After taking two of three against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Baltimore Orioles continue their nine-game trip with a matchup against the Athletics on Friday in West Sacramento, Calif.
Baltimore begins the three-game series with a sense of urgency after falling three games behind the final American League wild-card position, currently occupied by the Cleveland Guardians. Five other teams are within four games of Cleveland.
“I think we’ve been playing some good baseball and just want to keep that up,” Orioles first baseman Coby Mayo said. “Obviously, you want to win every game possible, just because of the spot we’re in right now. You’re trying to win every game.”
Mayo hit a 446-foot, three-run homer in a 7-5 loss to St. Louis on Thursday. He has hit 14 of his 18 home runs this season against lefties.
“Extra-base hits are great, singles are great, getting on base is great, but when I’m hitting the ball pure off the barrel, my swing is meant to hit the ball in the air,” Mayo said. “When I hit it on the barrel, ball’s in the air, usually equals homer.”
Baltimore continues its wild-card chase against the Athletics, who have won four of their past five following a five-game losing streak.
Lawrence Butler slugged a solo homer and Alika Williams hit a two-run triple in a 7-4 home win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.
Butler is batting .310 (31-for-100) with seven homers, six doubles and 16 RBIs over his last 28 games.
“I couldn’t be happier with Lawrence,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “This kid has been grinding. He plays with emotion. He doesn’t want to disappoint anyone, especially the team. Really proud of the way he’s responded to a lot of adversity and continues to get better.”
Butler’s resurgence has come following a dismal first half of the season. The 26-year-old right fielder was hitting .196 with five homers at the All-Star break.
“Never give up,” Butler said. “It’s a long season. I was hoping that around this time we would be in a playoff push, but it is what it is. You have to go out there every day and put up a good at-bat regardless of the score or the record. Compete every day.”
Baltimore will send right-hander Brandon Young (9-3, 3.50 ERA) to the mound in the series opener. He allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision against the Tampa Bay Rays last Saturday.
Young, 28, has a 4.50 ERA with a 14-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his last four starts covering 20 innings. The Orioles are 17-5 in his starts this season.
Jonah Heim is 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles against Young, who yielded six runs over three innings in an 11-3 home loss to the Athletics on Aug. 9, 2025.
The Athletics are expected to counter with left-hander Jacob Lopez (5-4, 4.98), who allowed one run over six innings in no-decision in a 4-3 win against the Houston Astros last Saturday.
Lopez, 28, has posted a 2.63 ERA with a 29-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his past four starts across 24 innings. He allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings in a 4-3 road win over Baltimore on May 8, and is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in two career starts against the Orioles.
The Athletics remain last in MLB in bullpen ERA, but several relievers pitched well in the series against Minnesota. Elvis Alvarado, Hogan Harris, Brady Basso and Luis Medina each played key roles in back-to-back wins over the Twins.
Basso pitched two scoreless innings on Thursday before Alvarado struck out Luke Keaschall with two runners on in the ninth for his fifth save.
–Field Level Media
