The Baltimore Orioles were back in the saddle again this afternoon against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Birds and starter Austin Voth came into today’s game having won seven straight. A win today would also give the O’s a perfect home stand. Voth’s line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K.
It started off inauspiciously, however. Hamilton’s two-run homer in the third gave LA a 2-0 lead. For a moment it appeared that the winning streak was going to stop at seven. Boy would you have been wrong had you put money on that.
One inning later in the last of the fourth Ryan Mountcastle’s RBI-double cut the LA lead in half at 2-1. But that was only the table-setter. Later in the inning Ramon Urias’ two-RBI single and Roughned Odor’s RBI-single gave the O’s the lead at 4-2. But it didn’t end there – OH NO.
Anthony Santander would extend the lead to 5-2 with an RBI-double in the last of the fifth. If you’re Los Angeles you’d just as soon forget the bottom of the fifth inning today. But the Orioles and the fans at Camden Yards won’t soon forget it.
The Birds would end up loading the bases, Ryan Mountcastle scored on a passed ball. Santander would almost immediately follow, scoring on a wild pitch. And Ramon Urias would follow with a run-scoring single. When the smoke cleared, the O’s led 8-2.
If you’ve read me for awhile, you’ve seen me say that good things happen when you get guys on base. The O’s had the bags juiced, and fluky things plated a couple of runs. And on the aforementioned Urias hit, he was able to reach safely because the pitcher didn’t cover the bag. Again, get people on base and good things can happen.
The Birds would add a ninth run on an RBI-single by Trey Mancini in the sixth. Los Angeles would add three more runs in the later innings, including a two-run homer by Stassi. However Los Angeles reminded me a lot of the Orioles in 2018 – they have some talented players, but appear on the verge of a rip down and rebuild. The O’s of course are in a different point in that process.
The O’s swept LA, and swept the home stand. They’re the hottest team in baseball, having won eight straight. Where the season goes from here remains to be seen. But they’re firing on all cylinders at this moment.
Birdland Crush 