BALTIMORE—The Orioles are focused on a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday. The Angels are starting Ryan Johnson, who’s 2-6 with a 7.63 ERA.
Johnson held the Orioles to one hit in six shutout innings in a 5-1 Angels win on June 23rd, striking out eight without walking a batter.
Jeremiah Jackson had the only hit against Johnson.
“He did a great job of mixing his arsenal against us,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “It’s a different look, a funky look. He was throwing a ton of strikes and he kept us off balance, and that was the biggest thing. We just couldn’t get our timing in or square him up.
“He did a good job of staying out of the middle of the strike zone, nibbling on the corners. His command was there. They’ve seen him before. Now you know what we have to deal with. It’s going to be a grinding game.”
Hitting the road
The Orioles will go on a season-long 10-game road trip beginning Friday night at Texas. They’ll follow that with three games at Minnesota and four games at Tampa Bay.
The next home game won’t be August 18th against the New York Yankees. In August, the Orioles have just 11 home games and 17 on the road.
Notes: Shane Baz (4-10, 3.86) will start against Nathan Eovaldi (10-9, 4.31) on Friday night. Saturday’s scheduled starters are are Kyle Bradish (7-10, 3.79) and Jacob deGrom (7-7, 3.96). Sunday’s scheduled starters are Cade Povich (2-1, 3.91) and Kumar Rocker (4-8, 4.08). … Friday’s game will be seen exclusively on Apple TV and Saturday’s game is only on FOX. … Jackson Holliday will start at shortstop for the second time this season on Thursday.
Orioles-Angels lineups:
Orioles
Dylan Beavers-LF
Pete Alonso-1B
Gunnar Henderson-DH
Christian Encarnaction-Strand-3B
Jackson Holliday-SS
Leody Taveras-RF
Jeremiah Jackson-2B
Colton Cowser-CF
Yohel Pozo-C
Brandon Young-RHP
Angels
Wade Meckler-LF
Mike Trout-DH
Nolan Schanuel-1B
Zach Neto-SS
Vaughn Grissom-3B
Moisés Ballesteros-C
Jose Siri-CF
Josh Lowe-RF
Oswald Peraza-2B
Ryan Johnson-RHP
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