Orioles vs. – After a 7-4 win Friday and a rainout on Saturday, the Orioles open a Detroit doubleheader today with a 12:35 ET Game 1 matchup featuring Brandon Young vs. Framber Valdez, followed by a Game 2 that has left-hander Trevor Rogers on the mound at 6:35 ET.
Rain can ruin a schedule. It can also delay momentum.
For the Orioles, Saturday’s rainout didn’t erase what they did the night before. Friday ended with a convincing 7-4 win, and there’s a sense—felt in the way fans talk about this team and the way the lineup shows up—that a streak could start on a day that was supposed to be simpler.
Jackson Holliday’s return has been part of that lift. In his third game since coming off the IL on Friday, he went 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk. Gunnar Henderson followed with 3-for-5, while Adley Rutschman and Leody Taveras each contributed two hits.
So today arrives with a chance to chain wins together. The Orioles will play a scheduled doubleheader against Detroit, with first pitch set for 12:35 ET. Because of Saturday’s rainout, the original Saturday matchup is now being played as Game 1.
Game 1 is a right-hander battle: Brandon Young (3-1. 4.25 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 29.2 innings) against Framber Valdez (2-3. 4.58 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 55 innings). Valdez was one of several starters the Orioles were linked to during the offseason. but he didn’t sign with the team. In April, he posted a 3.67 ERA in six starts—one of the reasons the conversation around him mattered.
The bigger question is what happened after that. May has been rough for Valdez: he is 0-2 with a 7.98 earned run average. There’s also some evidence that the velocity on his heaters is down. Whether that’s tied to injury is unknown, but the Orioles don’t get to wait for clarity. They’re trying to find answers quickly, because there’s still a season to save.
The storyline doesn’t stop at the matchup, though. Young’s path to this spot has never been smooth. He was, in spring training terms, Plan C for the rotation. Injuries reshaped the picture: Zach Eflin is out for the season with Tommy John surgery. Dean Kremer is still recovering from a quad strain. and Trevor Rogers’ situation was uncertain at the time of the original scheduling.
Young has done okay overall, with one clunker in six starts. That rough outing came against his childhood team, the Astros, when he allowed 10 runs—4 of them earned.
Still, there’s tension in the numbers. Young’s ERA-FIP gap is sizable at 4.25 versus 5.22. and that gap is the kind that can turn a day into a tightrope-walk. Detroit is also considered a bottom-10 offense by Fangraphs. which raises the possibility that Young’s performance can hold up—if it stays on the right side of that margin.
Game 2 shifts to left-handed pitching with Trevor Rogers, originally slated for Sunday’s finale, now taking the mound in the second game of the doubleheader. His recent stretch has been ugly: he is 1-5 with an 8.42 ERA in his last seven starts.
The worry underneath those numbers is obvious. Pitch tipping has been floated as a possibility, because the alternatives are worse.
Detroit, though, still hasn’t publicly announced its Game 2 starter as of 12:05 today. The expectation is that the Tigers will reinstate second-year right-hander Troy Melton off the 60-day injured list due to elbow inflammation for his first start of the year. Last season. in primarily a relief role. Melton finished with a 3-2 W-L record and a 2.76 ERA across sixteen games. including four starts.
Melton is listed as a 25-year-old righty with excellent velocity on his fastball. He paired that heater with a slider that was effective last year, and a cutter that was less so.
Two games. Two sets of swings. One rain-delayed window where the Orioles can turn momentum into something tangible. If this team is as red-hot as the recent 7-4 win suggests. it starts with getting through the first inning—and then the next—without letting the weather. the matchups. or the doubts about form take control.
Let’s play two.
Orioles Detroit Tigers doubleheader Brandon Young Framber Valdez Trevor Rogers Troy Melton Jackson Holliday Gunnar Henderson Adley Rutschman Leody Taveras