Saturday's middle game of the series lines up rough for the Orioles. First pitch is 7:10 PM PT at Dodger Stadium, and Baltimore is rolling in on a 3-game skid after getting shoved around by the Padres at home and dropping the opener in Seattle 3-1. The pitching matchup is the whole story here. The Orioles are down Chris Bassitt (back), Dean Kremer (quad), Cade Povich (elbow), and Zach Eflin (Tommy John) — that's basically the front half of any normal rotation. Whoever Baltimore runs out Saturday is doing it on patchwork rest, and the Dodgers' lineup is not the spot you want to be improvising against. Los Angeles is 47-27 and just took the first 2 of a homestand against Tampa, including a 1-0 grinder Tuesday night. The bats have been quiet in spots, but the run prevention has carried — and when you're playing a team averaging under 3 runs in its last 5, you don't need much. Ryan Mountcastle (foot) is still out for Baltimore, Jordan Westburg is done for the year post-Tommy John, and the lineup leans hard on the same handful of guys every night. On the Dodgers' side, the IL is also stacked — Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone, Bobby Miller, Edwin Diaz, Evan Phillips — but they've patched it with Yamamoto, Ohtani on the mound, and a six-man setup that's kept the staff fresh. Teoscar Hernandez (hamstring) could ramp toward a rehab assignment this weekend per Jack Harris of the California Post, but he won't be in the lineup Saturday. Bottom line on Saturday's series opener-plus-one: the Orioles are a sub-.500 team flying cross-country into the hottest stadium in baseball with no rotation and no Mountcastle. The Dodgers don't need to be sharp to win this. They just need to be themselves.