Another fine week of baseball in the books! Two series victories over the leaders in the AL East and NL Central sent a message to the league that this team should be here for a good time, as well as a long time. We had a cycle, some dominant starting pitching, and some impressive performances down on the farm. To the blog we go...
Record since Last Orioles Report: 4-2
Overall Record: 26-15
Final Two vs. Tampa
No shame in losing to Shane McClanahan in the first of three vs. the Rays, but let's take pride in the bounce back! Amidst a three game slide, a showdown against Zach Eflin was not particularly appetizing, but the O's stepped up big time to right the ship!
Grayson Rodriguez wasn't a world beater, but he only allowed two runs over 5.2 to more than position the team for victory. Michael Baumann, Yennier Cano and Felix Bautista did the rest from there pitching-wise, really emerging as a strong trio. Adley hit a two run bomb that proved to be the difference, with Austin Hays and Jorge Mateo chipping an RBI each to the cause.
Series on the line, rubber game, and Dean Kremer was absolutely locked in for a second consecutive start. The man posted six scoreless innings as the Birds scraped by just enough offense to squeak out a 2-1 dub. Adam Frazier knocked in one of the two on a fielder's choice, with the decisive second coming, yet again, from Mr. Hays. Scrappy, tense, low-scoring wins to close out a crucial AL East series.
Three vs. Pittsburgh
Cedric. Mullins. Dude went 4-5 at the plate, capping off the night with a three run shot to Eutaw Street, on his way to the seventh cycle in team history. It was a magical Friday evening in Baltimore. His tremendous performance overshadowed a strong start by Kyle Bradish, who struck out six and allowed no earned runs in six innings of work. He surely didn't mind sharing the spotlight. Felix Bautista emphatically shut the door in the ninth too by striking out the side. It was an encouraging display by The Mountain, at least temporarily quelling concerns about if he's "still got it".
Tyler. Wells. The man of the hour Saturday! On a night where the only offense came in the form of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson solo bombs, the Baltimore starter shined, going seven scoreless, allowing one hit and striking out eight. He was masterful, completely shutting down a lineup that's been having some success over the first month and a half. After having gaining his spot in the rotation almost by default, Wells has firmly entrenched his role as a starter on this team moving forward.
Sunday was not as kind to the Birds, falling 4-0 in the series finale to the Bucs. Mitch Keller really shut down the boys' bats while Kyle Gibson had another middle of the road start. Career perspective is important here though; Gibson was never going to maintain the 3.38 ERA he posted in April. He's a mid-level inning eater and still an upgrade from Jordan Lyles. Not the performance we were hoping for from him, but one we need to anticipate realistically every now and again. Another winning series in the books.
Angels Coming to Town
Man, Shohei Ohtani is very good. He wasn't perfect on the mound, but he provided more than enough run support for himself at the plate, going 4-5 with four RBI and a bomb of a home run. Adam Frazier, Cedric and Anthony Santander added dingers of their own for the O's, but it wasn't enough on an off night for Grayson Rodriguez, who gave up eight earned runs in just 3.1. Back to the lab tonight, with Dean on the bump.
Farm Report
-Norfolk's boasting a 28-10, the best winning percentage in the minors
-DL Hall was sharp in his start Wednesday, going six, allowing two runs and striking out nine
-Dillon Tate had a scoreless inning where he walked a batter and allowed a hit. Compared to what he was doing in Bowie though, it was an improvement
-Colton Cowser's .336/.477/1.044 slashes are really absurd...he strikes out at like a 28% rate which is a concern, but when he's connecting, it's been other worldly
-Bowie's coming off a 1-5 week overall. Unlike the Tides, their 9-22 record is good for the 3rd worst in all of minor league baseball
-Cesar Prieto had multi-hit games in four of five appearances, batting an outstanding .392 for the season. He'd be up in Norfolk by now if there wasn't such a logjam of talent ahead of him
-Heston Kjerstad hit his ninth dinger for the Baysox while maintaining an average over .300. He's been a force on the AA front
-Cade Povich was back to form Thursday night, allowing three hits, one walk and no runs in five innings, tacking on ten strikeouts
-Justin Armbruester's still rocking a sub-2.00 ERA through 29.1 innings pitched
-Love seeing TT Bowens back from injury, going 2-3 with a long ball and a double in his first game back
-Jud Fabian added two dingers of his own this week, as he continues to figure out high-A pitching
-Going to need to start charging Jean Pinto rent in this weekly section. The man allowed three hits and just one run in 8.1 innings over work across two starts, striking out fifteen in the process. He's the most underrated arm on the farm right now
-Aberdeen had some other outstanding pitching performances this week: Alex Pham allowed one hit over five scoreless while notching 11 K's and Jake Lyons punched out nine in four innings of no-run relief work
-Samuel Basallo had hits in four of six, including a 3-5 night at the dish Friday, with 3 RBI
-Anderson de los Santos, Elio Prado, Douglas Hodo and Stiven Acevedo also all chipped in multi-hit games during the series
-Seven footer Jared Beck went four scoreless Wednesday for Delmarva, in his best start since week one
-Juan de los Santos and Bradley Brehmer had solid, five inning outings for Delmarva victories, allowing two earned runs each in those starts
Concluding Thoughts
It's definitely too early to be quitting on Felix as the closer after an iffy month, despite the dominance displayed by Yennier. Bautista showed that he can still dial it up with back to back three strikeout saves against Pittsburgh. If he can keep up any semblance of that, this is the premier duo in the league.
The Kyle Stowers demotion was a necessary one, as he's started the year an abysmal 2-30 at the plate. We're hoping that it's more of a slump than revealing AAAA status, but time will tell there. Surprising he was able to hold off Colton Cowser's push for major league time. It's understandable given that a spot on the 40 man roster would need to be cleared, but there's just so much talent at Norfolk. Curious when we might see him and Jordan Westburg getting a call, or Joey Ortiz's return.
Jorge Mateo is slumping big time, currently in the midst of a 3-35 spell since his eight game hitting streak ended May 2nd. In the process, his average has dropped from .338 to .259, seemingly ending his push for MVP candidacy. Need him to fix that sooner than later with so many Baby Birds earning their way up.
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@Choppinglines
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