BALTIMORE — It’s the red hot Orioles taking on the boys in blue on Monday night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Birds host the Los Angeles Dodgers fresh off a nice sweep of the Marlins.
By the end of the evening the O’s could be tied for the American League East division lead. Baltimore enters the night only a game behind Tampa Bay for first place.
They look to extend their eight-game winning streak by giving the ball to Grayson Rodriguez. The 23-year-old uber prospect is back with the big club. It's his second stint with the O’s as he returns from Triple-A.
He was last on the big league mound in late May after going 2-2 with a 7.35 ERA in ten starts. He was sent down after that to work on his fastball command and fine tune his game. He did just that in Norfolk. Now Manager Brandon Hyde is looking forward to seeing the new and improved G-Rod.
"Happy to see him here. He did a great job in Triple-A, put up some awesome numbers and had some great starts down there," said Hyde before Monday's game. "[We are] welcoming him back up here and hopefully he can give us a chance to win and keep us in the game for a while."
"I have no doubt that he can go out and dominate any given night," added veteran pitcher Kyle Gibson. "We want him to come up and throw really well and keep throwing like he has been. So, hopefully that will be the case."
"We know the talent he has. He just needs to relax and trust himself and his pitches and I think he’s going to be good," said right fielder Anthony Santander.
As for the Dodgers they are in first place in the National League West. They had won six straight before losing on Sunday to the Mets.
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