Games #133 & 134 Preview: Gausman/Berríos vs Baumann/Lyles

After a good start to the road trip in Pittsburgh, the Blue Jays head to Baltimore to kick off one of the biggest series of the season, starting it all with a double header today. Or at least we’ll hope there’s a double header today, as inclement weather looms for the Baltimore area, expected to ruin tonight’s game. The first game today is scheduled for a 1:05 ET start, and should be clear of bad weather.

The Orioles need to invest in a roof.

Blue Jays’ Starters

Kevin Gausman will get the start in the first game, making his 26th start of the season. The Major League FIP leader comes into play with a 10-9 record and a 3.14 ERA, with his ERA a full run above his fantastic 2.13 FIP. As always with Gausman, when he’s getting beat, it’s the dinky little hits that do it to him, and when he’s on, he’s dominating.

Gausman has faced the Orioles just once this year, resulting in his worst start of the year. Back on June 16, Gausman made it through just 2.1 innings, where he allowed 7 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits and a walk, striking out 3. He was hit fairly hard in this one, but was also hurt by bad defense as well.

If there’s a game 2 tonight, José Berríos is scheduled to get the ball. For Berríos, it would be his 27th start of the season, and there are definitely a lot of starts this year that he would like to forget. His ERA is now at an AL worst 5.32 after a few rough outings in August. The 9-5 record is nice, and the team is somehow 19-7 in his starts so far, so despite the struggles, it could certainly be worse.

Against the Orioles this year, Berríos has just 1 start, and it was a solid one. He went 7 innings, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits with no walks, striking out 8. He did allow 3 home runs though, the first of the big league career for Adley Rutschman, and then one to Ryan Mountcastle because everyone who puts on a Blue Jays’ jersey is contractually obliged to do so.

Orioles’ Starters

The Orioles will go with rookie right hander Mike Baumann, understanding that he’s exactly the type of pitcher the Jays’ bats will struggle against. Baumann is being added as the 29th man for the double header, so the rest of the roster will be the same. This will be the first start at the Major League level for Baumann, who has pitched in 11 games of relief over the last two seasons. He has started in the Minors though, making it through 6 innings last Wednesday, so he is stretched out.

Baumann does have one career appearance against the Jays, last September in Baltimore. He pitched 3 innings in relief in the 22-7 game, getting hit hard but having to wear it for a few innings. He gave up 6 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks, striking out 2. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. touched him up for a home run.

The game 2 starter is scheduled to be Jordan Lyles, the team leader in starts and innings. This will be his 28th start, which will tie him with a few other guys starting today for the Major League lead. Through his 152.1 innings this year, he is 10-9 with a 4.25 ERA, and a matching 4.27 FIP. His home run and walk rates are close to league average, but it’s his strikeout rate that is down at 7.27 per 9 innings that hurting his FIP. So expect many balls in play today for the Jays, and hopefully they can string some hits together.

This will be Lyles’ third start against the Jays this year, and he picked up the win the first two times he was out there. Lucky for Lyles, he managed to be matched up with Yusei Kikuchi in both of those starts, where he allowed 9 runs in his 9 innings of work. For Lyles, he pitched a combined 11 innings, he allowed 6 runs on 13 hits and 4 walks, striking out 8. He has allowed 3 home runs as well, one to Cavan Biggio and two to Matt Chapman.

Blue Jays’ Game 1 Lineup

Orioles’ Game 1 Lineup

It would appear Ryan Mountcastle is still on the team :/

Yesterday’s Heroes

Seth Brown went 3-4 with a pair of home runs, earning himself the Monster Bat award. His bat was key in helping his Athletics avoid the sweep at the hands of the Orioles, helping them to the 5-0 win.

Miles Mikolas threw 8 great innings, holding the Cubs to just 2 hits and a walk while striking out 3, earning himself the the Pitcher of the Day award along the way. He was deadlocked in a 0-0 game until Albert Pujols’ 2-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning, getting Mikolas the win in the Cardinals 2-0 victory. As can be expected with going 8 shutout innings in a tie game, Mikolas is our WPA King as well, putting forth .527 WPA towards the win.

Find the Link

Find the link between Anthony Santander and René Reyes.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant