With O’s fans on the brink of revolt after an ugly opener in Boston, the Birds played a (mostly) good brand of baseball in last night’s victory.
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
However ugly things may have gotten for the Orioles lately, we know there’s a good team in there somewhere, waiting to bust out. Last night’s win, hopefully, was a sign of the O’s starting to find themselves.
Unexpected ace Albert Suárez rebounded from his rough outing against the White Sox to dominate Boston hitters for six innings, setting a new career high with eight strikeouts. Cedric Mullins made himself at home in the #2 spot in the lineup, powering home runs in his first two at-bats. The long-slumping Adley Rutschman delivered one of his biggest hits in ages, a bases-loaded single that plated two insurance runs. And despite a couple of hiccups from the Orioles’ high-leverage setup guys, Seranthony Dominguez tossed a scoreless ninth to seal the win. Check out Tyler Young’s recap for all the lovely details.
That’s not to say that the Orioles completely exorcised all the demons that have recently plagued them. They still stranded nine men on base and went a tepid 2-for-9 with RISP. That included a first-and-second, no-out rally in the fifth in which they failed to even advance any runners, let alone score. We’re still seeing a frustrating number of strikeouts from the offense, especially with runners aboard.
Still, it’s easier to overlook those kinds of annoyances when the Orioles win the game. They did more good things than bad. They snapped their three-game skid and returned to 20 games over .500. And with the Yankees losing to Kansas City, the O’s are back within half a game of New York for the AL East lead. (But don’t root too hard for the Royals, who are only three games behind the Orioles for the first wild card spot.)
It’s a happier day in Birdland than it was a day ago, for sure. Whether that remains the case for another day, we’ll see. Dean Kremer and Nick Pivetta will face off in the rubber game at Fenway tonight at 7:10 PM.
Links
Mullins homers twice and Suárez provides another strong start in Orioles’ 5-3 win (updated) – Blog
Cedric Mullins is carrying the Orioles’ offense right now. Just as we all predicted back in May.
Orioles’ Westburg hoping to be back soon – BaltimoreBaseball.com
I think a lot of us have underestimated just how much the Orioles have missed Jordan Westburg, not just his on-field play but his clubhouse presence. If he can be back by playoff time, I’ll be feeling a little better about the Orioles’ chances in October.
O’s prospect Patrick Reilly off to strong start after trade – The Baltimore Sun
Amidst their trade-deadline frenzy of dealing away prospects, the Orioles did get one back as well, and he’s already one of their most promising young arms.
Coby Mayo’s big Triple-A season could end with the Brooks Robinson Award – Steve Melewski
Call me naïve, but I think Coby Mayo could play an important role for the Orioles down the stretch. Eventually his prodigious minor league power will show up in the bigs, so why not now?
Orioles searching for answers as they struggle with runners in scoring position – The Baltimore Banner
I’ve never thought of “clutch hitting” as a skill that can be learned. But if the 2024 Orioles are any indication, it’s a skill that can be forgotten.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Five former Orioles have Sept. 11 birthdays, four of whom played for the O’s within the last half-decade: infielder Domingo Leyba (29) and right-handers Evan Phillips (30), Shawn Armstrong (34), and Andrew Cashner (38). Also born on this day was 1950s-era Oriole Eddie Miksis (b. 1926, d. 2005).
On this day in 1959, the Orioles’ Jerry Walker pitched a 16-inning shutout against the White Sox, the longest in club history, leading the O’s to a 1-0 win in the second game of a doubleheader. The right-hander scattered nine baserunners — six singles and three walks — and earned the victory when Brooks Robinson smacked a walkoff single in the 16th.
And on this date in 2015, the O’s hit two grand slams in one inning, embarrassing the Royals with a stunning rally in the eighth at Camden Yards. Trailing by two runs, the O’s flipped the script on Nolan Reimold’s bases-loaded dinger off reliever Kelvin Herrera, and later piled on when Steve Clevenger swatted a salami off Joba Chamberlain. That inning also featured Kansas City lefty Franklin Morales deliberately drilling Chris Davis after coughing up a homer, prompting an irate Buck Showalter to get ejected for arguing that Morales should have been tossed. It was quite the inning.
Random Orioles game of the day
On Sept. 11, 2012, the O’s pulled back into a tie atop the AL East with a 9-2 thrashing of the Rays in Baltimore. J.J. Hardy crushed a pair of two-run homers in the game and added an RBI single for good measure, while Chris Davis launched a home run and Matt Wieters went 3-for-3. After Orioles starter Jason Hammel had to leave with an injury in the fourth inning, five O’s relievers held the Rays to just one run for the rest of the game.