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| Photo: Julio Aguilar/ Getty Images |
The most optimistic I've felt typing one of these in a month! Four out of six felt good, especially the way it got done. The starting pitching was generally strong and the bats woke up, providing a couple of clutch, late insurance runs after the middle relief allowed things to get interesting. It just felt like the way winning teams play, not allowing a bad play or inning to linger and finishing the job at hand. Hoping they can carry this over into the dog days ahead.
In the meantime...
Record since Last Orioles Report: 4-2
Overall Record: 48-29
Two in Tampa
Man, just feels like there's never a safe lead with this team...until the eighth inning anyway. Anthony Santander kicked off the scoring with an RBI single in the first before adding a two-run shot in the middle of an Orioles' home run frenzy, featuring a three-run bomb by Aaron Hicks and a solo dinger by Ryan O'Hearn. They'd quickly built a 7-2 lead by the end of the fifth.
Then Kyle Bradish came out, after striking out eight and allowing two earned runs. It took Bryan Baker, Michael Baumann and Danny Coulombe to get out of the sixth, allowing Tampa to cut the lead to just one. Hicks knocked in Austin Hays to provide an insurance run in the top of the eighth, setting the table for Cano and Bautista to do what they do. 8-6 Orioles win.
Wednesday was less kind to the Birds, with Taj Bradley really locking down the lineup. The rookie only gave up three hits over six innings of work, striking out eight in the process. He's going to be a problem to deal with down in Tampa for the foreseeable future. Uncharacteristically bad game for Tyler Wells, but he was due for one. The Rays really hit the ball hard off of him. 7-2 defeat, but a two game series split with the AL East leaders. Can't ask for a ton more there.
Mariners In Town for Three
Man, Logan Gilbert was locked in Friday night. Seven innings, two hits and one earned run, completely stifling a stagnant Baltimore offense. Kyle Gibson was bad, but Keegan Akin was bad bad (six ER in 2/3's of an inning). Brutal way to kick the series off, 13-1 Mariners.
The bounce back though...was oh, so sweet. Cedric Mullins returned to the lineup, providing a much needed jolt for the squad. Dean Kremer ate seven frames, only allowing three runs and putting himself in a position for a decision victory. Unfortunately, Felix Bautista's hot streak came to an end, with the Mountain blowing his fifth save of the year on a game tying home run to Harry Ford in the top of the ninth. Ford had been batting just .182 on the season...
But it was Ryan McKenna with the heroics in the top of the ninth! The oft-maligned outfielder hit a two run bomb out to score Cedric Mullins and himself, while sending the Birds off into the sunset (and cover the over of 9.5). Anthony Santander and Aaron Hicks also hit dingers earlier in the game. Nice display of power by the boys, getting back in the win column, 6-4.
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| Photo: Tommy Gilligan/ USA Today Sports |
Kyle Bradish was locked in during the rubber game vs. the M's, striking out seven and allowing just two hits over seven. Outside of a mistake that Cal Raleigh sent to the bleachers, he was damn near perfect. Anthony Santander went yard again and Anthony Bemboom made his presence felt with the decisive RBI on an infield single. Bautista got back on track in the final frame, securing a 3-2 win and another series.
Game One vs. Cincy
Jordan Westburg season is upon us! Come rain or shine, and it was a lot of rain, they were getting his first MLB appearance in last night. The third year pro did not disappoint either, forcing a two out walk from a 1-2 hole that escalated into two more base on balls and a two-RBI Austin Hays single. Winning baseball, force the other team to get you out.
Westy would add an RBI of his own on a fielder's choice and a single later in the game to round out an encouraging debut. Mullins, Hays, Urias, Santander and Rutschman all had multi-hits of their own as the Orioles pounded the Reds pitching all night. The offensive output made things easy for Cole Irvin and Bruce Zimmermann, who combined for a palatable six innings of work, allowing just three earned runs. 10-3 Baltimore to kick off the three game set.
Farm Report
-Cesar Prieto homered in his second game up at Norfolk, going 6/19 (.319) during his first week at AAA
-Big debut for Justin Armbruester too for the Tides, going five scoreless, surrendering just two walks and two hits, plus seven strikeouts. Love that transition
-Surprised Nick Vespi hasn't gotten more of a look on the big stage at this point. He's rocking a 1.93 ERA, a 3:1 K:BB ratio and has only allowed opponents to hit .200 off of him
-Coby Mayo's just doing Coby Mayo things. He ripped a .413/3/5 line this week, en route to his second consecutive Eastern League Player of the Week award
-Alex Pham had a sharp AA debut, working five scoreless innings Sunday, allowing two hits and one walk
-Zach Watson hit a grand slam in Saturday's 15-1 blowout over Altoona as he makes what seemingly will be his final push at making the big league roster
-Braylin Tavera and Houston Roth combined for the one run effort on that same Saturday night, only giving up five total hits
-Jackson Holliday is obviously a special talent in so many of the things he does. It's not talked about often enough though how dangerous he can be on the base paths. He's currently 20/25 on stolen base attempts in 2023, with 17 of those coming at A+ level ball. He ranks #16 currently in the South Atlantic League in the stat
-Max Wagner has quietly been improving all season. After a rough April saw him hitting just .154, he's raised his average up to .218 while hitting eight long balls. Definitely an intriguing prospect to keep an eye on
-Speaking of Long, Ryan Long was solid for the Ironbirds on Saturday, giving up just one run over four innings of work. The Brit's sporting an impressive 2.31 ERA with a 4.5:1 K:BB ratio this season
-Shoutout Kyle Virbitsky for a masterful showing Sunday. He gave up one hit and no runs in six frames of action, striking out eight Blue Rocks
-Got to witness Samuel Basallo add two bombs to his season total Friday night in Delmarva. The second one was a BOMB, traveling 431 feet before finding Earth again
-Every starter recorded a hit during the Shorebirds' 15-3 blowout Sunday, racking up 19 in total
-Yaqui Rivera received a promotion to Aberdeen yesterday. The 19 year old had given up just five earned runs in 26.1 innings thrown, allowing a paltry .178 BAA at the low-A level
-The Orioles farm now features seven MLB.com Top 100 prospects: Jackson Holliday (1), Colton Cowser (15), Jordan Westburg (34), Heston Kjerstad (40), Joey Ortiz (67), Connor Norby (71) and Coby Mayo (80)
Concluding Thoughts
Not much to say about the squad after this last week. Jordan Westburg's debut was highly anticipated, hopefully symbolizing the beginning of the transition of many of our talented farm hands to the big leagues.
I'm still not fully convinced the roster, as of today, is a World Series contender. We're good, very good, but just lack the pop some of the true power house lineups have. The starting pitching has been acceptable, though certainly far from ground breaking. Even the bullpen, arguably our best unit, are a bit top heavy-- with Michael Baumann, Yennier Cano and Felix Bautista having fantastic seasons, and the rest of the group being maddeningly inconsistent.
Regardless, I've been enjoying the ride and am curiously awaiting to see exactly what the ceiling of this current team is. Wildcard qualifier seems to be the baseline at this point, whether we make a move at the deadline or not. But can things click in September and October to catapult this team into contention? We'll find out soon enough here.
Two more vs. the Reds this week, then the Twins come to town before a trip up to the Bronx. Big week ahead, let's keep the train rolling!
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@Choppinglines
*I own no rights to any images found in this blog
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