All five of the Orioles' affiliates will be playing tonight. The Norfolk Tides and Aberdeen IronBirds have home games, while the Bowie Baysox, Frederick Keys and Delmarva Shorebirds are all on the road.
The Tides wrap up their four-game series against the Toledo Mud Hens. Needing only one more victory to clinch a playoff berth, the Baysox begin a three-game series against the Binghamton Mets. Frederick will play the Salem Avalanche. The Shorebirds continue their five-game series against the Hagerstown Suns and the IronBirds continue their series against the Tri-City Valley-Cats.
In case you missed it, the Orioles officially announced that Tides starting pitcher Radhames Liz was promoted to the major leagues. He'll make tonight's start against the New York Yankees at Camden Yards.
Opponent
Toledo Mud Hens
Pitchers
Norfolk: Garrett Olson (1-1, 1.85 ERA)
Toledo: Virgil Vasquez (9-12, 4.82 ERA)
Notes
* Olson makes his first start for the Tides since being demoted by the Orioles on Wednesday. He was 1-1 with a 1.85 ERA and 25 strikeouts in five starts (24 1/3 innings) for Norfolk earlier this season.
* Through the first seven games of the homestand, Tides starting pitchers are 3-1 with a 2.04 ERA.
* The Tides need to win tonight in order to split the four-game series with Toledo. They lost the first two games of the series before winning last night, 7-1. The Tides have earned at least a split in each of their past 13 series. They have won six series and split seven.
Opponent
Binghamton Mets
Pitchers
Bowie: Jason Berken (11-3, 3.54 ERA)
Binghamton: Tobi Stoner (4-5, 3.96 ERA)
Notes
* With a win tonight or a loss by the Harrisburg Senators, the Baysox will clinch a playoff berth in the Eastern League. The Baysox are currently three games ahead of the Akron Aeros in the Southern Division. Harrisburg is 10 games behind and all three teams have 10 games remaining.
* Berken is 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA in two starts against Binghamton this season. He only allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings against the Mets in his last start on Aug. 16.
* Shortstop Blake Davis is hitting .324 since the end of June. After struggling at the beginning of the season, Davis now leads the team with a .283 batting average. He has 21 doubles, seven triples, 47 RBIs and 55 runs scored this season.
Opponent
Salem Avalanche
Pitchers
Frederick: Pedro Beato (4-8, 5.55 ERA)
Salem: TBA
Notes
* Beato is making his 18th start of the season for the Keys. He is 4-8 with a 5.55 ERA in 84 1/3 innings pitched. Beato allowed four runs and five hits in his last start against the Kinston Indians on Aug. 16. He struck out six and walked three, but didn't factor in the decision.
* Reliever Mick Mattaliano hasn't been too successful in his first two appearances with the Keys. The 23-year-old pitcher was 2-2 with a 1.24 ERA and 27 saves in 41 appearances for the Shorebirds before receiving a promotion to Frederick. He has allowed six runs (five earned) and seven hits in three innings pitched with the Keys.
Opponent
Hagerstown Suns
Pitchers
Delmarva: Nathan Nery (4-3, 4.60 ERA)
Hagerstown: Ricardo Pecina (0-0, 9.00 ERA)
Notes
* Shorebirds right fielder Joseph Nowicki is currently fifth in the South Atlantic League with 227 total bases and third in the league with 33 doubles. Nowicki also has 18 home runs and 69 RBIs.
* Nery makes his 14th start for the Shorebirds this season. The left-handed starter has only allowed five earned runs total in his past four starts.
* The Shorebirds' six-game winning streak was snapped last night after Hagerstown scored 12 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and hung on for a 13-9 victory. It was the most runs surrendered by Delmarva in a single inning this season. The Suns sent 17 hitters to the plate and had seven singles, six walks and a three-run home run in the inning.
Opponent
Tri-City ValleyCats
Pitchers
Aberdeen: Pat Egan (3-5, 3.77 ERA)
Tri-City: Antonio Noguera (2-5, 6.90 ERA)
Notes
* Egan currently ranks fifth in the New York-Penn League with 60 strikeouts. In his last start, Egan pitched seven scoreless innings against the Vermont Lake Monsters on Aug. 14, allowing only three hits. He struck out seven hitters in the game and walked one.
* Catcher Caleb Joseph hit his league-leading 18th double last night. He was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored in Aberdeen's 3-0 victory over Tri-City.
* The IronBirds didn't commit an error last night in the first game after the All-Star break. Aberdeen had committed an error in the final six games before the break.
* Relief pitchers Chris Ray and Greg Aquino are scheduled to continue their rehab assignments with the IronBirds tonight.