Orioles and Rockies lineups for series opener at Coors Field

DENVER – The Orioles have totaled four hits or fewer in five of their last 11 games. They’ve scored three runs or fewer in eight of their last 12.

Manager Bandon Hyde has only so many lineup combinations to play. He’s got Austin Slater leading off tonight and Emmanuel Rivera playing first base against Rockies left-hander Austin Gomber at Coors Field. James McCann is catching.

Slater is 9-for-19 with three doubles and two triples against Gomber. Rivera and McCann are 1-for-6 with a home run.

Adley Rutschman is on the bench. He went 2-for-12 against the Dodgers and is batting .211/.285/.325 in 33 games since the All-Star break.

Eloy Jiménez is the cleanup hitter. Ramón Urías is batting fifth.

Jackson Holliday is batting ninth and getting a lot of attention with his father, Matt, at Coors Field today. They had separate media scrums this afternoon.

Gunnar Henderson is batting .245/.313/.431 in 26 games this month and was 1-for-12 in the Dodgers series. He’s 6-for-41 since his last multi-hit game on Aug 17.

Albert Suárez has a 3.18 ERA this season in 26 games, and tonight marks his 19^th start. He’s allowed two runs in his last four starts covering 23 1/3 innings.

Suárez has made four career appearances against the Rockies, including one start, and allowed six runs in 13 innings. All six runs in 12 frames came at Coors Field, with his most recent game on Sept. 4, 2017, when he tossed two scoreless and hitless innings.

Per STATS, Suárez has held opponents to a .047 slugging percentage with runners and scoring position and two outs, the lowest mark in the last 50 years in a minimum 100 innings. Former Orioles pitcher Andrew Cashner is next with a .051 percentage with the Rangers in 2017.

The only two hits against Suárez with runners in scoring position and two outs are singles by Eugenio Suarez on May 10 and Anthony Volpe on June 18. Opponents are hitless in their last 22 at-bats, the longest active streak against any pitcher.

More Suárez: He’s faced 25 batters where he’s gone to a 3-0 count this season and he’s allowed a .560 on-base percentage, on pace to be the lowest by an Orioles pitcher in that count since Miguel Gonzalez (.528) in 2013 in a minimum 25 batters faced.

The Orioles are 77-58 and have lost eight of their last 13 games. They trail the first-place Yankees by 1 ½ games.

They’ve gone 0-5-1 in their last six series against the National League, losing 12 of 17 games.  

The Orioles are 27-4 in multi-homer road games. Only the 2021 Brewers at  27-3 had a better record in a minimum 30 games per STATS.

Gomber has made 25 starts this season and posted a 4.70 ERA and 1.290 WHIP in 138 innings. He’s surrendered 26 home runs, tied for most in the National League.

Gomber has appeared in 151 games over parts of six major league seasons, the first two with the Cardinals, and he’s never faced the Orioles.

The Rockies are 50-85 overall and 31-35 at home.

The Orioles have played six road games against the Rockies, which is tied for fewest by any team against an active franchise per STATS. The Giants have played only six at Camden Yards, the White Sox only six in San Diego and the Cardinals only six at Yankee Stadium.

None of the current Orioles have played at Coors Field. John Means started on May 24, 2019.

Colorado has posted the worst ERA in baseball in three consecutive seasons. The 1956-58 Senators are the last team with a streak of that length per STATS.

For the Orioles

Austin Slater LF
Anthony Santander RF
Gunnar Henderson SS
Eloy Jiménez DH
Ramón Urías 3B
Colton Cowser CF
Emmanuel Rivera 1B
James McCann C
Jackson Holliday 2B

Albert Suárez RHP

For the Rockies

Charlie Blackmon DH
Ezequiel Tovar SS
Ryan McMahon 3B
Brenton Doyle CF
Brendan Rodgers 2B
Jake Cave RF
Michael Toglia 1B
Jacob Stallings C
Jordan Beck LF

Austin Gomber LHP