For the second season in a row, Baltimore Orioles' pitcher Jake Arrieta will get the start against the Minnesota Twins during their season home opener game Friday afternoon at 3:05 p.m. ET.
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A year ago, the Orioles launched the season at home and Arrieta was coming off a 10-win campaign that earned him his first opening day start. This time, Baltimore makes its 2013 debut at Camden Yards after taking two of three against Tampa Bay, and Arrieta finds himself in the back end of the rotation following a dismal 3-9 season that included a two-month stint in the minor leagues.
"I'm much more focused and much better prepared this time around," Arrieta said. "Not that I wasn't prepared or (didn't have) focus going into this last season. But I think my preparation and focus is a little bit more fine-tuned. And now I am in this position and am ready to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and keep my job all year. I think that's what everybody wants and what everybody expects from me. That's what I plan to do."
Arrieta held the Twins to two hits over seven innings last April 6, but that was the highlight of a season in which he finished with a 6.20 ERA. While the right-hander will be looking to bounce back from a horrid 2012 season, the Orioles will be seeking to build upon what they accomplished in spite of Arrieta's struggle.
Friday's game is the first at Camden Yards since last October, when Baltimore packed the house for its playoff series against the New York Yankees. This is the first real opportunity for the Orioles to bask in the adulation of a fan-base still riding the high from a 93-69 season that ended a run of 14 straight years of losing.
For Arrieta, it's a chance to prove he's more like the pitcher who shined in 2011 rather than the one who flopped last year. It's the third straight season he's started Baltimore's home opener -- the 27-year-old beat Detroit two years ago -- but he's still got something to prove.
"To be able to have multiple opportunities and have the trust and the faith from the organization, the staff, it's a very humbling feeling," Arrieta said. "The most important thing is my preparation and my awareness of the situation is better than it ever has been, and I think that's what makes it more special."
