Well, that happened. The worst week of baseball O's fans have had to endure in recent memory is behind us. A trainwreck capped off by one of the sillier sequence of play you'll ever see. Glad to move past it.
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| Photo: Western Slope Now |
The Cubs Debacle
The last place Cubs came into Camden Yards with their three best starters on the docket- Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga and Jameson Taillon. The trio absolutely roasted our lineup, combining to allow just 13 hits and two earned runs through 19 innings. Baltimore's bats were completely neutralized, getting outscored 21-2 in 3 home games. Pathetic.
It didn't get much better on the pitching side of things. Dean Kremer allowed seven hits and walked three before getting pulled after just four. Corbin Burnes had his "worst" start of the season, getting smacked around some, to the tune of nine hits and three earned over six IP. Still way better than most, but nonetheless. The Albert Suarez-Cole Irvin tandem got off to a predictably rocky start as well. A series where you bury the tape and move on.
Cubs sweep: 9-2, 4-0 and 8-0.
Three vs. the Yankees
Which, unfortunately, took a little time to do against our AL East divisional rivals. The Bombers came to town for the final set of the first half and picked things up right where Chicago left off-- smashing the Birds.
Credit to Cade Povich for managing to work into the sixth of game one. It was downright ugly at times, as evidenced by his five walks, but the young gun controlled the damage by only giving up three earned runs.
The offense wouldn't be able to pick it up for him, continuing their struggles against a locked in Gerrit Cole. All in all, they scattered just six hits throughout this one, rarely even getting in position to appear to be threatening. The cold streak continued: 4-1 Yankees.
I was present at the middle game on Saturday, melting away in the stands as the Orioles got smoked from the jump. Grayson Rodriguez got battered in the first inning, allowing a run scoring infield single before Austin Wells took a three-run shot out, digging a 4-0 hole before the boys could see a pitch.
It didn't really matter once the lineup did get to the plate though, as Luis Gil dominated the group. Every time the O's strung together a few baserunners, he'd manage a way out of it. It was a hapless showing, to carry on with the trend of the week. New York took this one 6-1, securing the series.
Then game three! The roller coaster that was... Dean Kremer got the start, looking slightly better compared to his effort against Chicago. Once again, he didn't get out of the fifth, but he exited with the game knotted up at two apiece, which you'll take in a stretch like this.
A two-run Gunnar Henderson homer brought on that scoring for Baltimore, before Anthony Santander tacked on a solo dinger in the bottom of the fifth. Insane to think that simply having the lead was something the team hadn't experienced in a calendar week.
But Craig Kimbrel did his best to give it away. After walking his first two batters, the All-Star snub-no-longer served up a meatball to rookie Ben Rice, who parked it in the right center bleachers, putting the Yankees ahead 5-3. Horrible vibes the whole time from the at bat, just waiting for the disaster that Kimbrel would provide.
Against the odds though, the Birds battled back. Clay Holmes also conveniently forgot how to throw strikes, surrendering free passes to Ryan O'Hearn and Adley Rutschman to load the bases with two outs. Then a routine ground ball to short by Mountcastle, when bam! Anthony Volpe decides to make a signature mistake, failing to secure the grounder that allowed the Orioles to cut the lead to one.
Cue Cedric. The man who slumped for two-thirds of the first half went opposite field with it, tailing away from a stumbling Alex Verdugo. The ball rolled all the way to wall, allowing the tying and winning run to score for Baltimore. It wasn't a win they deserved, but it was surely welcome in this week from hell. 6-5 Orioles.
Concluding Thoughts
-The team's hitting with RISP has been horrible during the month of July, under .180 going into the Yankees series-- and while I don't have those exact numbers in front of me, they surely went down. This fun, young team of slashers has seemingly become too reliant on the long ball, which has all but disappeared lately. They need to simplify the approach, focus on getting on base and utilizing their athleticism to start manufacturing runs again, or streaks like this one will become more common.
-Nice to see some new faces in the bullpen: Burch Smith and Vinny Nittoli. Each had scoreless debuts for the Orioles this week and can hopefully continue to capitalize on an outstanding opportunity to stick with a contender.
-Man, it sucked watching Gunnar in the Derby. The format and pace can be tricky, on top of the pressure of being a favorite to win it in your first attempt, but he never even got close to getting into a groove. Disappointed for the kid, but optimistic that this brief stint shouldn't negatively effect his plate approach moving forward. That Scooby Doo impression ruled too.
AL East Standings
1. Baltimore Orioles (58-38)
2. New York Yankees (58-40)
3. Boston Red Sox (53-42)
4. Tampa Bay Rays (48-48)
5. Toronto Blue Jays (44-52)
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@Choppinglines
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