Seattle @ Baltimore preview
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Last Meeting ( May 12, 2010 ) Seattle 2, Baltimore 5
The Baltimore Orioles have a new face in the leadoff role and they’re hoping it will be the answer to their o problems.
Corey Patterson is expected to be the first man at the plate for the O’s again in today’s series finale with the Seattle Mariners and the club is hoping he can bring some spark to a role that has lacked any punch with Brian Roberts on the 60-day disabled list with a herniated disc.
The Orioles called up Patterson and demoted outfielder Nolan Reimold to Triple-A Norfolk and moved Brian Roberts to the DL Wednesday to make room for the outfielder. Roberts can come off the disabled list on June 9.
The Baltimore leadoff hitter has been hurt since the first week of the season and the Orioles just haven’t found a good replacement for him. But Patterson brings speed, power and some leadoff experience to the position and he is off to a decent start after going 1-for-5 with a run scored in Wednesday night’s 5-2 win.
With Patterson in the leadoff role, manager Dave Trembley put Adam Jones back as the No. 2 hitter and Nick Markakis third. The Orioles hope the shuffling will be enough to ignite a dormant offense that has scored two runs or fewer in six of its past 10 games.
Felix Hernandez (2-3) takes the mound for the Mariners. He went the distance in a 4-1 victory over the Orioles in Seattle earlier this season but he has been chased away early in his last two starts. Hernandez gave up seven runs in less than four innings in his last outing against the Angels and the Rangers beat him up for five runs in 4 1/3 innings in his start before that.
The Orioles will counter with Kevin Millwood (0-4), who is looking for his first win despite a respectable 3.26 ERA. The O’s have given him more than three runs of support only once this season.
Baltimore’s win last night ended a three-game losing streak and a four-game losing streak against Seattle this season.