The Orioles opened a three-game series against the Athletics at Camden Yards on Friday, with both clubs trying to turn uneven starts into something sturdier. Baltimore entered at 17-21 and third in the AL East, while the Athletics arrived at 19-18 and in first place in the AL West.
It was a meeting of teams going in opposite directions only on paper. The Orioles had lost their last game in Miami on a walk-off against the Marlins and were 4-6 over their previous 10, while the Athletics had beaten the Phillies 12-1 in their series finale Thursday and were 5-5 over their last 10. Oakland also came in a game and a half ahead of the Mariners, trying to keep an early division lead intact.
The numbers sharpened the edge of the series. The Athletics’ offense ranked 17th at 4.25 runs per game heading into Thursday’s action, and their pitching staff sat 24th with a 4.67 ERA. Baltimore’s lineup was stronger on paper, ranking 11th at 4.62 runs per game, but the Orioles’ 4.88 team ERA was 29th and left them chasing cleaner innings from the mound.
Shea Langeliers has been one of the reasons the Athletics have opened better than expected. Through the first six weeks, he was hitting.336/.390/.627, with 45 hits, 10 home runs and 24 runs scored. But his numbers against Baltimore tell a different story: a.197 average and a.672 OPS in his career against the Orioles, even with five home runs in 16 games against them.
Baltimore has had some life in the middle of the order, too. Samuel Basallo and Pete Alonso were a combined 17-for-49 since the start of the Yankees series, with three home runs, six doubles, one triple and 13 RBIs between them. The Orioles will need that kind of production if they are going to keep pace in a series that has already leaned Oakland’s way this year.
The Athletics won both series against Baltimore in 2025 and took the season series 4 games to 2, a small but useful edge for a club trying to prove its early record is real. The teams were often described as similar in 2025 because they finished within one game of each other and both had trouble with inconsistent pitching, which makes this weekend feel less like a surprise matchup than a test of which roster can hold together longer.
Kyle Bradish was scheduled to start for Baltimore, and Jacob Lopez for Oakland. Bradish entered 1-4 with a 5.03 ERA and 35 strikeouts, and he had only one quality start in his first seven outings. He also had 21 walks, the sixth-most among major league pitchers, and his last start against the Yankees was his worst of the year. Lopez came in at 2-2 with a 6.60 ERA and 23 strikeouts, a reminder that both teams are still sorting out their rotations.
Bradish’s history against Oakland adds one more layer. He last faced the Athletics in 2023, when he beat them in a 12-1 Orioles win. Now the Orioles are trying to show they can do more than compete with good teams; the Athletics are trying to show their strong start is not a fluke. Gunnar Henderson and Nick Kurtz remain the young names to watch as this series unfolds, but Friday’s opener was already about something simpler: which club could make its record look less fragile by the end of the night.
