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Catcher Samuel Basallo has returned to the Orioles lineup tonight after being struck on the right hand by a bunted ball Saturday night against the Dodgers.
Jeremiah Jackson is in right field again and batting second. Emmanuel Rivera stays at third base, Dylan Beavers is in left field and Coby Mayo is the first baseman.
Ryan Mountcastle serves again as designated hitter and is batting fourth.
Tomoyuki Sugano and Dean Kremer played catch today and are expected to stay on the active roster. Sugano was hit on the right foot by a one-hopper Sunday afternoon and Kremer exited his start Friday night with right forearm discomfort. Kremer’s start will be skipped, but Sugano could proceed uninterrupted.
“It didn’t get as swollen as much as I expected, and I’m ready for my next start,” Sugano said via interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “We’ll see how I move around today, but as of now, I don’t think it’ll have any affect.”
On a team that’s used the IL 36 times this summer, Sugano has managed to stay in the rotation and make 27 starts in his first season in the U.S.
“I think as a player the ultimate goal is to go through a season without any injuries,” he said, “so I’m happy to be in this position where I hopefully get through this entire season without an injury.”
Adley Rutschman (right oblique) hit in the cage today and is expected to take batting practice this weekend. He might accompany the team to Toronto.
Infielder Jordan Westburg (right ankle) should begin a rehab assignment this weekend. He’s still experiencing some discomfort when planting his right foot to throw.
“It seems everything else seems OK,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “That’s a pretty good indication that we’re getting closer, but those inside sprains, I’m learning now, they are tricky.”
Outfielder Tyler O’Neill’s rehab assignment has moved from Double-A Chesapeake to Triple-A Norfolk.
Kyle Bradish makes his third start since leaving the 60-day injured list. He hasn’t pitched since Sept. 1.
Bradish allowed two runs in six innings, striking out 10, against the Red Sox and two runs in four innings in San Diego.
Right-handers are 1-for-16 with eight strikeouts against Bradish. Left-handers are 7-for-20.
The Orioles are 13-3 against the Pirates at home in the regular season and 6-0-0 in home series. Per STATS, it’s tied for the third-longest series win streak at Camden Yards against a single opponent behind 11 vs. the Yankees in 2014-2017 and nine vs. the Twins in 1997-2002.
Baltimore’s bullpen has a 1.26 ERA and .530 opponents’ OPS this month, lowest in the majors. The 1.72 opponent average is second lowest behind the Phillies’ .153, per STATS.
Mansolino is 51-49 in his first 100 career games with the Orioles, the fifth manager in franchise history with a record above .500 in that span.
“I’m thrilled with what we’ve done,” he said. “The reality is we’ve been injured this whole time. The first of August we lost pretty much half the team. We’re playing with a roster that, most nights there’s eight, nine, maybe 10 at the most from Opening Day, a lot of guys who were in the minor leagues to start the team. So I don’t have a whole lot of complaints with how we’re playing.
“What I am proud of is just that we’ve stayed competitive. We haven’t been whole the whole year. This isn’t the team that they set out, pitching, position players, the whole deal. You look up and 3 ½ months later it’s kind of where we’re at. We played to a winning record during this time. We’ve ran the bases in probably different ways, probably one of the more noticeable things that we focused on. We’ve had some tough nights where we didn’t catch the ball, but I think all teams have that, you see winning teams do that.
“I feel like we’ve had to reimage the bullpen twice now. I feel like we established roles with the previous bullpen and put guys in places and they carried us for a while and I feel like now we’ve got a completely different bullpen that we’re figuring out as we go. So no complaints from me. I feel like the guys have competed and played hard. That’s playing winning baseball despite all the circumstances.”
Pirates right-hander Mike Burrows is a rookie with a 4.08 ERA and 1.261 WHIP in 19 games (16 starts). His last start was Aug. 23 against the Rockies, when he tossed four scoreless innings with two hits. Forty-three of his 57 pitches were strikes.
The Pirates are in last place in the National League Central with a 64-80 record. They’ve gone 42-33 at home and 22-47 on the road.
They swept the Dodgers in a three-game series in Pittsburgh and were swept by the Brewers.
The Orioles lost two of three games to the Pirates last April at PNC Park. They won two of three in May 2023 at Camden Yards.
The Pirates will miss the playoffs for the 10th year in a row. They’re completing their seventh losing season in a row.
The team’s 102 home runs are the fewest in the majors.
For the Orioles
Jackson Holliday 2B
Jeremiah Jackson RF
Gunnar Henderson SS
Ryan Mountcastle DH
Colton Cowser CF
Samuel Basallo C
Emmanuel Rivera 3B
Dylan Beavers LF
Coby Mayo 1B
Kyle Bradish RHP
For the Pirates
Jared Triolo SS
Spencer Horwitz 1B
Bryan Reynolds RF
Tommy Pham LF
Andrew McCutchen DH
Nick Gonzales 2B
Oneil Cruz CF
Henry Davis C
Cam Devanney 3B
Mike Burrows RHP
