:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/32856681/486172309.0.jpg)
Houston Astros at Baltimore Orioles, May 10, 2014 6:05 PM CDT
TV: CSN Houston, MLB.TV
Radio: KBME 790 AM, KLAT 1010 AM
Orioles SBNation Blog: Camden Chat
Pitching Matchup:
RHP Collin McHugh (2-1, 2.79 ERA, 1.53 WHIP) vs. RHP Miguel Gonzalez (1-3, 5.28 ERA, 1.25 WHIP)
At this point of the season, I'm already looking at individual players to watch over the actual outcome of the games. The Astros don't look anywhere close to the playoffs, so I turn to players like Collin McHugh to get my enjoyment out of games. He has never showed any flashes of brilliance in his previous two stops in the majors with the Mets and Rockies. The Astros brought him in over the winter and appeared to struck gold in his first two starts. McHugh allowed one earned run over 15.1 innings and struck out 19 in his first two starts.
He came back down to earth in his last start, facing the Mariners for a second time in less than two weeks. The M's put up five runs in 4 innings pitched. Bo Porter and the Astros front office have stuck with him though, sending Brett Oberholtzer to the minors rather than McHugh when Scott Feldman returned to the roster for game one in Baltimore. The Orioles will be facing McHugh for the first time, the question then become is there a book out on McHugh yet or does he still have some magic left?
Nick Markakis has a 16-game hitting streak coming into today's game, he went 3-for-4 with a double last night. Steve Pearce hit a home run last night to take his OPS to .971 over the team's last seven games.
The O's will run out Miguel Gonzalez in hopes of extending their winning streak to five. The Mexico native has had an up and down year thus far. He has yet to pitch past the six inning in any of his starts. Since allowing three runs over 11 inning in his second and third starts, the O's have lost three straight decisions with Gonzalez on the mound.
Jason Castro has Gonzalez's number, he is 4-for-5 with three doubles and a home run in his career. Matt Dominguez is not far behind going 3-for-4 his career against the right-hander.