The Baltimore Orioles got the best start of the season out of John Means this evening against the NY Mets in Queens. In fact, Means resembled his first half, 2019 self. Means’ line: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K.
Means qualified for a quality start, and in fact Oriole bats also posted up. That’s the other aspect of the game. You can pitch great but if your offense doesn’t score you runs you’ll end up a hard-luck loser. The Birds put it all together tonight at once.
DJ Stewart remained hot, smacking a two-run homer in the second inning. Keep in mind that between Saturday and Sunday Stewart homered in three straight at-bats. So he’s really starting to get with it at the big league level.
New York would get their lone run in the last of the second on a solo shot by Marisnick. Other than that, Means shut New York down. And the O’s just kept chugging along.
Ryan Mountcastle also stayed hot. He smacked a two-run homer of his own in the fourth. That was followed up later in the inning by an RBI-triple from Cedric Mullins. Again, that’s great to see. Both Stewart and Mullins have struggled at various times in the bigs. The fact that things seem to be clicking for them is welcome for this team.
Pat Valaika and Rio Ruiz would also homer later in the game. When the smoke cleared the Birds had themselves an 11-2 victory. But following a big weekend against the New York Yankees, the Birds turned in perhaps one of their most complete performances of the season. And that in and of itself is an excellent sign.
The series concludes tomorrow night at Citi Field. Jorge Lopez gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Rick Porcello. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 