Burnes on his September cutter and Ragans on his rocky start against Orioles

As he starts Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday, the Orioles are pleased to see that what happened to right-hander Corbin Burnes in August was much different compared to last month.

He struggled in five starts in August, allowing 28 runs in 25 2/3 innings. But he gave up just five runs in the September 30 innings.

Burnes in August: 7.36 ERA and .827 OPS against.

Burnes in September: 1.20 ERA and .512 OPS against.

In his last three starts against playoff teams, two against the Tigers and one against the Yankees, Burnes allowed one run and seven hits over 19 innings.

“We made some mechanical tweaks,” he said during a news conference at Oriole Park today. “The shape of the cookie cutter was changed a little. It's no secret that the cutter drives my game. We made some good changes and did pretty well with it. The results were pretty good in September so we are in a good position.”

His cutter was extremely effective in his start in New York on Thursday against the Yankees, as he made 10 whiffs in 24 swings against that pitch.

“I would say the month (September) was good,” Burnes said. “Yes, the cutter is in a good place. If I go out and boss him, of course that's what I do. If I give the cutter the command, I can do it.” Leave everything else aside and I usually achieve good results. We were able to make these changes in September and they were all pretty good.

Burnes went 1-0 with a 3.97 ERA against Kansas City this season. In five career starts, he is 3-0 with a 2.15 ERA against the Royals.

O's face Ragan: The Orioles face Kansas City left-hander Cole Ragans (11-9, 3.14 ERA) in Game 1 tomorrow afternoon.

He had two very different starts against the Orioles in April. On April 3, he pitched 6 1/3 scoreless at bats. But 17 days later at Kauffman Stadium, he allowed seven runs and nine hits in just 1 1/3 innings.

That was the most runs he allowed in a game this year, but in the other game in which he gave up seven runs – on May 11 – he hit 6 1/3 against the Angels. That start against the Orioles was by far his shortest outing of the year, with the next shortest being a four-inning game.

It's a major outlier in the pitching record, with Ragans ranking eighth in the AL in ERA and first with 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

“I won’t forget the second one,” he said today when asked about his two starts against the Orioles. “Prepare the same way. I do my reports, study, stuff like that. Just the fact of the execution. It’s the playoffs, everyone is good.”

Later during his press conference, Ragans was asked again about the poor start against Baltimore.

“I wouldn't say I'll have extra motivation, I'll prepare the same way,” he said. “Above all, I have the feeling that it will be loud in the postseason and there will be nerves. Try not to do too much. I'm not going to go out with the mindset of thinking about what happened that day, but yeah, you don't forget it. It just wasn't a good day that day. Not executed. I don’t think it will affect how I prepare or anything.”

So Ragans is 0-1 with a 7.88 ERA against the Orioles in those two games. He finished the year tied with Detroit's Tarik Skubal and ranked first in the AL in swing-and-miss percentage with 32.0.

In four starts in September, both Ragans and Burnes pitched well, going 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA and a 1.000 WHIP.

The Royals, who have scored just 20 runs in the last 11 games, could get a big hitter back for this series in Vinnie Pasquantino.

He has been out since August 30 with a broken right thumb. The rain today at Camden Yards ruined any chance he had of pitching on the field. During the regular season in 131 games, Pasquantino hit 19 home runs with 97 RBIs and an OPS of .760.

“We were hoping to get a live BP with him today, but we won't be able to do that,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “So we're going to simulate it as best we can – not in live pitching, but in the cage. And we’ll see how he comes out of there tomorrow morning before we make our (squad) decision.”