Orioles set to begin second half with series against Cubs

The Orioles begin the official second half of the season tonight, not the mathematical version, with a three-game series against a unique opponent.

The Cubs are visiting Baltimore for only the second time, taking two of three games in 2003. It was so long ago, Rick Helling and Travis Driskill covered nine innings for the lone win on June 12. Driskill allowed one run in four innings to notch the save in a 6-1 victory at Camden Yards.

B.J. Surhoff and Melvin Mora homered, Brook Fordyce collected three hits and the game lasted 2 hours and 18 minutes.

I'm taking the "over" tonight if that's the line.

Tony Batista and Deivi Cruz comprised the left side of the infield. Ground balls rarely were touched.

The Orioles took two of three games from the Cubs in 2008 at Wrigley Field and were swept in a three-game series in 2014. I learned all of the words to "Go Cubs Go." It's a catchy tune.

Kevin Gausman's past experience with the Cubs consists of one start on Aug. 22, 2014. Luis Valbuena and Javier Báez homered off Gausman and he was charged with three runs and six hits in five innings, with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Ben Zobrist is 6-for-11 with three doubles against Gausman, whose 19 starts in the first half are tied for the most in the majors. His 63 earned runs allowed are tied for second and his 97 innings rank 53rd.

Gausman is three strikeouts short of reaching 500 for his career.

The Cubs were 53-35 at the break last year, but they're 43-45 heading into tonight and have won consecutive games just once since June 6.

I wrote yesterday that the Cubs are starting Mike Montgomery, former Oriole Jake Arrieta and newly acquired José Quintana in the series. They gave up four players, including their top two prospects, for Quintana.

Of course, the Orioles rotation could use someone like Quintana, but yesterday's trade served as a harsh reminder that the price for someone of that caliber is going to be steep.

You have to give up something to get something, "and they have something to get something," said manager Buck Showalter.

"Somebody said they have seven of the top 100 players, prospect-wise, so they took one or two out and still have five or six. It's all about developing assets, right? Some on your club and some in the minor leagues.

"I think you're going to see a lot of movement, it looks like."

Showalter is nine wins away from 1,480, tying Hall of Famer Earl Weaver for 24th place on the all-time list.

The Orioles went 15-8 in April and 12-16 in May and June. They've lost six of their first nine games this month.

Closer Zach Britton will be in the bullpen tonight. I keep checking and I've been given no indication that the Orioles are open to moving him despite the list of teams - believed to be around 29 - with interest in him.

The Dodgers were interested in Britton last winter and FanRag Sports reported yesterday that those feelings haven't changed.

There's no doubt that clubs are trying to gauge the Orioles' interest in moving him. And they're doing their homework on Britton, including his health and whether he'd accept a setup role.

The Orioles will be faced with an interesting decision on Britton even if they keep him through the season while trying to make a run at another playoff berth. He's being paid $11.4 million and has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining before becoming a free agent. Another raise is on the horizon.

Britton has no idea whether the Orioles would be willing to trade him later this summer or if they'd consider non-tendering him over the winter. The latter scenario seems impossible given the interest in him and the prospects that he'd bring back in a deal. You don't let him walk.

The Orioles weren't going to pay former closer Jim Johnson $10 million and they traded him to the Athletics in December 2013. But Johnson wasn't 47-for-47 in save opportunities and he didn't finish fourth in Cy Young Award voting in the American League, though he placed seventh in 2012.

The 2017 season has been a challenge for Britton because of his multiple stops on the disabled list with a strained left forearm, but he's 5-for-5 in save chances, the last one coming on April 14 in Toronto, and finally seems to be rounding back into dominant form.

The Orioles may have a clearer idea on whether they're buyers or sellers after their 10-game homestand. They're currently four games below .500.

"I think it's big for us to get started on the right foot and to get some momentum going to start the second half," said first baseman Chris Davis, who comes off the disabled list today. "Obviously, we've played well at times in the first half and we didn't play very well other times. I think it's big for us to kind of get the ball rolling in the right direction starting (tonight)."

Britton said last weekend that it's possible for a club to begin feeling snakebit, a term that applied to the Orioles as they fell six games below .500 before gaining a split of their series in Minnesota. They seemed to be finding creative ways to lose leads and games.

"I've been on some teams, my first year here, there were games like that a lot that year," he said. "You try not to get sucked into it. When you're struggling collectively as a team, it just seems like no matter what you do, everyone kind of has their moments of struggling. And when things are going well, it seems like everyone kind of picks it up and those things don't happen."

They need to stop in order to assure that the Orioles don't consider trading away some of their core players and go into rebuild mode.