BALTIMORE — For the Birds it’s goodbye Yankees, hello A’s. After dropping two of three to New York over the weekend, the Orioles are ready to turn the page and begin their second home series of the season. They start a four-game set against Oakland on Monday night.
This might just be exactly what Baltimore needs. The O’s have 4-5 record through nine games. Oakland is tied for the worst record in Major League Baseball at just 2-7.
Over these next four days expect Adley Rutschman to continue feasting at the plate. The O’s young star is leading the team hitting .389. That tops all catchers in all of MLB. Rutschman is scorching hot coming out of Sunday's performance as well. In the 5-3 loss to the Yankees he went 4-for-4 with a home run.
Prior to Monday's game he shed some light on his approach in this early part of the year.
"For me it’s always whatever I did my last at-bat, I try and just focus on the next one and keep my same process regardless of what has happened in previous at-bats. So, for me, it’s always going to be the same whether I’m 0-3 or 3-3. The next at-bat is the most important one," said Rutschman. "Hitting is one of those things where you wake up and the next day it feels different than it did the day before. So, you got to find a way to do it on any given day."
After a day as the designated hitter, Rutschman is doing the catching again on Monday.
He is working with pitcher Kyle Gibson. The veteran is making his third start and looking to move to 3-0. The A’s counter with JP Sears. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
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