Orioles at Astros
The defending champion Houston Astros picked up right where they left off with wins in three of their first four games to open 2018. The Astros will host the Baltimore Orioles in the home opener on Monday as they raise the banner in front of the home fans.
"I can't wait to go home and play in front of our fans in Houston," second baseman and reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve told reporters. "It's going to be exciting. It's going to be the first time they actually can watch us play after the World Series. It's going to be pretty interesting and I know they're excited and we're excited. It's going to be a good day." Altuve isn't suffering any World Series hangover and went 9-for-16 with five runs scored as the Astros took three of four at Texas. The Orioles are searching for some offense after totaling five runs in three games against the Minnesota Twins, dropping the last two. The Minnesota staff carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning on Saturday and limited Baltimore to a total of three hits in Sunday's 7-0 setback.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, ESPN, MASN (Baltimore), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Chris Tillman (2017: 1-7, 7.84 ERA) vs. Astros RH Charlie Morton (2017: 14-7, 3.62)
Tillman struggled through his worst season in 2017 and found a shallow market for his services in free agency before returning to Baltimore on a one-year, $3 million contract with incentives that reportedly could push the value up another $7 million. The California native battled through injury and was demoted to the bullpen last season but ended up surrendering 24 homers and walking 51 in 93 total innings. Tillman gave up a pair of home runs over 5 1/3 innings in his lone 2017 appearance against Houston but limited the damage to three runs in a no-decision.
Morton is coming off a memorable 2017 campaign that saw him earn the win as a starter in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series and as a reliever in Game 7 of the World Series. The 34-year-old posted career bests with 163 strikeouts, a 1.19 WHIP and a .228 batting average against in 2017. Morton never faced Baltimore in 2017 and is making just his third career start against the Orioles after going 0-2 with a 9.82 ERA in the first two chances.
WALK-OFFS
1. Orioles 1B Chris Davis, who is hitting leadoff this season, went 0-for-12 in the first three games.
2. Astros SS Carlos Correa went 6-for-10 with four runs scored in the last two contests.
3. Houston took five of the six meetings last season.