The Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles have a different outlook on the remainder of the season.
When they meet in the second game of their three-game series on Saturday afternoon in Chicago, the Cubs will be gearing up for a deep playoff run while the Orioles are already looking ahead to next season.
They tied for the quickest game of the regular season in the series opener on Friday, speeding through nine innings in one hour and 49 minutes in the Cubs’ 1-0 victory.
“You have to be able to win all sorts of games to make the playoffs,” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. “The major league season is a great test, and there’s no sneaking in with a major league season, the way it’s structured. So, I think 1-0 games, 12-10 games, it takes all kinds to get that win total up to a number that’s going to get into the playoffs, so you try to have a team that’s good at a lot of things.”
Nobody knows the disparity between the Orioles and Cubs more than relief pitcher Andrew Kittredge. Chicago acquired the veteran right-hander from Baltimore on Thursday, one of nearly a dozen players the Orioles traded away for prospects.
Kittredge was called on to pitch the seventh inning on Friday, and he set down the side in order against his former team.
“It’s always a weird feeling,” Kittredge said. “Typically you get a little layover before you see them again. I got jumped right into it. The first guy I faced, (Adley) Rutschman, was the guy who caught my last outing. So, I feel like he knew exactly what I was going to throw, but thankfully, I was able to get through it.”
The Orioles managed just three hits against the Cubs on Friday, but Rutschman’s double with two outs in the ninth brought excitement to the dugout, Baltimore manager Tony Mansolino said, and even more so when Tyler O’Neill flew out to the wall to end the game.
“Just going to have to string some stuff together more so here in the next few days,” Mansolino said. “Tough day offensively, but we will bounce back (Saturday).”
The Orioles plan to send right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano to the mound on Saturday.
Sugano (8-5, 4.38 ERA) is coming off his best start in nearly two months, holding the Colorado Rockies to one run and four hits over six innings in a 5-1 win last Sunday. The 35-year-old rookie has never faced the Cubs.
Matthew Boyd is scheduled to start for Chicago on Saturday.
Boyd (11-4, 2.47) carried a 23-inning scoreless streak into his most recent start Monday at the Milwaukee Brewers. He stretched it to 25 spotless innings before being touched for four runs in the third inning of an eventual 8-4 loss. He yielded five runs on six hits and five walks over five innings.
That also ended Boyd’s winning streak at six straight decisions.
In five career starts against the Orioles, Boyd has gone 1-1 with a 6.20 ERA.
–Field Level Media
