Feels good to be on top! After trailing behind the Yankees for first in the AL East all season, our Birds have finally found themselves leading the division. What a series they've got against the Bombers this upcoming weekend...buckle up for that one.
In the meantime though, let's look back at the last week!
West Coast Trip: Seattle
Grayson Rodriguez, take a bow. The 24-year old gave up two hits, the only two Baltimore would allow during the game, and struck out eight over 6.1 strong. Outside of four walks, he completely dominated an overmatched Mariners lineup.
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| Photo: Stephen Brashear/ AP |
The offense racked up seven hits off of George Kirby, who effectively managed to prevent a ton of damage. Anthony Santander put the O's on the board with a fourth inning RBI single before Cedric Mullins added an insurance run in the seventh with a run scoring single of his own. With G-Rod and the bullpen on their A-Game, it was more than enough scoring. 2-0 Orioles.
Admittedly, did not anticipate a start like Dean Kremer put together in the middle game of this set. The righty had freshly returned from a terrible rehab stint in Norfolk, boasting an ERA above eleven, and suffocated opposing batters. Two hits and two walks over five shutout frames, striking out eight along the way. A thoroughly unexpected, but completely welcome, appearance from Good Dean.
Ryan O'Hearn was the driving force on the scoreboard, starting things off with a two-RBI double in the third. Mounty plated him in the next at bat to build up a 3-0 Baltimore lead. O'Hearn's next at bat resulted in a bleacher shot, adding one more to what ultimately was an insurmountable deficit for Seattle.
Outside of a shaky 2/3's of an inning from Keegan Akin, the game never felt at risk for the Birds. That bullpen is going to feel mighty untrustworthy come October...but we'll save that for another time. Craig Kimbrel slammed the door in the ninth for his 21st save, 4-1 Orioles.
July 4th, what a day for a baseball game. Gunnar Henderson kicked it off with some fireworks, roping an oppo taco over the wall to go ahead 2-0 early on. Julio Rodriguez went deep two innings later off of Corbin Burnes, his first in nearly a month. Didn't care for all of J-Rod's antics in the midst of what'd been a beatdown of a series up until that point-- on an individual and team level. He's a really exciting young player, but it's been a disappointing season for him thus far.
Burnes managed to put himself into a precarious bases loaded situation after the solo dinger, but somehow got out of it with only one Mariner coming home. It was a jam most pitchers wouldn't be getting out of, a testament to his greatness even at his worst.
Then Bryan Baker and Keegan Akin do what they do best: give up hard contact and runs. In just two total frames, the duo combined to give up three hits, two walks and five earned runs. There had to have been a pit in Brandon Hyde's stomach having to replace Corbin with Baker for a high leverage seventh; a borderline negligent spot for a manager to be put in.
7-3 Seattle, avoiding the sweep.
The Final Visit to the Coliseum
Crazy that this'll be the last time we see the Orioles play in the Oakland Coliseum. The end of an era, thanks to John Fisher and his apparent disdain for a city that loves their team.
Much like A's fans' lifetime of experiences, this series was what we call a shit sandwich: two appealing things bookending a substantially more terrible one.
Refreshing to see Albert Suarez back to form on the bump, surrendering just two earned off of solo home runs while scattering four hits across six innings. It'd be such a luxury for the O's if he could effectively hold down that fifth spot in the rotation for the remainder of the season, minimizing the amount of upgrades Elias will have to make.
Some unconventional scoring for the Birds, notching their three runs via an error, an RBI double by Austin Hays and a bases loaded walk by Adley Rutschman. Not how they drew it up, but it got the job done with Suarez locked in. Kimbrel collecting save #22 on the way out, securing a 3-2 win for Baltimore.
It was 10-0 before many Orioles fans had put on the middle game in Oakland. Cade Povich failed to record an out in the second, allowing eight earned runs when it was all said and done. Dillon Tate and Cole Irvin threw batting practice in relief of Povich, effectively being thrown to the wolves for the sake of eating innings. The pair combined to give up nine runs on eleven hits, against the Athletics.
Things got so bad that James McCann had to pitch, giving up a home run to opposing catcher Kyle McCann. Probably the only fun storyline from this game. The O's mustered eight runs late to not completely quit, but the game was far, far gone at that point. Empty calories; 19-8 Oakland.
But Grayson was back on the mound for the rubber match, picking up right where he left off in Seattle. Six innings, eight more strikeouts and just three runs allowed-- all in the sixth or seventh. The kid absolutely stymied the A's bats until the wheels fell off a little slightly toward the end, though can't blame Brandon Hyde for trying to stretch an extra inning out of his starter.
Baltimore's hitters came out swinging, posting a four-spot in the first thanks to a Santander solo shot followed by a three-run bomb from Heston Kjerstad. Heston would touch home two innings later due to an error before Gunnar drove in an insurance run in the ninth. Add all that up and you get 6-3 Orioles, taking both series out West.
Concluding Thoughts
-This All-Star Break is definitely coming at a good time for Baltimore. The bats are warm, the starters have been solid overall, but the bullpen needs all the rest it can get. Maybe a reinforcement or two...
-Feel bad for Craig Kimbrel getting snubbed from the All-Star Game. The closer has had his low moments this season, but overall has been a really reliable arm for the Birds. His stats were clearly superior to Clay Holmes, who was voted in over Kimbrel.
No matter though, let's go get the honors come October and let the Bronx Bombers have their July accolades. Huge series between those two teams this weekend.
If you're up at OPACY this Saturday, give me a shout and we can link up for a beer!
AL East Standings
1. Baltimore Orioles (57-33)
2. New York Yankees (55-37)
3. Boston Red Sox (49-40)
4. Tampa Bay Rays (44-46)
5. Toronto Blue Jays (41-49)
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@Choppinglines
*I own no rights to any images found in this blog
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