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| Photo from @Orioles/Twitter |
From a bit of a valley to a mountain top, what an interesting week of baseball Birdland. After playing flat for 24 consecutive innings, the offense finally turned things around when it mattered most against the Brewers. They carried that momentum back home to Baltimore, where they steamrolled Kansas City. Not a perfect week, but a ton of positive developments to get into.
Record since Last Orioles Report: 4-2
Overall Record: 41-24
Trio in Milwaukee
Oof...this was a tough one. Kyle Gibson had a typical solid outing, striking out seven and allowing two runs over his five innings. Ryan O'Hearn put a bomb over the left field fence to put the O's up 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh. Yennier, Felix and go home right? Not on Tuesday...as Cano allowed a game tying single in the eighth, setting the stage for some Joey Wiemer heroics later on in the tenth inning. Austin Voth, almost predictably, blew that one. 4-3 Brew Crew to kick off the set.
Round two...not much more pleasant. Corbin Burnes absolutely destroyed the Birds, to the tune of eight shutout innings, with two hits allowed and nine strikeouts. A masterpiece by a man many hope is the hometown ace in the coming weeks. The Orioles mustered two sad runs in the ninth to dodge a goose egg in this dismantling. Bad Dean came to pitch Wednesday (5 IP, 9 H, 6 ER). 10-2 Milwaukee.
Gut check type of game here by Baltimore. Down 3-0 going into the top of the seventh inning, seemingly as lifeless as they've been all season at the dish, Ramon Urias sparked a sensational rally. It was just a solo home run, but it brought some energy the visiting team had sorely been lacking. Anthony Santander added one on a double in the eighth, priming Gunnar for a two-run shot two batters later. Adam Frazier tacked on one in the ninth for good measure and a 6-3 win was in the books, salvaging one game from an otherwise frustrating series.
Sweeping the Royals
Good teams have to beat objectively bad ones at home and that's exactly what the Birds did to Kansas City. Tyler Wells handled the Royals with minimal issue in the first game of this series, giving up just two runs in 6.2 of work. Austin Hays hit his seventh long ball of the year and Gunnar Henderson's bat began to warm up like this June weather, with a 3-3 night. Orioles: 3-2.
Cole Irvin started the middle game of the three and looked like a totally different pitcher than the walk machine he was in April, securing his first decision victory of 2023. Gunnar led off this game, going 2-5 with his eighth dinger of the year. Adam Frazier added a home run of his own, while Santander, O'Hearn and Hays provided RBI, as Baltimore cruised-- 6-1.
Felt repetitive typing this...but Gunnar Henderson went yard again, this time in colossal fashion. 462 feet in the air onto Eutaw Street, obliterating the previous stadium record of 443 feet. Stay hot young man, we need all the offense we can get right now. Gibson wasn't spectacular but he ate 6.1 innings and kept the Royals under wraps. Ryan O'Hearn continued to impress, going 3-3 with a home run and four runs scored. Ramon Urias went 4-5 and Aaron Hicks continued his career revival of sorts with a 2-4 night. What a pleasant surprise he's been since being signed from the hated Yankees. 11-3 Good Guys.
Farm Report
-Grayson looked like Grayson on Friday against Scranton, giving up seven hits in six innings but striking out ten. A single walk was encouraging, but he's got to find his spots better
-Heston Kjerstad hit his first AAA home run in the second game of this series, going .250 in his first week post-promotion
-Connor Norby hit his 7th homer of the year, while Jordan Westburg tacked on his 17th. There's really not a weak spot in this Tides lineup, as reflected by their gaudy 43-19 record
-Cesar Prieto's ripping .362 on the year, collecting eleven hits in the five Baysox games he played in last week: all wins
-Nice series from John Rhodes, with three multi-hit games, four extra base knocks and five RBI
-Garrett Stallings got back on track, coming in for five innings of scoreless relief effort, allowing two hits and four walks
-Chayce McDermott bookended starts on the week, combining for nine innings, two earned runs, twelve K's and a WHIP of 1.11
-Cooper Chandler and Kyle Virbitsky teamed up for a three hit Ironbirds shut out over the Asheville Tourists in the series opener
-Jud Fabian went absolutely bananas for Aberdeen...going 11-19 with three home runs, eleven RBI and five walks. He's seeing the ball so well right now, it feels like a promotion could be on the horizon
-Alex Pham was equally magnificent during his start Saturday night, allowing no runs or hits, walking just two batters and striking out eleven
-Got to witness Carter Young's 5-5 night on Tuesday in person. He had an electric series, hitting .454 with one home run and three RBI
-Anderson de los Santos had two-hit performances in three of his four starts
-Poor pitching really sank the Shorebirds efforts against Down East, giving up 7.5 runs per game as they lost five out of six
-Bradley Brehmer may have been the only bright spot on the mound for Delmarva all week, racking up seven K's over 5.2 innings while giving up two ER and four hits
Concluding Thoughts
These lineups have been composed of some real motley crew's of late, but this group just keep winning. Huge testament to Brandon Hyde and the leaders in the clubhouse for creating a team-oriented atmosphere that's weathered some of the adversity faced in recent weeks.
Mike Elias deserves some shine too for finding some of these glue guys that have found ways time and time again to contribute. Some of his positional turnovers that seemed very mild at the time have paid massive dividends compared to the alternatives. I feel like we get a reminder every other night of how much of an upgrade Adam Frazier's is over Rougned Odor, and Kyle Gibson over Jordan Lyles is borderline highway robbery.
Though, an all-too-commonly slept on decision was keeping Ryan O'Hearn instead of Franchy Cordero. The latter made headlines early in the season with four home runs for the Bronx Bombers in their first seven games, but was optioned to AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre by the end of the month after going just 1-28 in his subsequent ten appearances. O'Hearn on the other hand has quietly emerged as a trustworthy member of the roster, playing in 24 games while ripping a solid .328/4/17 with a .990 OPS. Not too shabby for a utility guy who many didn't know coming into the year.
When will this fan base finally let Elias do his thing in peace?!
Toronto and the Cubbies this week, 4-2 should be the bar once again. Let's go O's!
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@Choppinglines
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