Chris Davis smacked his third home run of the spring as the Baltimore Orioles stayed hot and defeated Miami at Ed Smith Stadium. This in a game started by Keegan Akin, who’s looking to make an impression and break camp with the O’s. Keegan’s line: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
Davis’ spring has been a major turnaround over his output from the past few years – to this point. It’s still very early in the spring, and yes the games don’t count. However you’d rather see results as opposed to not seeing them. Davis seems to agree (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):
It’s nice to see some results. I think I said that earlier. I would like to get off to a good start, just for peace of mind, especially after struggling for the last couple years. Just having some success on the baseball field again feels good. It’s still spring training, it’s still early. There are a lot of things I have to accomplish, a lot of things I want to accomplish and a lot of things I still need to work on, but at the same time it feels good.
With Miami leading 1-0 in the last of the first this afternoon, Renato Nunez‘s RBI–single toes the game. One inning later Austin Hays, who’s also having a great spring, gave the O’s a 2-1 lead with an RBI-groundout. Núñez would add a sac fly-RBI in that second inning as well, and the O’s led 3-1.
But it was Davis who provided the highlight of that third inning. And of the game. His three-run homer later in the inning opened the game wide open, and gave the O’s a 6-1 lead. The O’s don’t see the Miami Marlins often in the spring for geographic reasons. That’s probably A-okay with Miami.
By the end of the fourth inning they had run the lead to 9-1. This in a sequence that included a solo homer by Pedro Severino. In fairness to Miami, they did cut the lead to 9-5 in the fifth. However the O’s added some insurance runs. Austin Wynns added an RBI-double and Ramon Urias an RBI-single in the sixth. Richard Urena, a guy who also has in mind to break camp with the team, added a solo homer in the last of the eighth.
And with that, the O’s wrapped up a 12-6 victory. (Miami tacked on a solo homer in the ninth.) Again, these games are meaningless, as are the results. But the fact that the O’s continue to look good and are winning these (meaningless) games could bode well.
The Orioles head to Spectrum Field in Clearwater tomorrow to take on the Philadelphia Phillies. John Means gets the start for the O’s, and Philadelphia has not yet scheduled a starter. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.
Birdland Crush 