. Delmon Young and Manny Machado also have strong numbers, whereas Matt Wieters, Adam Jones, and J.J. Hardy have really struggled.
AB |
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
BA
Nick Markakis
47
15
3
0
2
7
2
7
.319
Adam Jones
44
8
2
0
2
7
0
7
.182
Matt Wieters
34
7
0
0
1
4
2
8
.206
Chris Davis24
5
1
0
1
1
2
11
.208
J.J. Hardy
26
5
1
0
1
3
0
2
.192
Delmon Young
21
7
0
0
1
2
0
4
.333
Nelson Cruz17
4
4
0
0
0
0
2
.235
Manny Machado
12
5
0
0
0
1
1
2
.417
Jemile Weeks8
4
1
0
0
0
0
0
.500
Ryan Flaherty5
2
0
0
1
1
0
0
.400