I have been very transparent in my love for these two franchises for very different reasons. For the D-Backs, their 2001 World Series win is one of my earliest and most vivid baseball memories while I got to witness the end of Cal Ripken Jr’s magical career and watch multiple waves of success and failure living in suburban Baltimore as a child and young adult. They’re also similar franchises with young lineups anchored by veterans looking to make it past their larger and better-funded division rivals
while residing in two of the most competitive divisions in the sport. Additionally, both franchises feel like they’re at tipping points: the D-Backs have only made it to the playoffs twice during the Hazen-Lovullo tenure despite significant financial commitments while the Orioles have watched their much-ballyhooed prospects stagnate in their development and fail to get over the hump of winning a single playoff game during their contention window. Those kinds of situations mean that every game matters in a way it might not for a Yankees or Dodgers team. So this entire series felt a little like having to choose between my babies where one’s loss is the other’s gain. In fact, before the series my parents asked me who I was rooting for and I responded that I was hoping for “good games and health” both of which I got in spades – other than a broken jaw and some orbital fractures.
Much like the other games in this series, this afternoon was a back-and-forth affair with Eduardo Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish combining for a single clean inning in their 11 innings pitched on the afternoon. The Orioles struck first in the third with consecutive doubles from Coby Mayo and Sam Huff, but the D-Backs quickly responded with a pair of runs in their next half of the inning on a comically bad play by reserve outfielder Weston Wilson. On a deep drive off Adrian Del Castillo’s bat, Wilson sprinted back into the weird cutout in left field and got his glove on the ball, but failed to secure it, crashed into the wall and fell back – Looney Tunes style for a two-run “triple.” It was the opening salvo in what was an excellent all-around effort from the backup catcher who has filled in nicely for the injured Gabriel Moreno. As they have all road trip, the bottom of the order contributed by tacking on another run in the next half inning off back-to-back doubles from Alek Thomas and Jorge Barrosa to retake the lead after the Orioles tied the game in the home half of the third.
The seesaw action continued when Baltimore struck back for two runs off the seemingly unstoppable Jeremiah Jackson who homered for the third time in the series. But it was another short-lived lead as the D-Backs tied and then recaptured the lead with a pair of sacrifice groundouts by Thomas and Del Castillo in the sixth and seventh. The Orioles did manage to claw one run back in the seventh when pinch hitter Leody Taveras plated Gunnar Henderson, but the D-Backs finally found the knockout punch in extra innings when Del Castillo rocketed a two-run homer and Nolan Arenado plated Ildemaro Vargas for a little extra padding.
Unlike the rest of the team, Rodriguez seemed determined to roll the clock back to 2025 when he looked much more like the pitcher who struggled to a 5.02 ERA and 1.542 WHIP than the one who has carried over his success from the World Baseball Classic to the beginning of the regular season. There was always going to be some regression as his 0.50 ERA coming into today looked more like a typo than an actual statistic and was belied by a 3.49 FIP and 3.42 expected ERA. But even that regression wouldn’t have necessarily expected the 33 year old to collect his career-worst whiff rate in a game (5%) and walk four batters, nearly tying his season-worst last year with five free passes. The Orioles’ game plan of waiting out Rodriguez’s changeup proved to be a winning concept that shortened his outing and created plenty of traffic.
There’s no other way to describe this road trip than as a massive success. Across three unfriendly climes against three nominally competitive teams, the D-Backs won three series and were extremely competitive in every game. In their three losses, their run differential was a combined -4. They scored around five runs per game while allowing a little under four a game and found their power stroke in Charm City with six homers in the three-game set. After a much-needed off day tomorrow, the D-Backs return to the friendly confines of Chase Field for the scuffling Blue Jays and hapless White Sox as part of a nice, relaxing homestand. If your confidence was perking up through the first week and a half of the season, this road trip should make it absolutely soar.
