The last time they played Baltimore things did not go swimmingly. In the first game, Beckett pitched poorly and in the second, the bullpen imploded on Lester. They were still trying to set the record for the highest numbers of men left on base in a season (they've since abandoned that goal in favor of obtaining the record for the fewest number of men to reach first base) the last time out. They also hit into a considerable amount of double plays. The one bright spot of that series was Manny's catch.
Daniel Cabrera goes tomorrow against Beckett. He throws a really good fastball and an excellent changeup, both with good movement. He had a reputation for wildness but he seems to have really worked at getting the number of walks he allows down this year. That said, he still has bouts of inconsistency-in his last start he walked six in five and two-thirds of an inning against Tampa. The Red Sox hit him well the last time around. They combined for a total of ten hits (including two homeruns, courtesy of Lowell and Varitek.)
Garret Olson makes the start against Lester on Saturday. Olson throws a fastball, a changup, and a curveball. He tends to not throw his changeup to left-handed hitters. He has exhibited both good command and good control. Walks have, supposedly, been a problem for him but I don't see it (although when he does walk people they are generally lefties.) He does a good job of keeping the ball down and getting groundball outs. He also has a high LOB percentage. He did get absolutely shelled by the Yankees two starts ago.
Brian Burres pitches on Sunday against Bartolo Colon. Colon really keeps lucking out on teams/pitchers he gets to face. Although it has a nice sinking action, Burres' fastball is nothing special (it rides in the high eighties.) He also throws a slider and a changeup. If his command is off, he's going to get in to trouble. He doesn't walk many batters and he doesn't strike out many batters but he does give up a good number of hits.
The last pitcher of the series will be Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie has a deceptive fastball, a good slider, and a nice changeup. He keeps the ball down and induces a lot of groundball outs. Last time out he held the Red Sox to three runs on eight hits, giving up only two extra base hits (doubles for Ortiz and Manny.) He walked one and struck out seven.
Nick Markakis, Brian Roberts, and Luke Scott are probably the Orioles best hitters. Melvin Mora and Aubrey Huff have been having decent seasons for themselves, as well. Brian Roberts has a team-leading thirteen steals on the season; he's also been caught stealing more times than most of the other batters on the team have successfully stolen a base. Melvin Mora should either not attempt to steal (he's been successful two out of the six times he's tried it) or he should pay closer attention to what's going on while he's on the basepath, so that he doesn't get picked off. The Orioles are not a particularly error-prone team (third baseman, Melvin Mora, has the most at seven.)
As a side note: Not that I would wish anyone hurt or anything, but if one of their pitchers should go down before a Red Sox series, then I hope that they make room for (and call up) Jon Leicester. The idea of a potential Jon Lester v. Jon Leicester pitching match up amuses me greatly.
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