The Baltimore Orioles are coming off a four-game series against the New York Yankees in which the Orioles won each of the final three games. Baltimore is just 2 games below .500 at 19-21 and is eight games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the American League East. The Orioles have won five their last seven
New York split its four-game series at home against the Philadelphia Phillies prior to hosting the Orioles in an interleague series that began on Tuesday. The Mets are 5 ½ games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves in the National League East and have won four of the last six to keep their hopes alive of finishing strong and earning a wild-card berth for the postseason.
Improved pitching keeping Orioles in games
The Baltimore Orioles have surprised many this season winning 19 of 40 games thus far. Power at the plate has been a big part of that equation as the Orioles have the 10th best slugging percentage in baseball at .411. Leading the way is right fielder Anthony Santander who has hit 11 home runs and driven in 32. The Orioles have the seventh best team batting average in baseball at .261 but have stranded too many runners on base scoring just 192 runs which is 17th in baseball.
On the mound, the Orioles have the 11th best team ERA in baseball at 4.38 and the 12th best WHIP at 1.30. The pitching staff is holding opposing hitters to an average of just .241 at the plate which is 11th best in baseball. The Orioles starting rotation has ERAs that range from a low of 3.91 to a high of 5.17. Wednesday's starter Tom Eshelman has the best ERA among starters at 3.91 and also has the team lead in victories with 3. Cole Sulser has a team-high five saves for the Orioles.
New York starting to produce at the plate
The New York Mets have the best team batting average in baseball at .276 and the fifth best slugging percentage of .459. New York can do slightly better with hitters in scoring position as the Mets have scored just 204 runs which is just 10th in baseball. Last year's Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso has slowly come around increasing his average to .226 and has a team-high 10 home runs, while Dominic Smith is leading New York in RBIs with 32 and Michael Conforto has a team-high .348 batting average.
The Mets have two time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom who has an impressive ERA of just 1.69 and a team-high 70 strikeouts, but things go downhill from there. As a team, New York has the 17th best ERA at 4.61, 19th best WHIP at 1.36 and opposing hitters are averaging .251 at the plate against Mets pitching which puts New York 23rd out of 30 MLB teams. Wednesday's starter for the Mets will be former Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello, who in his first season in the Big Apple is a disappointing 1-4 with a 5.54 ERA. The Mets have lost each of the right-hander's last five starts.
Notable Trends
- New York has won four of the last six
- Baltimore has lost five of the last six on the road
- The Orioles have lost 13 of the last 20 overall
