Welcome to the Heavyweight Title Match of Wednesday night: old versus new, grizzled versus green, Gibson versus Rom. On August 1, the Orioles traded away three prospects to the in exchange for some veteran help for the starting rotation. Thus far, that veteran help hasn’t exactly materialized, and instead, one of the departed prospects, left hander Drew Rom, ended up making a dazzling Camden Yards debut in a red uniform.
In some ways, both of tonight’s starters were unknown quantities: Rom entered tonight with four career starts, and despite Kyle Gibson being in his eleventh season, lately it’s been impossible to know which version of him will show up on any given day, as he’s alternating seven- and nine-run outings with solid (if admittedly not great) ones.