Baltimore Orioles’ starter Keegan Akin put the Birds in a position to win last night against New York. And that’s all you can ask a starting pitcher to do. The rest of the team has to kind of take it from there. And they did. Akin’s line: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 8 K.
Unfortunately Akin didn’t qualify for the win. He was lifted in the top of the sixth, and the score was still 0-0. So Akin was non-decisioned. But he pitched well enough to have gotten the win. It just didn’t work out accordingly.
This game was also a coming out party of sorts for DJ Stewart. Which is a good thing because with Santander suddenly on the IL, Stewart is probably going to be getting more playing time. However his solo homer in the last of the sixth broke the scoreless tie and gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead.
Later in that sixth inning Ryan Mountcastle‘s two-RBI single extended the Birds’ lead to 3-0. A two-RBI double would then run the score to 5-0, and the O’s were off to the races. After being held scoreless for nearly six innings, the runs came in buckets. This against a team that had previously won 19 straight games against the O’s.
Just to show he wasn’t kidding, DJ Stewart smacked an additional solo homer in the last of the seventh to extend the lead to 6-0. New York would get one back in the top of the eighth on a solo homer by Frazier. But in the end, the O’s won their second straight against New York. Hardly a 19-game winning streak, but hey you have to start somewhere.
The O’s will go for the series win this afternoon at Camden Yards. The Birds are yet to announce a starter, but they’ll be facing New York’s Masahiro Tanaka. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.
Birdland Crush 