Game #115 Preview: Kremer vs Manoah

After another brutal loss yesterday, the Blue Jays will try once again to beat the Orioles, as they play their second game of a three game set this week at Rogers Centre. Today’s game is set for the regular 7:07 ET start.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Alek Manoah will go for the Jays, making his 23rd start of the year. He has already blown past his inning total from last year of 111.2, already up to 137.0 this year. The effects may be starting to show up as well, as he has struggled a bit over his last few starts, surrendering 9 runs on 17 hits over 16.1 innings. His numbers on the year are still great at least, 12-5 with a 2.56 ERA.

This will be Manoah’s third outing against the Orioles this year, with one other start back in June, as well as his most recent start a week ago. The June start was fantastic, 6 shutout innings while surrendering just 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 7. Last week was a different story though, as the Orioles got to him for 3 runs on 8 hits and a walk over 5 innings. It was just the second time this season that he did not pitch into the 6th inning.

Orioles’ Starter

Dean Kremer will make the start for the Orioles, his 13th of the season. After missing the first couple months with an oblique strain, Kremer has come back strong and is putting together a great season. He is 4-4 with a 3.69 ERA and a matching 3.70 FIP. He doesn’t walk many and he has done well keeping the ball in the ballpark. He doesn’t strike many out though, relying on his soft contact to keep his team in it.

The Jays were lined up to face Kremer last Wednesday, but that game was rained out. So this will be the first time this year they get a look at the young righty. In the past, the Jays’ bats have fared well against him, with Guerrero, Gurriel and Jansen combining for 5 home runs in 10 at bats.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

I doubt we see Jansen in this one today though, as Alejandro Kirk will be catching Manoah. Kirk enjoyed the rare off day yesterday, just the second time this month he wasn’t in the starting lineup.

Despite his small sample success against Kremer, Jansen is unlikely to DH. With George Springer back on the active roster, he’ll likely to be at DH for the next little while thanks to his right elbow injury.

Springer enjoyed a strong return to the active roster yesterday, knocking a pair of hits including a double while also picking up a walk. He and Gurriel were the only ones to register multiple hits yesterday.

Orioles’ Lineup

Ryan Mountcastle once again hit a home run against the Jays yesterday, and now has hit 14 of his 54 career home runs against the Jays. The Jays also walked him twice in an attempt to limit the damage, but it didn’t really do them any good. He’s just a registered Blue Jay killer.

Ryan McKenna enjoyed a 3 hit performance from the top of the lineup, but he’s unlikely to be back in the lineup tonight against the right handed Manoah. We’ll instead see Cedric Mullins get the start in CF and at leadoff.

Rougned Odor is the other platoon bat in the Orioles’ lineup, and he’ll likely be playing today. He has had a pretty good last week, hitting the go-ahead home run against the Jays a week ago, followed by a pair of multi-hit efforts against the Rays over the weekend, including a 4-hit showing on Friday.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Andrés Giménez enjoyed a strong double header yesterday, going a combined 4-8 with a home run in each game and 5 total runs driven in, earning himself the Monster Bat award. He went 3-4 with a 3-run home run in the first game, helping his Guardians to the 4-1 win over the Tigers, with his 7th inning home run helping close the door. The night cap was a back and forth affair, with Giménez’s home run putting the Guardians up early, although they would eventually fall 7-5. Giménez for his efforts is also our WPA King winner, with a combined .637 WPA over the two games.

Johnny Cueto (8 innings, 1 ER) and José Urquidy (7.2 innings, 1 ER) had a great pitchers’ duel in Chicago last night. For that, they’re the co-winners of the Pitcher of the Day award. The White Sox finished things up after they chased Urquidy, scoring 4 runs in the 8th inning to beat the Astros 4-2. Tonight promises to be another pitchers’ duel in Chicago, with Justin Verlander facing off against Dylan Cease, a battle of two pitchers with sub-2.00 ERAs.

Find the Link

Find the link between Rougned Odor and Ray Lankford.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant