Thursday, October 2, 2014

Excerpt: "Tigers/Orioles Preview"

"The one clear advantage for the Orioles comes late in games. They, in no small part thanks to Showalter, have a very tough bullpen and one that includes a number of righty-killers. Darren O'Day held righties to a .164 BA and .247 SLG. Brad Brach, a .192 BA and a .277 SLG. Ryan Webb had a 24/2 K/BB against righties. Throw in Tommy Hunter, and the Orioles are very well positioned to exploit the Tigers' lineup imbalance once the starters leave. It's not unfair to think of this series as having two halves -- the first six innings, and the final three. The Tigers will be favorites in the first, the Orioles favorites in the last. How many games will swing in those final three innings?"