The past couple of days have been perhaps the best stretch of the season to date for the Baltimore Orioles. They beat Washington by a large margin, and after an off day they did the same to Boston last night. John Means got the start, and he showed the defending champions why he was selected for the all-star team. Means’ line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K.
The O’s took the lead in the last of the first, and never looked back. Anthony Santander‘s three-run homer gave the Birds a 3-0 lead. Boston tried to battle back in the second with a two-run shot by Travis. But it wasn’t their day.
The last of the second brought what initially appeared to be an inside-the-park home run by Richie Martin. However the official scorer ruled that the Boston fielder bobbling the ball was an error. So it was ruled a triple and an error, however the point is still the same. Martin hustled around the bases, and that speed netted the O’s a run – homer or error withstanding.
And the Orioles never really looked back, and they kept adding onto the score. Keon Broxton‘s two-run homer in the fourth added to the Orioles’ lead at 6-2. One inning later Stevie Wilkerson would add a sac-fly RBI, and Richie Martin an RBI-ground our. And the rout was on.
The Orioles would tack on three more runs in the later innings, running the final to 11-2. I can’t stress enough that this was one game. And games like these whereby the score got out of hand are always anomalies in a sense.
However it’s a good win against a quality team for sure . And one on which the Orioles can and will certainly hang their hat. But you’re only as good as your next day’s starter. So in other words, you have to move onto the next game. Boston most certainly will, and hopefully the Orioles can as well.
The series continues tonight at Camden Yards. Tom Eshelman gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Boston’s Rick Porcello. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 