Orioles look to continue taking steps toward .500 vs. Marlins

The Baltimore Orioles are on a roll. Now it’s a matter of keeping it up.

They go into Saturday’s game against the visiting Miami Marlins on a three-game winning streak.

“I feel like there’s so much talent in this room and there’s so many good players that we’ve been waiting to kind of get the ball rolling, come together and rattle off good baseball,” Baltimore first baseman Ryan O’Hearn said. “It feels like how it should feel.”

The Orioles won 5-2 in Friday night’s series opener, marking the team’s sixth victory in its last seven games.

Baltimore has settled into a good groove under interim manager Tony Mansolino, though the climb into playoff contention in the American League remains a steep task. But the belief is certainly growing.

“I just think that as you get closer to .500, five games is the next step, it gets a little more real, it gets a little more obtainable,” Mansolino said. “It brings in a lot more belief.”

The recent surge has moved the Orioles to a 43-50 record, so there are step-by-step goals to make this feasible.

“We just have to focus on getting ourselves to .500, and from there, off this thing goes,” Mansolino said.

Marlins manager Clayton McCullough is hoping Miami can generate more offense after hitting a rough patch this week. The Marlins didn’t score until the ninth inning Friday.

This series marks a homecoming for Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers and infielder Connor Norby, who had hits off Baltimore starter Dean Kremer on Friday. Stowers was drafted by Baltimore and moved up through the Orioles organization all the way to the major leagues before he was dealt away in a trade.

He has expressed some of the emotions attached to this series.

“I keep going back to the people because those are the guys I came up with in the minor leagues, and some of my best friends in the world,” Stowers said of the Orioles.

Former Miami left-hander Trevor Rogers (2-0, 1.57 ERA) will be the starting pitcher for the Orioles. He was in his fifth season with the Marlins when he was traded last summer to Baltimore — for Stowers and Norby.

Of his 89 career appearances — all starts — 80 came with the Marlins, so this will be the first time he faces Miami.

Baltimore has won in four of Rogers’ five starts, including Sunday at Atlanta, when he held the Braves scoreless on four hits across 6 2/3 innings. This will mark just the second home outing of the year for Rogers, with the other resulting in eight shutout innings last month against the Texas Rangers.

Right-hander Janson Junk (3-1, 3.12) will make the start for the Marlins after back-to-back outings of six innings. He has won three of his last five outings, with his effort Monday at Cincinnati — one unearned run and one hit — perhaps his best of the season.

Junk has pitched in the major leagues for parts of five seasons, but this will be his first matchup with the Orioles.

–Field Level Media