Good morning Birdland,
Folks, these Orioles are getting hot! They beat the Rays 6-1 on Tuesday night with relative ease. That made them winners of four out of five and clinched their second straight series win. A win tonight would be quite the statement against a Rays squad that seemed invincible just a few days ago.
Shane Baz could be rounding into form as well. He gave up just one run and struck out nine over seven innings in the winning effort. His season ERA has dropped from from 5.48 on May 9
to 4.48 now after three good starts in a row in which he has allowed five total runs over 20 innings. Maybe the O’s got themselves a “frontline” starter after all. There’s plenty of work to do.
We have seen some improvement from the O’s bullpen recently as well. They only needed to cover two innings last night, but they made it through flawlessly. Over the last week or so the group has been much better, bouncing back from a rough first half of May. Ryan Helsley should be back in the next couple of weeks. That will be a big help!
But the most crucial common thread in each of the Orioles four wins has been an improved offense. They have scored five or more runs in all four of the wins. That is the unofficial line of demarcation in baseball that separates good offenses from bad ones. If you score five runs, you are going to win most of the time. Far too often this year the Orioles have failed to get to that threshold. It would be great if the tide were starting to shift there.
Samuel Basallo retook the team lead in OPS (.810) with his three-run homer on Tuesday. The rookie is having himself a very impressive year at the plate. Colton Cowser had another hit and a walk. He has inched his way back to being an everyday part of Craig Albernaz’s lineup. Jackson Holliday went 2-for-3. His competitive at-bats have been a welcome addition to the lineup. Arrows are pointing up (for the most part) across the board.
Baseball is a lot more fun when your favorite team wins!
Links
The good news for the Orioles? The wild card is within reach despite poor start. | The Baltimore Banner
The Orioles are definitely still in the mix. Despite their 25-30 record, they are only 1.5 games out of the final wild card spot, which is currently owned by the 27-28 Minnesota Twins. The American League is not good, but it feels safe to say that when it’s all said and done that you will need a better than .500 record to actually make the playoffs, so the O’s have some work to do, but it’s right there for them.
Orioles Designate Dietrich Enns For Assignment | MLB Trade Rumors
In case you missed it, Enns is currently in DFA limbo while the Orioles figure out what’s next. Ideally, he sticks around in Triple-A for when they need him next. The lefty has been decent since joining the club last summer, but this is the life of a fringy arm with no minor league options. You’re always going to be on the chopping block.
A few Orioles questions to consider | Roch Kubatko
Roch provides updates on all of the Orioles injured. In short: Heston Kjerstad is the only one that might be close to a return. But the Orioles could just as easily decide to leave him in Triple-A. A team that struggles mightily against left-handed pitching probably doesn’t need another lefty bat right now, but you could argue that he would still be an improvement over Tyler O’Neill anyway.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Miguel González turns 42 today. The Orioles signed the righty out of the Mexican League prior to the 2012 season. He would end up being crucial to the team’s return to winning baseball, becoming a fixture in the rotation from 2012 through ‘15 with a 3.82 ERA over 101 total appearances.
This day in O’s history
1960 – Orioles catcher Clint Courtney uses a redesigned mitt that is 50 percent larger than the standard in order to handle knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm. It works! Courtney doesn’t miss any of Wilhelm’s offerings, and the Orioles beat the Yankees 3-2. The mitt would later be banned.
2022 – The Orioles score 10 unanswered runs in the final three innings of a clash with the Red Sox, climbing out of an 8-2 hole to win the game 12-8. Jorge Mateo hits a three-run homer while Austin Hays smacks a two-run shot, and Anthony Santander has three RBI on the day.
