Orioles manager Craig Albernaz is shuffling his lineup this afternoon, as the Orioles go for the sweep against the White Sox in Chicago.

Albernaz is batting Gunnar Henderson first and Taylor Ward second for the first time this season.

Ryan Mountcastle is the first baseman, with Pete Alonso serving as designated hitter.

Dylan Beavers is in center field, which puts Colton Cowser on the bench. Tyler O’Neill is in right field.

Blaze Alexander is starting at second base and Coby Mayo is at third.

Henderson has homered in consecutive games for the 11th time in his career.

Henderson is slashing .338/.453/.584 (26-for-77) against the White Sox, with five home runs, 11 RBIs and a 1.037 OPS across 21 games. He’s batting .338 (116-for-401) with 19 homers and 55 RBIs in 102 career games against American League Central opponents.

Ward has reached base safely in each of his last 10 games, batting .400 (14-for-35) with seven doubles and four RBIs.

Mayo has posted a .300 average against fastballs this season but only a .090 average against breaking balls and .000 against off-speed pitches.

The Orioles are hitting .308 against fastballs that are 95-plus mph this season, third highest in the majors, per STATS.

Kyle Bradish has faced the White Sox twice, both times in Chicago, and allowed one run and four hits with 20 strikeouts in 12 innings. As I reminded everyone this morning, he tossed seven hitless innings on May 26, 2024.

Bradish hasn’t completed five innings in either start this season.

Sean Burke is the 12th consecutive right-hander to face the Orioles, two short of the record from 1975. The White Sox drafted him in the third round in 2021 out of the University of Maryland.

Burke started on March 28 in Milwaukee and allowed three earned runs (four total) and seven hits in four innings. He followed an opener on Friday and held the Blue Jays to one run in six innings. He threw 85 pitches.

This is Burke’s first career start against the Orioles. He’s made two relief appearances and allowed three runs with 10 strikeouts in 10 innings.

Mountcastle is 3-for-4 against Burke.

The Orioles have won 10 straight games at Rate Field. They’ve won nine series in a row against the White Sox, their longest streak against any team since winning nine straight against the Royals from July 2004-May 2008.

For the Orioles
Gunnar Henderson SS
Taylor Ward LF
Adley Rutschman C
Pete Alonso DH
Tyler O’Neill RF
Ryan Mountcastle 1B
Dylan Beavers CF
Coby Mayo 3B
Blaze Alexander 2B

Kyle Bradish RHP

Here are the starters for the weekend series against the Giants at Camden Yards:

Friday: RHP Shane Baz vs. RHP Landen Roupp
Saturday: RHP Chris Bassitt vs. RHP Logan Webb
Sunday: LHP Cade Povich vs. RHP Adrian Houser

Dean Kremer is starting tonight for Triple-A Norfolk, perhaps his last outing before rejoining the Orioles.

For the White Sox
Chase Meidroth 2B
Munetaka Murakami 1B
Miguel Vargas DH
Colson Montgomery 3B
Andrew Benintendi LF
Dustin Harris RF
Luisangel Acuña SS
Reese McGuire C
Tristan Peters CF

Sean Burke RHP