John Means came off the IL to make the start last night for the Baltimore Orioles against Cleveland. And he couldn’t have picked a better game to return, as he was on the ball himself, and Oriole bats produced a donnybrook of a win. Means himself didn’t go too deep into the game because the O’s wanted to be cautious after his IL stint, but he looked good while he was in – and the bullpen followed suit. Means’ line: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K.
It’s been a long time since the Orioles have won a game running away like that. Chance Sisco‘s two-run homer in the first inning set the tone. Later in the inning Hanser Alberto‘s two-RBI double actually doubled the Orioles’ lead to 4-0. And they were off!
The good news was that the O’s kept the pressure on. Dwight Smith Jr. added a sac fly-RBI in the second. Sisco added another RBI-single, and Anthony Santander‘s homer broke the game wide open. The Orioles held an 8-0 lead after two innings once the smoke cleared.
As I said, John Means and the bullpen kept Cleveland in check. And that’s been tough to do thus far this season. Sometimes playing with such a big lead is tough because you end up letting tour guard down. If anything that might be natural. However the Orioles were nose to the brine stone throughout the entire game. They weren’t losing their focus on this night.
And for good measure, they added a few runs on late. The seventh brought a Rio Ruiz RBI-single, and the eight two separate two-RBI doubles. One by Chance Sisco, and the other from Anthony Santander. For one game, it seemed that everyone participated.
Orioles fans would have liked to have seen games like this earlier and more often this year. However for once, the skies opened up and let us see just what this crop of players are capable of doing. It’s a trend that Orioles fans certainly hope continues into today’s game.
The series with Cleveland continues today at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Andrew Cashner gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Zach Plesac. Game time is set for just after 4 PM.
Birdland Crush 