The O’s completed a successful 5-3 homestand that nevertheless dropped them out of first place. It’s only temporary, I’m sure.
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Orioles did what they needed to do on their longest homestand of the season, winning or splitting all three series. The rotation was mostly solid, especially in the Mariners series with three straight quality starts. The offense had its troubles at times but showed signs of life in the last few games.
Yesterday’s win was a well-played one all around. Corbin Burnes pitched brilliantly, Gunnar Henderson bashed yet another leadoff homer, Colton Cowser smoked the ball all over the field and played great defense, Cedric Mullins contributed two RBI singles, and Craig Kimbrel reclaimed the closer role with a perfect ninth. Check out Tyler Young’s recap for all the lovely details.
Frustratingly, despite going 5-3 on the homestand, the Orioles actually lost ground in the division, going from half a game ahead of the Yankees to two games behind. That’s because the Yanks have won eight of their last nine games, and six in a row, sweeping a Twins team that is historically pathetic against the Yankees, then doing the same to the woeful White Sox.
The good news is that now it’s the Orioles’ turn to face some theoretically soft opponents, with a seven-game road trip that will have them visit St. Louis (20-26) for three games and the White Sox (an MLB-worst 14-33) for four. As always, never overlook your opponent, no matter how bad their record is. The White Sox swept the Rays earlier this year, after all. But on paper, the Orioles outshine both these upcoming opponents, and anything less than a winning road trip would be tremendously disappointing.
Links
Setting blistering pace, Gunnar taking aim at lofty HR goals – MLB.com
Do you believe we get to watch this guy play every day? It’s delightful.
Cedric Mullins, Craig Kimbrel show signs of recovering in Orioles’ victory – The Baltimore Banner
If guys like Mullins and Cowser are heating up, the Orioles’ lineup may soon be on the path to recovery after a low-offense May so far. Now let’s not have other hitters start going cold (looking at you, Ryan Mountcastle).
Elly De La Cruz continues to amaze, a possible need for the Orioles and more MLB notes – The Athletic
In Ken Rosenthal’s notes column, he posits that the O’s might try to trade for a righty-hitting outfielder, and his suggestion is…Kevin Pillar. I feel like that one’s not going to move the needle, especially since it seems like the only team Pillar hits well against is the Orioles.
Santander provides update on injured knee (plus other notes, starters in St. Louis) – School of Roch
The Orioles will be without the services of Anthony Santander in the outfield for the next few days. And right after they got rid of Ryan McKenna!
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Three former Orioles were born on this day: catcher Ramón Hernández (48) and left-handers Gordon Dillard (60) and David Wells (61).
On this date in 2014, Chris Davis crushed three home runs in a 9-2 Orioles win in Pittsburgh. Davis had been off to a slow start power-wise that year, with only three dingers in his first 30 games, before going off on the Pirates.
And on this date in 2022, the Orioles won a ridiculous game over the Rays in which they came back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game in the seventh, then came back from a 5-3 deficit to tie it again in the 10th, then came back from a 6-5 deficit while down to their last strike in the 11th, then finally won in the 13th on a Rougned Odor walkoff homer. An exciting win, made more exciting by the fact that Adley Rutschman was called up the next morning.
Random Orioles game of the day
On May 20, 2021, the Orioles got crushed by the Rays, 10-1, to complete a Tampa Bay three-game sweep. The O’s were out of the game immediately when starter Dean Kremer gave up four runs and a pair of homers in the second, and the Rays kept adding on against relievers Keegan Akin and Travis Lakins Sr. Utility man Stevie Wilkerson ended up pitching the ninth, his fifth career pitching appearance, while the O’s offense was shut down by former Oriole Rich Hill. It was the Orioles’ third defeat of what would become a 14-game skid, which sadly was not even their longest losing streak of that year.