Orioles lineup vs. Tigers

Ryan Mountcastle returns to the Orioles lineup as the designated hitter for tonight’s series opener against the Tigers at Camden Yards. He missed yesterday’s game in Toronto with a bruised left triceps.

Jesús Aguilar is the first baseman against Tigers left-hander Tyler Alexander.

Cedric Mullins stays in the lineup but moves down to eighth. Austin Hays is leading off.

Gunnar Henderson is batting .328/.388/.557 with six doubles, one triple, two home runs, 12 RBIs and six walks in 17 games and 67 plate appearances. He’s the third baseman tonight.

Adley Rutschman had his 24^th multi-hit game of the season yesterday. He’s registered a .367 on-base percentage, with 31 doubles and 56 walks, in 97 games.

Tyler Wells is making his third start since coming off the injured list. He was stretched out to four innings and 50 pitches on Wednesday in D.C.

Wells faced the Tigers on May 15 in Detroit and allowed three runs and eight hits in four innings. They completed a three-game sweep.

Alexander was drafted twice by the Tigers, in the 23^rd round in 2013 out of Carroll High School in Texas, and in the second round in 2015 out of Texas Christian University. He’s made 91 appearances over parts of four seasons, including 38 starts, and registered a 4.47 ERA and 1.330 WHIP in 273 2/3 innings.

Alexander is 3-10 this season with a 5.35 ERA and 1.384 WHIP in 23 games (13 starts), with 90 hits allowed and only 41 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings. He’s made two starts this month and allowed 10 earned runs and 11 total with 16 hits in 9 1/3 innings.

The Orioles have faced Alexander twice during his career, both times as a starter, and scored three runs in 10 innings. He held them to one run in six innings as a rookie in 2019. Trey Mancini homered.

The Tigers have lost six of their last seven games and 13 of 18. They’re 24-46 on the road.

They rank 28^th in the majors with a .228 average, 29^th with a .284 on-base percentage, and last with a .341 slugging percentage. They’ve scored the fewest runs in baseball with 482 and hit the fewest home runs with 93.

Miguel Cabrera was reinstated today from the 10-day injured list.

For the Orioles
Austin Hays LF
Adley Rutschman C
Ryan Mountcastle DH
Anthony Santander RF
Jesús Aguilar 1B
Gunnar Henderson 3B
Ramón Urías 2B
Cedric Mullins CF
Jorge Mateo SS

Tyler Wells RHP