Sunday doubleheader Orioles game thread: vs. Detroit, 12:35 and 6:35 ET

Not even a rainout can stop these red-hot Orioles! Perhaps I exaggerate just a bit. But after a convincing 7-4 win on Friday night, one can almost glimpse what this team could be. Maybe a series against last-place Detroit was just what these Birds need to kickstart their herky-jerky season.

Don’t discount the importance of Jackson Holliday’s return, either. On Friday, just his third game since coming off the IL, Holliday went 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk. Welcome back, kid! Gunnar Henderson also feasted, going 3-for-5, and Adley Rutschman and Leody Taveras contributed two hits apiece.

So despite a Saturday rainout, the Orioles will get a chance to get a win streak going with a scheduled doubleheader today. First pitch is at 12:35 ET, with Saturday’s original matchup going in Game 1 instead. It’s a battle of right handers, with Brandon Young (3-1, 4.25 ERA and 22 SO in 29.2 IP) taking on Framer Valdez (2-3, 4.58 ERA and 45 SO in 55 IP).

You may recall Framber Valdez as one of a handful of starters the Orioles were linked to during the offseason. Well, he didn’t sign with the Orioles. That hurt a bit back in April, when Valdez has a 3.67 ERA in six starts, but he’s had a terrible month of May, going 0-2 with a 7.98 earned run average. There’s some evidence that the velocity on his heaters is down. Could he be hurt? I don’t know, but the Orioles can’t worry about such things: there’s a season to save!

As for Brandon Young, he was, like, Plan C for this rotation back in spring training. But what with injuries to Zach Eflin (out for the season with Tommy John), Dean Kremer (still recovering from a quad strain) and Trevor Rogers (we’re not sure what’s going on with him), the big Texan-that-could has been thrust back into the rotation. He’s done OK, actually, with just one clunker in six starts (a 10-run, only 4 earned, effort against his childhood team, the Astros). On the other hand, as Mark Brown pointed out in his series preview, Young’s sizeable ERA-FIP gap (4.25/5.22) suggests things could go sideways. With the Tigers considered a bottom-10 offense by Fangraphs, maybe Young will continue to walk the tightrope.

Game 1 Orioles lineup

1. Taylor Ward DH
2. Gunnar Henderson SS
3. Adley Rutschman C
4. Pete Alonso 1B
5. Tyler O’Neill RF
6. Coby Mayo
7. Leody Taveras CF
8. Jackson Holliday 2B
9. Blaze Alexander LF

Game 1 Tigers lineup

1. Zach McKinstry 2B
2. Kevin McGonigle 3B
3. Dillon Dingler DH
4. Riley Greene LF
5. Matt Vierling CF
6. Colt Keith 1B
7. Wenceel Pérez RF
8. Jake Rogers C
9. Zack Short SS

Left-hander Trevor Rogers, originally slated for Sunday’s finale, takes Game 2. Rogers is 1-5 with an 8.42 ERA in his last seven starts. Oh, dear. Could it be pitch tipping? I hope so, because the alternatives seem worse.

In an act of procrastination so extreme even I am shocked by it (and I have a bad habit of procrastination), Detroit still hasn’t announced their Game 2 starter as of 12:05 today. The best guess we have is that they’ll reinstate second-year righty Troy Melton off the 60-day injured list (elbow inflammation) for his first start of the year. Last year, in primarily a relief capacity, Melton posted a 3-2 W-L record with a 2.76 ERA in sixteen games (four starts). The 25-year-old righty has excellent velocity on his fastball, which he pairs his heater with a slider that was effective last year, and a cutter that was less so.

Let’s play two! Let’s go O’s!