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| Photo: John Jones/ USA Today |
Phew...that was better. What a recovery after the worst week of the season!
A five game winning streak going into the All-Star break feels so, so good. Just two games out of first in the AL East, firmly in control of the top wild card slot, with the third best record in the entire league. The best part is, the driving force of this win streak have been the newly arrived prospects, bringing a ton of youthful energy in a time when we needed it most. And more seem to be on the way...
What a time to be an Orioles fan.
Record since Last Orioles Report: 5-1
Overall Record: 54-35
Final Three in New York
The second game of this Yankees series featured Clarke Schmidt vs. Kyle Gibson. The latter faltered early, allowing the Bombers to build a 3-0 lead before Aaron Hicks and Adam Frazier hit two out to tie things up in the top of the fifth. Unfortunately, Gibson relinquished the lead in the bottom of the inning before Nick Vespi allowed New York to really pour things on. The good guys didn't recover, falling 8-4.
Wednesday though...what a day it was. Colton Cowser's debut! The Sam Houston State product delivered on the hype, going 1-3 with an RBI and a run, helping kick start a critical four run sixth inning in his first career game. Dean Kremer was fantastic, striking out ten over seven while giving up just one earned run. Ryan O'Hearn stayed productive, hitting a two run bomb in the top of the ninth to put Baltimore safely ahead 6-3. That's what the score would remain, back in the win column.
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| Photo: Benny Sieu/ USA Today |
While the night before was Colton's big day, it was all Gunnar Henderson in the final showdown between the Birds and Yanks. The kid led off the lineup, going 4-7 at the plate with two home runs and five RBI. O'Hearn batted in four on three hits, while Cedric Mullins chipped in two RBI of his own to support Kyle Bradish through six innings of ball. Eduard Bazardo made his first appearance of the season out of the bullpen to close out this 14-1 victory, splitting the four game series with New York.
Trio vs. the Twins
What a series this was...
Coming off of a salvaged split with the Yankees, the Birds completely embarrassed an overhyped Twins team in their home stadium. Cole Irvin set the tone in game one with 6.1 innings of three hit ball, allowing just one earned. Michael Baumann gave up the hit to bring in the sole run though, his second straight shaky outing.
It took extras, but Ramon Urias' RBI double followed by an Aaron Hicks sac fly put the Orioles ahead by two. Felix Bautista got a second inning of action and proceeded to mow down Minnesota with it, maintaining the 3-1 lead to win in ten.
Tyler Wells had the honors on the mound for the middle game and did not disappoint, giving up two runs and six hits over six. The offense didn't do much to help him throughout the game, but a six run explosion in the second gave the team a 6-1 cushion that Wells would not surrender. Weirdly enough, not only did the Orioles' only runs come in this inning, but their only six hits as well. But some days, that's all you need: 6-2 Birds.
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| Photo: Brad Penner/ USA Today |
Then the finale to the first half: with Kyle Gibson twirling a gem. Seven innings, three hits, two earned and eleven strikeouts. Haven't seen anything like that from him in a while, a welcome sight! The lineup brought the bats for this one, collecting 17 hits and knocking out six long balls on the day, including two by Anthony Santander. Just an absolute onslaught to celebrate the impending break. 15-2 smackdown Baltimore.
Farm Report
-Grayson Rodriguez was locked in Independence Day, striking out twelve over the course of six with no walks and three hits allowed. The bullpen amazingly blew a 5-0 lead to lose in the ninth
-Two long balls for Connor Norby on the week with ten RBI! He contributed at least one in all six games versus Durham
-Nice series out of Shayne Fontana, hitting .400 with a four hit, two home run game Wednesday
-Heston Kjerstad collected a hit in the MLB Futures' Game Saturday, one of the six the AL team mustered in a shutout loss
-Jackson Holliday was alongside Kjerstad for the game, receiving news that he's being shipped to Bowie shortly after
-Speaking of promotions...Coby Mayo and Chayce McDermott are on the way up to Norfolk! The league's best farm is close to bubbling over
-Jean Pinto and Alex Pham were spectacular Friday, combining for a one run, five hit win, striking out five each
-Cade Povich was back to form last weekend too, striking out nine over five innings of work
-Big week for Silas Ardoin in Aberdeen, going 6/13 with three solo home runs
-Maxwell Costes stayed strong at the dish too, collecting two more dingers in eight at bats vs. Greensboro
-Wild 16-14 win for the Ironbirds on Wednesday. Every starter except Collin Burns collected a base hit, while Creed Willems was the only one in the lineup who didn't score a run
-Brandon Lloyd, back in the report! He and Juan Nuñez allowed six hits and one unearned run in a 16-1 romping on Saturday, striking out six apiece
-ELIO! Prado had a big week down in Delmarva, producing a .538/1/1 line at the dish plus five walks
-Productive week for Anderson de los Santos, with three of four hits going for extra bases, including a moonshot of a grand slam
-More good work from Jared Beck on the bump. He went four innings to close out Saturday's shutout victory, taking the torch from Moises Chace and Cesar Alvarez to secure the dub
Second Half Outlook
Definitely more optimistic of a forecast than if I'd have written this section last week. The youth infusion seems to have rejuvenated the offense, while the pitching plods along in workmanlike fashion. It's not always pretty with this team, but you don't get to be 19 games over .500 without winning some ugly ones.
I am starting to warm a bit more to the idea of a true, contention-swinging push during the next two weeks at the trade deadline. It really feels like outside of Atlanta, the entire MLB is wide open right now. Rays are faltering some, Yankees still are too reliant on Judge, the Dodgers aren't that good, and so on. Why not us?
Whatever happens, it's been as fun of a season as I can remember. Can't wait for part two.
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@Choppinglines
*I own no rights to any images found in this blog
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