The last time the Orioles visited St. Louis, in May 0f 2024, the Cardinals won all three games to end the Birds’ 106-series regular season sweepless streak. So I’d say the Orioles owe the Cards a sweep of their own.
After a blowout win in the opener and a blowout-turned-nailbiter victory in game two, the Orioles will look to break out the brooms in today’s finale. They’ve got the right guy on the mound to do it. Trevor Rogers has been dealing since the start of June, going 7-2 with a 2.57 ERA in his 14 starts in that span. He’s delivered nine quality starts over that stretch, and only once has he allowed more than three earned runs. In all likelihood he’ll give the O’s a good chance to win today as along as they can bring the offense, which they’ve certainly done by scoring 21 runs in the first two games of the series.
The Cardinals are going with a bullpen game this afternoon. Right-hander Gordon Graceffo will make his first start of the season and just the second of his career, but he’ll surely be just a one- or two-inning opener. We could see a bulk relief appearance from rookie lefty Quinn Mathews, who was torched for seven runs in his most recent start on Aug. 22, or righty Cade Winquest, who got his first call-up to the majors earlier today. None of these are pitchers who should strike fear into the heart of Orioles hitters, which of course means they’ll combine for a three-hit shutout.
The third wild card-leading Guardians are off today, so an Orioles win would inch them two games back of Cleveland. The O’s haven’t pulled off a sweep since July 17-19 in Houston, the first series after the All-Star break. On three separate occasions since then, they’ve entered the series finale with a chance for a sweep — once against the Angels and twice against the Rays — but they’ve fumbled at the goal line in each instance. Can they actually pull it off this time?
Orioles lineup:
2B Jackson Holliday
DH Pete Alonso
SS Gunnar Henderson
C Samuel Basallo
3B Christian Encarnacion-Strand
LF Dylan Beavers
1B Coby Mayo
CF Colton Cowser
RF Leody Taveras
LHP Trevor Rogers
Cardinals lineup:
SS José Fermín
DH Iván Herrera
RF Jordan Walker
1B Alec Burleson
LF Joshua Báez
3B Blaze Jordan
2B Ramón Urías
CF Nathan Church
C Pedro Pagés
RHP Gordon Graceffo
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