It feels bad right now. A week ago, things felt off, but that's quickly taken a turn for the worse. Critical couple of days ahead for our Orioles, squaring off with the Astros and Dodgers. With how they played last couple of series, don't set expectations too high.
Here's to hoping I'm wrong!
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| Photo: Chris Pasatieri/ Getty Images |
Four vs. the BoSox
The Birds kicked off an important four game series with the BoSox Thursday night, with their top trade deadline acquisition Zach Eflin on the bump. Once again, the righty was outstanding, giving up just 1 earned run over 6 masterful innings, striking out 8 along the way. Shame this'll be the last time we see him for a while...more on that later.
After Eflin's one mistake of the game, a fourth-inning solo homer by Wilyer Abreu, Gunnar Henderson was quick to pick him up, driving out a two-run shot of his own in the bottom of the frame to put Baltimore ahead for good. Cedric Mullins went yard the following inning, before Ryan Mountcastle and Colton Cowser tacked on runs with hits in the sixth and seventh. Timely hitting was the name of the game-- an area of inconsistency this season.
5-1 Orioles, to start the foursome strong.
I guess it was time for Corbin to have an off night. After a season of quality starts, Boston lit up the ace on Friday to the tune of 8 runs on 10 hits. Every time it'd look like he was reestablishing control, somebody would tag him for another one-- a rare helpless display.
Per usual, the offense did score some runs in attempt to support their #1 starter. Ramon Urias had a huge evening, going 3-3 with a long ball and 5 RBI. Ascending superstar Jackson Holliday went 4-5 with 3 runs, while newcomer Eloy Jimenez had a 2-3 performance. But it wasn't quite enough.
A team should never lose when scoring 10 times, especially with their ace on the mound, but here we are. 12-10 Red Sox, evening the series up.
Game three was equally frustrating, just on the opposite side of the spectrum. Cade Povich was called up for a spot start and delivered, giving up just 6 hits and 2 earned as he worked into the seventh inning for the first time in the majors. It was a crucially optimistic start in a month filled with bad pitching news.
Unfortunately for Cade, the bats were nowhere to be found, as Brayan Bello had a no-no going until the 6th. Gunnar managed to break that up with a solo dinger, but there'd be no more scoring on the O's end. Burch Smith, in the midst of his worst week in a while, surrendered 2 insurance runs late to allow Boston to feel secure late.
5-1 Sox, guaranteeing themselves a split.
But that man Albert Suarez, what a time to collect his eighth start of the year shutting out opposing lineups. Six strong from the journeyman, allowing just seven empty hits to the stifled BoSox batters-- it couldn't have come at a better time.
The O's built him up a 4-0 lead, thanks to a run scoring error and home runs by Adley Rutschman and Gunnar. It felt safe while Suarez was in, but things started to get tight once Cionel Perez and Yennier Cano came in to mess around, a frustrating recent trend. The two combined to allow 3 hits and 2 walks over 1.2 frames, giving Boston far more hope than they deserved.
Seranthony Dominguez came to the rescue though, notching the final out in the eighth before rolling through the ninth with a minor hiccup that came in the form of a solo Rob Refsnyder homer. No harm, no foul-- this time anyway.
4-2 Baltimore win to split the series versus their AL East rivals.
A Trio in Queens
Up to The Big Apple we go for a set against the Mets. Trevor Rogers kicked things off on the bump for the Birds, producing his best start since joining the team. That's a low bar however, as Rogers finished the day with 3 earned runs on 5 hits over just 4.2-- good for a game score of 44. Just to reiterate: his best start thus far as an Oriole. Gross.
After falling behind 3-0, the bats battled back. Jackson Holliday provided a productive out in the fifth, before a run-scoring balk and Ramon Urias solo shot knotted things up. Hope was high, there was some actual fight and spirit being shown. Colin Selby struck out three of the four batters he faced, Keegan Akin managed to get through two innings without giving up a run.
Then entered Seranthony Dominguez, the most reliable reliever in town lately. Two batters later, the former Phillie was walking back to the dugout, as Francisco Alvarez made his way around the bases in celebration of his walk-off bomb.
A stinging way to start things out in New York. 4-3 O's loss.
Tuesday was better though, at least early on. Anthony Santander started off the scoring with a two-run dinger before James McCann added his first RBI of the evening on a sacrifice fly. Mark Vientos drew the Mets closer with a double before the offense exploded for four runs-- thanks to a Urias infield single, a two-run home run by McCann and a Jimenez double that plated Gunnar. Dean was dealing too, scattering 2 hits and 3 walks over 6 strong. Everything seemed alright with the world.
Until it wasn't. Burch Smith was bad yet again, giving up 4 runs on 3 hits in just 1/3 of an inning, cutting a seemingly insurmountable lead to just one. Luckily, Gunnar was able to drive in an insurance run on a single to left, before Mountcastle and Mullins scored due to a wild array of errors by Brandon Nimmo and Mets' pitcher Danny Young.
The blunder was just enough cushion for even the Orioles to not blow it. 9-5 win.
Speaking of blowing though...the Birds blew a decent start from Cole Irvin while allowing Sean Manaea to take a perfect game into the sixth. Brandon Hyde inexplicably decided to put Craig Kimbrel in higher leverage situations. Seranthony Dominguez served up his second walk off homer in three days, this time to Jesse Winker.
4-3 Mets, wrapping up our game recaps on a particularly bitter note.
Concluding Thoughts
-Craig Kimbrel is shot. After a shockingly strong stretch from May through June, the former closer has completely melted-- and it's only getting worse. 12 earned runs on 12 hits and 12 walks over his last 11.1 innings, blowing 2 saves before losing his role in the ninth. At this point, the Orioles probably wouldn't be worse off DFA'ing him, but that isn't even guaranteed. This bullpen is absolutely in shambles.
-News of the Zach Eflin injury this week was absolutely horrendous. Baltimore now has a strong rotation on the IL, injecting serious doubt into a season previously filled with aspirations of greatness. It feels like the sky is falling, which isn't extremely hyperbolic.
AL East Standings
1. New York Yankees (74-53)
2. Baltimore Orioles (74-54)
3. Boston Red Sox (67-59)
4. Tampa Bay Rays (64-62)
5. Toronto Blue Jays (59-68)
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@Choppinglines
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