Baltimore Orioles’ starter Jorge Lopez was the benefactor of a donnybrook of runs this evening. After the weekend in New York, that was good to see. It was also good to see that Lopez held his own. That does make a difference. Lopez was the first Orioles starter to go seven innings this year. Lopez’s line: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K.
Ryan Mountcastle got the party started early in the game with an RBI-single in the last of the first. But that was only getting things warmed up. The O’s would explode in the last of the third, which effectively ended the competitive portion of the game.
DJ Stewart stayed hot, which is obviously great news for the Orioles. His three-run homer kicked off the biggest inning of the year for the Birds. That brought Mountcastle to the plate again, and he went back-to-back with Stewart for a solo homer. That gave the O’s a 5-0 lead.
Cedric Mullins added a two-RBI single, and Jose Iglesias a three-run homer. By the end of the third inning, the O’s led 10-0. The bats may have struggled in the Bronx over the weekend, but they snapped back in one fatal swoop.
The Orioles were ferociously smacking Atlanta pitching around tonight. Jose Iglesias, DJ Stewart, and Ryan Mountcastle would add RBI-singles in the last of the fifth. It all kind of made you wonder if the O’s might call the dogs off early up 13-0. But, that also would go against the idea of playing to the final out.
Atlanta would tack on one run, but the Birds would get it back. Pat Valaika‘s solo homer in the last of the seventh cushioned the lead back to 13 runs. Count this as a game where the O’s put it all together.
The series continues tomorrow at Camden Yards. Thomas Eshelman gets the start for the O’s, and Atlanta is yet to announce a starter. Game time is set for just after 7:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 