O's game blog: Looking for two in a row over Milwaukee

After a six-hit shutout on opening day in Baltimore, the Orioles tonight look for their second win in a row against the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that has won the National League Central twice in the last four years. The Brewers won 95 games with a first-place finish last season and won 96 games in finishing atop their division in 2018.
 
Milwaukee has made the playoffs four years in a row and the Brewers are one of five teams to make the postseason in at least each of the last four years. They join the Los Angeles Dodgers (9), Houston Astros (5), New York Yankees (5) and Atlanta Braves (4). Milwaukee’s 95 wins from a season ago fell one shy of a franchise record (96 in 2011 and 2018) and then they lost in four games to the Braves in the National League Division Series.
 
Yesterday was the fourth time the Orioles have played the Brewers in Baltimore’s home opener and the O’s are now 2-2. They beat Milwaukee by 10-0 in 1973 and lost 12-0 in 1988 at Memorial Stadium. They lost 7-0 in 1995 at Camden Yards.
 
The opening day win via a 2-0 score to begin the Orioles’ 30th anniversary season at Oriole Park matched the score they won by in their first game at the ballpark. On April 6, 1992, right-hander Rick Sutcliffe pitched the Orioles to a 2-0 win in a game that lasted just over two hours. This one was much longer – three hours and 24 minutes – but still felt good around Birdland after the 0-3 start versus Tampa Bay.
 
When Cedric Mullins smoked a 109 mph liner to right-center for a two-run single in the O’s second, it was the clutch hit the team has been looking for. The Orioles had been 2-for-25 with runners in scoring position for the year up to that point.
 
The O’s offense has scored just six runs over four games, scoring one, three, zero and two runs in order versus the Rays and Brewers. The Baltimore team batting average is .208 to rank 12th in the American League, with an OBP of .299 to rank eighth, a slugging percentage of .308 to tie for 12th and a team OPS of .607 which rates 12th.
 
Milwaukee is not hitting much, either, to begin the new year. At 1-3 they are in last in their division and they were shut out for the second time in three games on Monday. They have a team batting average of .202 with an OBP of .303, slugging of .331 and team OPS of .634. They’ve scored nine runs in four games.
 
The Orioles posted five shutouts in 2021. But three of their last six wins dating to 2021 have come via a shutout. On Sept. 20, 2021 they won at Philadelphia 3-0, and three days later they beat Texas 2-0.
 
Right-hander Spenser Watkins (2-7, 8.07 ERA) will make his first start of the year and 11th of his career tonight. Watkins had a 10.31 ERA in nine home games last year. He was just added to the roster Monday before the opening day game.
 
Lefty Eric Lauer (7-5, 3.19 ERA in 2021) gets the start for the Brew Crew. The 26-year-old Lauer was a first-round draft pick, No. 25 overall, out of Kent State by San Diego in the 2016 draft. He struggled in spring training, allowing nine runs (eight earned) over 6 2/3 innings.
 
But last season he threw 118 2/3 innings, allowing 94 hits with 1.138 WHIP. He gave up 1.2 homers per nine with a 3.1 walk rate and 8.9 strikeout rate. Milwaukee went 10-10 in his 2021 starting assignments. In 12 games in the second half, Lauer was 4-1 with a 2.60 ERA and 0.963 WHIP.
 
He throws his fastball 45 percent of the time with an average velocity of 92.6 mph, using his cutter 19 percent, curveball 15 percent, changeup 11 percent and slider 10 percent.
 
Outfielder Anthony Santander reached base four times Monday with two hits and two walks, and is 5-for-10 with four walks for the season. Yesterday was the seventh time in his career that he’s reached safely in at least four plate appearances in a game and first since April 4, 2021 at Boston. He ranks third in the major leagues with a .667 OBP, fourth with a 1.567 OPS, and seventh with a .900 slugging percentage through the first five days of the year. His single in the seventh inning had an exit velocity of 111.2 mph, the hardest-hit ball by an Oriole so far in 2022.
 
The Orioles have drawn 11 walks the last two games and are fifth in American League in walks so far.