Baltimore Orioles: Keegan Akin Faces Gerrit Cole in Vital Series

After a series split with the Mets, the Baltimore Orioles enter their most important series of the season. 

Who would have thought the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees would be fighting for a playoff spot. With just a few weeks left in the season, it’s time to see who can make that final push to sneak in.

Both squads have had surprising seasons. For Baltimore, it has been a pleasant experience for the fans. After all, this team was predicted to win a total of just over 22 wins by FanGraphs.

With just two wins in this series, the Orioles will match that number. They will also have a chance to leap over New York for the eighth and final wild-card spot.

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As for the Yankees, it’s now or never. They are on the hot seat for a team that was considered by many to be a world series contender. The 324-million-dollar man in Gerrit Cole hasn’t looked like the Cy Young runner up from last season.

Their lineup has also been plagued with injuries including Luis Severino, Aaron Judge, James Paxton, and Gio Urshela. There is some hope as Giancarlo Stanton is set to return in the near future.

(9/10) Akin vs. Cole

O’s rookie, Keegan Akin has been nothing short of spectacular in his first two starts. Coincidentally, he also matched up against Cole in his last start as Baltimore was victorious. His 2.08 ERA is a small sample size, but not to be taken lightly. The southpaw will be facing a lineup stacked with right-handed hitters. However, the bottom four hitters in the lineup (Sanchez, Ford, Higashioka, Estrada) have been cold as of late.

Gerrit Cole looks to avoid a four-game losing streak in tonight’s matchup. Those are words baseball fans aren’t used to hearing. In his last start in Baltimore, Cole allowed five runs (1 ER) fanning 10 Orioles. Baltimore has scored five or more runs in six consecutive games. The Orioles need to keep up their hot bats and put the ball in play. If Baltimore can limit K’s and have Akin deliver a quality start, they have a good chance of getting a very important win.