Rare, eight game week for the Orioles-- maybe just what the doctor ordered amidst one of their bumpier spells in recent memory. The trade deadline also fell within this week, resulting in a ton of roster shuffling for Mike Elias and company. Here's a breakdown of the comings and goings in the organization, something we'll dive deeper into later on.
Let's talk ball though.
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| Photo: Stephanie Scarbrough/ AP |
Game Three in Miami
A positive from this game: the Orioles won.
That's about it. After building a 6-0 lead by the fourth inning, thanks to an RBI single by James McCann plus home runs by Anthony Santander, Colton Cowser and Connor Norby, the lineup decided it was done hitting for a while. With Corbin Burnes on the mound, it should've been smooth sailing from there, so we assumed anyway.
And you know what they say about assuming. Miami's Josh Bell hit a solo shot in the sixth before a shaky eighth cut the six run deficit in half. Enter Craig Kimbrel, back to his terrible early-season form. The closer recorded two outs, while surrendering that same number of hits and walks, letting the Marlins knot things up.
With all of the wind taken out of the sails, Baltimore desperately looked for a way back ahead. In the top of the tenth, with one out and runners on second and third, Ryan Mountcastle ripped a shot to right, plating the go-ahead run. Trail runner Cedric Mullins was thrown out at home however, before Mounty himself was tagged out trying to stretch the hit out to second. A perfect microcosm of the last few weeks-- not a lack of effort, but perhaps too much recklessness. Or stupidity...
Yennier Cano slammed the door in the bottom of the frame, with authority, allowing the O's to escape South Beach with one undeserved victory. 7-6 Baltimore, dodging the sweep.
Padres in Town for a Trio
Welcome back Manny Machado! Always bittersweet seeing our former top prospect do his thing. It was Jurickson Profar who was the star of game one though, tying things up during a sixth inning rally with two-run dinger off of Grayson Rodriguez. Burch Smith would proceed to allow two more Padres to score, turning a two run lead into a deficit of the same total.
But the Birds would battle back, with a solo shot by Santander in the eighth inning preceding a Mountcastle sac fly. Then, for whatever reason, Brandon Hyde decided to entrust Kimbrel with the ninth, yet again.
With two outs in the top of the frame, the closer served up a meatball to Profar, who went yard for the second time on the evening. Any momentum built up from the comeback was immediately gone, as the Orioles went 1-2-3 to end things. 6-4 Padres in the opener.
Saturday was even worse-- thoroughly uncompetitive. Errors by Gunnar and Ramon Urias helped put two runs on the board early, as Dean Kremer allowed San Diego to scatter seven hits through his six innings. Cole Irvin came in for relief and proceeded to get battered for four earned in just two innings. He's since been DFA'd, a move that'd become necessary.
It was 7-0 before Cedric Mullins provided a personal rally, driving in four on a seventh inning double and a ninth inning long ball, but it was far too little too late. Manny Machado recorded his 1000th hit along the way, doing so in the park where he kicked off his career. And his boys left with the 9-4 win to cap it off.
The final showdown in this three game set was a carbon copy of the Marlins finale. Baltimore pounced on the Pads in the third, posting a six-spot thanks to a bases loaded walk by Henderson followed by RBI hits from O'Hearn, Mounty and Mullins. All felt good, at least for a few moments.
Albert Suarez started to falter in the fifth, surrendering four consecutive hits and two runs before miraculously coaxing a double play out of Luis Arraez. He wouldn't escape the frame though, with Jacob Webb making an appearance out of the pen. Webb managed to notch the final out, cleaning up Suarez's mess, but gave up a two-run shot to Xander Bogaerts an inning later to allow San Diego to cut he lead to just one.
Mountcastle would come up big in the bottom of the eighth, providing two critical insurance runs. It was Cano, not Kimbrel, who took the mound in the ninth, letting the Padres load them up with one out before forcing back to back ground outs. It would've been a fitting loss in this rocky stretch, but Birds would hold on 8-6.
Four versus Toronto
We had a double header to kick things off on Monday, with a scary moment featuring James McCann's face right off the jump. Blue Jays' starter Yerry Rodriguez couldn't find the strike zone, allowing a hit and walking four before getting pulled after his 43rd pitch rode high and in on McCann, hitting him on the bridge of his nose.
The backup catcher predictably hit the ground after eating the 95 MPH fastball, requiring the attention of trainer Brian Ebel. After a pitching and jersey change, plus some gauze up the shnozz, McCann stunned the world and returned to the game. If you've never seen what tough looked like...
Baltimore would score four in that first inning, just the start to their busy day at the plate. Urias and O'Hearn provided productive outs before Jordan Westburg plated Gunnar on a double in the fourth to go ahead 7-0.
The Jays would muster up some scoring thanks to homers by Addison Barger and Vlad Jr., but Tony Taters and Mounty provided dingers of their own to match. Zach Eflin picked up his first win for the club, allowing ten hits and three earned over six strong. Not a top ten outing for a career, but a nice display of control for his first go round with the team. 11-5 Orioles win.
Vlad Jr. would stay hot into the second round of the double header, going 4-5 with another home run and three driven in. Cade Povich simply had nothing for him, or the rest of Toronto's lineup, giving up seven hits and five walks while lasting just 4.1 IP. Seems like he's not quite 100% ready for the big show just yet.
Colton Cowser hit one out and delivered an RBI single, while Jordan Westburg added a two-run shot, but it wasn't enough with the hole Baltimore's pitching dug. A long day at Camden Yards ends in a 8-4 Blue Jays victory.
Game three was much kinder to the Birds. Corbin Burnes being on the bump always helps with that, as the ace went 6.2 innings, surrendering just two earned while striking out seven. Three walks weren't characteristic, but he maneuvered through the danger with minimal damage.
Ramon Urias and Anthony Santander provided most of the offense, each hitting solo bombs while contributing an RBI single and double, respectively. Ryan O'Hearn tacked on a two-run single in the third to round out the scoring on the day. Loved seeing Seranthony Dominguez wrap up the ninth on eleven quick pitches. 6-2 O's.
The final game in this report was an all-timer. In all of the moving parts around the deadline, Jackson Holliday was officially recalled from Norfolk, and boy did he make his appearance known. A Ryan Mountcastle triple gave Baltimore an early 2-0 lead before the Milk Man hit a solo dong out to right center in the third.
Addison Barger was a thorn in the Orioles side all week, taking one to Eutaw Street off of Grayson Rodriguez the following frame. Like Burnes, G-Rod had his share of location issues, but no shortage of strikeout stuff. Eight more on Wednesday afternoon.
O'Hearn plated Gunnar with a sac fly before Barger and Vlad combined to bring in three more for Toronto, on a ground-rule double and home run, respectively. Things were tight, the Birds needed a hero.
Enter Jackson Holliday. The first pick of the 2022 MLB Draft came up with the bases juiced and did not disappoint. A 439-foot moonshot of a grand slam, landing emphatically among a Eutaw Street mob. The bomb was appropriately pimped, as was encore. After such a cold start to his big league career, it was a welcome spark, the first homer of many.
Jordan Westburg's injury though, not quite as welcome. He got hit on the hand by a pitch just ahead of Holliday's long ball, in what ultimately turned out to be a fracture. He's set to miss the rest of the regular season, but the playoffs should be well in play. Fingers crossed for a quick recovery.
10-4 Baltimore, taking the series from their flailing divisional foes.
Concluding Thoughts
-One of the holdovers from the Buck Showalter era was the Orioles regularly doing the little things so well-- the baserunning, fielding, hustle plays. The last few weeks have seemingly gotten away from that, with errors, mistakes on the base paths, low IQ play in general. Perhaps it speaks to the youthfulness of the roster, but they're areas they need to clean up if they want to play far into October.
-Thoughts on the trade deadline...a couple of words come to mind:
Disappointing: Trevor Rogers wasn't on anyone's radar as an option to come to Baltimore, but he was the most expensive player Mike Elias ponied up for. You can't look at our rotation and say it isn't improved, but given some of the, admittedly, unrealistic hopes, this wasn't the dream haul.
Measured: The trade packages some teams received for their above average players were outrageous. Houston sending three guys to Toronto for Yusei Kikuchi? The Padres sending three of their top five prospects to Tampa for Jason Adam?? As upset as one can be that the team didn't make a true splash, at least they didn't burn the farm down for mediocre talent.
Upside: Majority of the players the O's brought in are young, and either are or were high ceiling prospects at one point. There are plenty of examples of guys with similar profiles who this coaching staff have maximized. It's impossible to think every trade is going to work out, but it'd be foolish to think there won't be one or two positive surprises from the bunch.
Bittersweet: Losing prospects we've followed from their early days is never easy, especially when you don't love the return. All part of the business though, and we appreciate the contributions given on and off the field. A couple of teams out there got some good, young players
Irritated: A bunch of overpaying, poorly run franchises, and the Astros, helped take many of the the big time names off of the table. It feels like a year where the window to win a World Series is wide open, yet Baltimore didn't do much to truly boost the roster. We'll see if the new pieces can complete the puzzle for a championship run.
AL East Standings
1. Baltimore Orioles (65-44)
2. New York Yankees (65-45)
3. Boston Red Sox (57-50)
4. Tampa Bay Rays (55-53)
5. Toronto Blue Jays (50-59)
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@Choppinglines
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