O's game blog: Series opener against Mets

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

June 08, 2021, 2:07pm

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After an off-day Monday and with another coming up on Thursday, the Orioles will squeeze in a brief two-game series with the New York Mets beginning tonight at Oriole Park.

On May 11-12, the Orioles lost two games to the Mets at Citi Field by 3-2 and 7-1 scores. At 29-23, the Mets lead the National League East by 3 1/2 games over the Atlanta Braves and by four over the Philadelphia Phillies. In their most recent series, the Mets went 2-2 at San Diego, winning the last two games on Saturday and Sunday.

The Mets have been in first place every day since May 8. This is their longest streak in first place since the end of the 2015 season. Tonight they continue their three-city, nine-game, 10-day road trip to Arizona (2-1), San Diego (2-2) and Baltimore. The Mets are 8-3 in their past 11 games.

The Orioles are 1-6 versus the National League, going 1-1 against Miami, 0-2 versus the Mets and 0-3 against Washington.

But after their 5-23 May, the Orioles are now 4-1 in June after Sunday's 18-5 blowout win over Cleveland. The club set season highs in runs and hits and posted their most runs since an 18-2 win over Oakland on Aug. 16, 2015.

Ten O's players scored at least one run in the win and it's the first time at least 10 players have scored in a game since Sept. 10, 2014 against Boston. Nine different Orioles recorded an RBI, tying the franchise record, done three times prior and last on Sept. 28, 2000 against Toronto.

The Orioles recorded 21 hits for the 40th time in club history and first since Aug. 30, 2019 against Kansas City (21).

The Orioles led 12-1 after four innings and went 15-for-26 in those opening innings. For the game, the O's batters hit a collective .488 (21-for-43) and hit .611 (11-for-18) with runners in scoring position.

Ryan Mountcastle, named American League Player of the Week on Monday, is batting .372 (16-for-43) his last 12 games with 10 extra base hits, including four doubles, a triple, five homers and 14 RBIs. He has at least one extra-base hit in six consecutive games.

Cedric Mullins, after his five-hit game Saturday, added three more hits and two walks Sunday, going 8-for-9 over the last two games. In those games, he raised his batting average from .298 to .322 and his OPS from .839 to .923.

Mullins has four multi-hit games during his seven-game hitting streak. He is 15-for-28 in this span, batting .536/.594/.1.071 with two doubles, two triples, three homers, four runs, four walks, three RBIs and an OPS of 1.665.

With that win, the Orioles improved to 21-38 overall, 4-1 in the last five games (scoring 38 runs), 10-20 at home and 18-12 when they score four or more runs.

On the mound tonight, lefty Bruce Zimmermann (3-3, 4.96 ERA) will make his 10th start. He's thrown 49 innings and given up 60 hits, including 11 homers, with 15 walks to 43 strikeouts. He has a WHIP of 1.531 with 2.8 walks and 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings. The Orioles are 2-7 in his starts.

Zimmermann has allowed two earned runs or less in three of his last four starts. Over his past two, his ERA is 2.61, throwing 10 1/3 innings and giving up 12 hits and three runs, with three walks and 13 strikeouts.

Lefty David Peterson (1-4, 5.89 ERA) starts for New York. He is coming off a first-round knockout where he pitched just 1/3 of an inning and gave up three hits, three walks, one homer and five runs on 35 pitches Wednesday versus Arizona. Over his past three games, his ERA is 9.00 with seven walks, eight strikeouts and three homers allowed in 11 innings. In six road starts, he is 0-2 with a 7.30 ERA and 1.581 WHIP.

Peterson, drafted No. 20 overall in round one by the Mets in 2017, is using his fastball 60 percent of the time at an average speed of 92.4 mph. He throws his slider 24 percent and his changeup 15 percent.

O's media was allowed back on the field today and for the first time since the 2019 season did an in-person pregame press update with manager Brandon Hyde.