Lyles scratched from Game 1 start and moved back to later today

The Orioles intended to start veteran Jordan Lyles in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader against the Blue Jays, with Mike Baumann making his first major league start in Game 2. However, Lyles woke up feeling a little under the weather and was pushed back.

Manager Brandon Hyde called executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias early this morning to pass along the news.

“We decided to give him a few extra hours and we flip-flopped,” Hyde said.

There’s the obvious concern that Lyles will be scratched later today. The Orioles must cover at least 18 innings.

“I’m fairly confident that he’ll be able to start Game 2,” Hyde said, “but we’re keeping our fingers crossed. We’re hopeful.”

Baumann is the 29^th player today.

“He’s facing a really good club,” Hyde said. “We just want him to try to keep us in the game as long as he can. These days are always tricky, covering 18 innings, and just want Mike to go compete. He’s a great competitor, he’s got great stuff. Just want him to trust his stuff and last as long as he can out there.

“We’ve always believed in Mike’s stuff and Mike’s got huge upside. A great fastball, he’s got a good slider. We just wanted him to work on his command of his pitches and he did that. His last outing he went seven innings and no walks, throwing an upper-90s fastball. We’re happy with the progress he’s made down there and decided to watch him today.”

Kevin Gausman makes his first Camden Yards start since the Orioles traded him in 2018. He has reverse splits, which led to Hyde going with a more right-handed lineup. Kyle Stowers, Rougned Odor and Terrin Vavra are on the bench.

“If you look at the lineup when we faced him in Toronto, it was mostly right-handed because of that fastball/split, and the split’s really, really good,” Hyde said.

The bullpen added Beau Sulser and subtracted Rico Garcia after he retired all four batters faced yesterday.

“That’s never easy and it’s not fun to do,” Hyde said. “Unfortunately, that’s the nature of the game and the roster crunch that you have to do and tough decisions that you have to make. It’s not fun sending out guys who perform well for you. So, hopefully we see Rico back soon because he did a great job while he was here.”

The Orioles are 6-3 against the Jays this season, with four games decided by two runs or fewer. They’ve been lured into some slugfests.

“They have a great lineup and they can score runs in bunches, and we’ve seen that a lot here the last few years, how dangerous their lineup is,” Hyde said. “Really deep, too. One through nine, guys who can leave the ballpark on you. They’re athletic.

“It’s just a really, good, deep athletic lineup and they can hurt you in a lot of ways, so we have to pitch extremely well. Hopefully, we can score some runs off their pitching and take good at-bats. But it’s a tough lineup to face.”

Former Orioles minor league Zach Pop is the Jays’ 29^th man today, giving them an extra bullpen arm.

For the Blue Jays
George Springer CF
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B
Bo Bichette SS
Alejandro Kirk C
Teoscar Hernández RF
Matt Chapman DH
Cavan Biggio 2B
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. LF
Santiago Espinal 3B

Kevin Gausman RHP