James Wood and the Nationals jumped on the Orioles in a first inning explosion that gave them the win
The Baltimore Orioles got no new manager bounce after firing Brandon Hyde earlier today. Orioles starter Kyle Gibson was really struggling entering his start against the Nats. Despite the Nationals recent struggles against starting pitchers, they came out swinging against Gibson.
It was great to see the Nats jump on a guy early, they have not done that enough this year. Kyle Gibson had nothing from the jump today. The first six batters reached base and he was not fooling any Nats. By the time he got his first out, the game was already 4-0. He faced all nine Nationals hitters, departing after getting two of them out and allowing six runs.
With the long wait, I worried about how sharp Jake Irvin would look out of the gate. Those questions only grew after a leadoff double to Jackson Holliday. However, Irvin ended up getting a zero in the first and was brilliant for the vast majority of his outing. After MacKenzie Gore only went 3.2 innings, Irvin did a great job pitching deep into the game, going into the seventh.
He ran into trouble that inning, allowing two runs, but he had a great outing. Irvin was really leaning on that curveball, especially to steal strikes today. He also had more strikeout stuff than he has had in his past couple starts. Irvin struck out six today after only striking out three batters in his last three starts.
Another unsung hero of today’s game was Jose A Ferrer, who came in and delivered 1.2 scoreless innings. After a brutal start to the season, Ferrer has looked more like he did in 2024 after his blowup against the Guardians. He has not given up a run in his last five outings. If he can get going, the Nats could quietly have a solid young nucleus in the pen of him, Jackson Rutledge and Cole Henry.
However, the story of the day was the offense. They did not homer, but they did have five extra base hits on the day. That first inning set the tone. While they went quiet in the middle of the game, they picked things up in the ninth. The O’s showed James Wood the ultimate sign of respect that inning when they intentionally walked the 22 year old. That is truly a sign that Wood is feared in this league.
A surly Nathaniel Lowe made the O’s pay for disrespecting him with a double that drove in Wood as well as Jose Tena. Lowe is only hitting .227 after a recent slump, and needs to heat back up. He got on base twice today and homered yesterday, so he could be coming back to life. Lowe has also been weirdly bad in May during his career. His career .659 OPS in May is over 100 points lower than his OPS for any other month in his career.
The trio of Abrams, Wood and Lowe can be a dynamic one if all three are firing on all cylinders. They were doing just that today. While Zach Brzykcy made things interesting in the ninth, allowing four runs, the result was never in doubt. The Nats won 10-6. They have now won three of their last four and look to have moved past the seven game losing streak.
It is also shocking to see the state the Orioles are in. They have totally collapsed and look like a completely different team than the one they have been the last couple years. It is almost reminiscent of what happened to the White Sox at the beginning of the 2020’s. The O’s problems go well beyond the now fired Brandon Hyde, and this game made that clear.
The Nats will look to finish the sweep tomorrow. They do not have a sweep this season and it has been something they have struggled to do over the last few years. It will be pivotal to take advantage of this rattled O’s team and get that sweep!