As a Baltimore fan in general, it was really nice to have the Orioles winning a meaningful game to fall back on this Sunday...after that Ravens debacle. That's for another column though, we're here to talk about some winning baseball.
A loss sandwich this week, with three losses bookended by pairs of wins. The lows feel really low, but we always seem to get back where we need to. With a long overdue off day today, the magic number is down to three. Just three.
Goal #1 in sight boys, lock in. Let's look back:
Record since Last Orioles Report: 4-3
Overall Record: 97-59
Trio in H-Town
John Means took the mound to kick things off in Houston, giving up just one over a respectable five innings. He didn't have his best stuff, as seen from the three walks, but the damage control was on point as he left with a lead.
Then Fuji...comes in, gives up three earned runs off three hard hits while recording just one out. This won't be the last time his name comes up in this blog. Jacob Webb, Danny Coulombe and Michael Baumann would relieve him, each also proceeding to give up a run.
The shaky relief effort quelled a decent output by the Orioles offense, putting them behind 7-5 as they went into the top of the final frame. Cue Cedric. The kid took a three run shot off of closer Ryan Pressley with one out in the ninth to put the good guys ahead! Such a clutch moment. Cionel Perez and Yennier Cano split the ninth and that was that. 8-7 Baltimore win.
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| Photo: David J. Phillip/ Associated Press |
Game two was equally thrilling, albeit a bit less dramatic. Kyle Gibson couldn't escape the fifth, forcing the bullpen into another busy day in the middle of this absurdly long stretch without a day off. They did manage to only allow one earned over the final 4.1 innings though, a really strong showing against one of the premier lineups in the AL.
One interesting development was Jack Flaherty coming in as a reliever. He allowed three hits in two innings, which was as discouraging as it was unsurprising, but an arm was desperately needed. Wonder if we'll see more of him in that role as the postseason approaches, because there's no way he's starting for us come October.
The Orioles produced nine runs on the day, two coming in the sixth by way of a James McCann bunt single and an error on a Gunnar Henderson single. The rest all came from the long ball, courtesy of Ryan O'Hearn, two from Austin Hays and the second of Heston Kjerstad's budding career. Bomb squad came to play down in Houston Tuesday.
9-5 victory for the O's.
Game three was disappointing. Kyle Bradish pitched his ass off, going six scoreless with nine K's. Baltimore's ace was locked in, priming the team for a sweep.
Then Fuji, again, in the bottom of the eighth. Two walks and a hard hit line drive out before getting the hook, priming the first batter Michael Baumann saw to tie things up. You could just feel the game slip away from there.
The Orioles predictably went three up, three down in the top of the ninth against Ryan Pressley before Danny Coulombe came in to pitch the bottom. Yainer Diaz led off with a hard hit double and scored two batters later on a Mauricio Dubon single.
Walk off win for the Astros, 2-1, avoiding the sweep.
Final Four on the Road in Cleveland
Our last road series of the 2023 regular season kicked off in the Guardian City as, I guess at least a few people refer to it. Weird.
Grayson wasn't at his sharpest, unfortunately for the bullpen, only making it through five. He gave up five hits, three walks and two earned, striking out seven. Lots of pitches. The lineup couldn't score for him either, exiting in a 2-0 hole.
Anthony Santander and O'Hearn tied things up in the eighth with an RBI ground out and run scoring double, respectively. It was Cionel Perez who blew it in the bottom of the frame, giving up three earned runs and failing to earn a single out. The Orioles had no response and fell game one, 5-2.
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| Photo: Julio Cortez/ AP |
Game two...worst loss of the season. You're off the hook Ryan McKenna. Shane Bieber was bad, and the O's took advantage, chasing him out after four runs and five innings. Problem is, Dean was worse, needing 91 pitches to get one out into the fourth. With the pen in shambles, a short start was the last thing we needed.
After six, Baltimore trailed 6-5 before a game tying Anthony Santander single. It was his third run scoring hit of the evening. Unfortunately, Danny Coulombe gave it right back, re-digging the one run deficit. Then in the ninth...Aaron Hicks, of all people delivering a two run double to recapture the lead! The Rays had already lost to Toronto, momentum was high, and the offense pulled through.
Yennier Cano allowed two runs in the bottom of the inning to allow Cleveland to walk things off, 9-8. And that's all I've got to say about that.
When we needed it most, there he was. That's why we held out hope for John Means. With correspondent Kev in attendance, the crafty lefty went 7.1, striking out four while giving up just one hit-- a solo homer to Andres Gimenez. Perfect timing, clutch, masterful; any of those words sufficiently describe the day for #47.
The Man of the Evening 1B however, goes to Mr. Anthony Santander. He drove in Gunnar Henderson in the first on his 41st double of the year-- good for third in the majors-- before driving in James McCann five innings later on a single up the middle. The two runs would be exactly what Baltimore needed with Means' performance.
2-1 Orioles victory, continuing their streak without being swept.
Kyle Gibson saw John's performance the day prior and decided to run with it. Seven innings, fives hit and one earned run, just dominating the Guardians in the final road game of the year, providing some additional rest to the team's spent relievers.
Jordan Westburg, Jorge Mateo and Santander drove in three unconventionally in the second inning, providing a run scoring double, ground out and walk, respectively. The 3-0 lead was more then enough with the way Gibson was throwing. Adley chipped in an RBI double in the fourth before Ced put the cherry on top by driving in a run of his own an inning later on a single.
A nice, wire-to-wire ass kicking to wrap things up in Cleveland, 5-1 Birds.
Farm Report
-A lot of the same batters here...but numbers like these just can't be ignored! Connor Norby went 8-25 with homers in three straight to start the week up. He drove in eleven and scored seven times, finishing the 2023 regular season on a really high note
-Love seeing Jackson Holliday's show us that the lights aren't too bright in AAA. The nineteen year old ripped a .326/1/5 line versus Buffalo. Can't imagine we'll be seeing too much more of him at this level
-Like Norby, Coby Mayo also went 8-25 in his six games against the Bison, going yard once and driving in five. The amount of young positional talent in this farm is absurd
-Not a particularly impressive week by Norfolk's pitchers, with TJ McFarland standing out amongst the crowd. The vet threw three scoreless over three appearances, allowing three hits and striking out five. Given the fatigue in the major league bullpen, I was surprised he didn't get a late week nod
-The Tides will be concluding their season, no later than this upcoming Thursday, after hosting the Durham Bulls in a best of three series for the International League Championship. The action starts Tuesday night, so make sure to tune in as our Baby Birds go after some hardware!
Concluding Thoughts
The public consensus on the bullpen was a weird one all season. Early on, we were a borderline elite unit, but that seemed to change around the middle of the summer. As the trade deadline approached, it quickly became, at least in my eyes, the most glaring issue on the team. So we went and got Shintaro Fujinami and called it a day. Huh.
Then we had the Felix UCL injury, just an earthquake through the organization, and suddenly everyone seemed to feel okay about the pen. Despite the loss of easily the most dominant closer in the game. Not an overwhelming confidence, but suddenly this major issue was alleviated by disillusions of depth, or hope Tyler Wells becoming an elite closer, maybe Jorge Lopez figures things back out. Drunk with distress.
But the end result, while often times miserable to stomach, has been relatively the same. That last week was brutal for the relievers, and while they certainly did waiver, the O's still managed a week of ball over .500. The sum of the parts, when not absolutely gassed, is far greater than the individual pieces. We're not in the worst of hands.
Whatever schedule maker slated seventeen straight in the middle of September, for any team, needs to be investigated for malpractice... Rest up today gentlemen, you've earned it. Six to go, all at home. Two versus the shitty Nationals before four against the last place Red Sox.
Magic Number's three. Let's hope we're celebrating before the weekend
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@Choppinglines
*I own no rights to any images found in this blog
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