Houston @ Baltimore preview
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Last Meeting ( Sep 27, 2018 ) Houston 0, Baltimore 0
The Houston Astros will have plenty of opportunities to tune up for the playoffs over the final three days of the regular season. After a rainout in Baltimore on Thursday, the Astros and host Orioles will squeeze their four-game series into a three-day span, beginning with Friday's series opener and a doubleheader Saturday.
Houston, which has clinched the second seed in the American League playoffs, will try to take advantage of otherwise meaningless games to get primed for an ALDS matchup with Cleveland beginning next Friday. "I have stressed to them not to get sloppy," Astros manager A.J. Hinch told reporters. "You don't want to play like it's spring training, then have to go back into playoff mode. I don't want them to get into bad habits. We have to play the games and you have to keep your edge. You can't not compete." Gerrit Cole will start Friday for Houston as he needs 5 2/3 innings to reach 200 for the second straight time. The Orioles, who already played a doubleheader Wednesday at Fenway Park, give the ball to David Hess.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston), MASN (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Gerrit Cole (15-5, 2.92 ERA) vs. Orioles RH David Hess (3-10, 5.14)
Cole ranks fifth in the AL in ERA and second behind teammate Justin Verlander with 272 strikeouts. He fanned 12 while allowing three runs over seven innings to defeat the Los Angeles Angels last Friday. The Orioles are one of three teams (also Pittsburgh, Minnesota) that Cole has never faced.
Hess is 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in four September starts but allowed just two runs and four hits over five innings at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. He gave up a total of five home runs over his last two contests after getting through three straight starts without serving up a homer. The Tennessee native will be facing the Astros for the first time.
WALK-OFFS
1. Houston (100-58) needs three wins in the final series to set a franchise record for victories in a season.
2. Orioles LF Trey Mancini is 9-for-26 with four extra-base hits during a six-game hitting streak.
3. The Astros have won 11 of the last 12 meetings.
PREDICTION: Astros 6, Orioles 3