The Baltimore Orioles and host St. Louis Cardinals still have plenty to play for as they open a three-game series Tuesday night.
Despite being five games under .500, the Orioles sit in a more favorable postseason position than the Cardinals. Baltimore entered Monday two games back in the American Leagie wild-card race. St. Louis, meanwhile, sports a .500 record and is five games out of the final National League wild-card spot.
After falling 3-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday in Baltimore’s fifth loss in seven games, manager Craig Albernaz said the Orioles have to act with urgency every day and not dwell on a disappointing result or how many games they have left to play.
“We can’t look nine games ahead; we have to look at the game in front of us,” Albernaz said. “Where teams go awry is when they look at the finish line before they actually run the race. … For us, we just have to focus on Tuesday.”
Right-hander Chris Bassitt (4-4, 5.08 ERA) takes the ball in the series opener, which also starts a three-city road trip. Bassitt has pitched better in two August starts (five earned runs with nine strikeouts over 11 innings) since returning from surgery in June to remove bone spurs from his lower back.
Bassitt’s most recent start against the Cardinals came in 2025 (four earned runs over seven innings), when he pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays. Overall, he is 2-1 with a 6.92 ERA in five starts.
Because of recent injuries to right-handers Andre Pallante and Hunter Dobbins, along with an innings restriction on righty Kyle Leahy, St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol was waiting to announce the scheduled starting pitchers for this series.
Left-hander Matthew Liberatore (5-11, 5.04) is projected to throw the first pitch of the opener once Marmol juggles the rest of the rotation. Liberatore has produced three solid starts out of four appearances in August, posting a 4.03 ERA in 22 1/3 innings. He owns one scoreless relief appearance in his career against the Orioles, recording four outs in 2023.
Marmol’s team has dropped three straight, getting swept in Philadelphia in a series with heavy postseason position implications. The Cardinals’ walk-off loss Sunday was particularly gutting after they jumped early on All-Star left-hander Cristopher Sanchez and built a 4-0 lead. They took a shutout into the bottom of the ninth before falling 6-4 with closer Riley O’Brien on the hill.
Marmol said the Cardinals, after losing twice in Philadelphia’s last at-bat over the weekend, should continue to focus on what’s right in front of them. He didn’t even want an off day to wait.
“We needed (a day to reset) but, at the same time, we didn’t want it — especially after a game like that. You don’t want to sit on that,” Marmol said. “But we’ll take it and get ready for Tuesday.”
Cardinals rookie slugger Joshua Baez, who hit three home runs in the first three at-bats of his major league debut Aug. 15, will make his first home appearance. Baez has since added a fourth homer, but he also has gone 2-for-32 with 14 strikeouts in his past nine games.
St. Louis shortstop Masyn Winn has been out of the starting lineup for four straight games because of a left thumb injury and reportedly underwent more testing in St. Louis on Sunday night.
The Cardinals placed outfielder Everson Pereira on the injury list on Sunday with a left hand contusion. Pereira, hit by a pitch on Friday, had provided a boost since the club claimed him off waivers Aug. 6.
–Field Level Media
