It goes without saying that the return of Trey Mancini with Houston was the storyline of tonight’s game at Camden Yards. But starter Kyle Bradish overwrote the main storyline, and turned in perhaps the best start of his career. Bradish worked the corners of the plate the entire game, and pitched a two-hit shutout. Bradish’s line: 8.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K.
That stat line speaks for itself. Bradish threw his first complete game of his big league career tonight. He was pitching-to-contact, and Houston was swinging away. But Bradish was overpowering them all night.
As I said above, the main storyline of tonight’s game was always going to be Trey Mancini. The Orioles honored him on the scoreboard with a video before the game, and the fans gave him a standing ovation when he was announced before his first at-bat. And deservedly so. But needless to say, it wasn’t the last time Orioles fans would be standing and applauding.
The O’s put two runners in scoring position in the last of the second. Rougned Odor came to the plate, and his two-RBI single gave the O’s a 2-0 lead. And that’s all they would need.
Bradish, as I said, pitched the game of his life. He took a perfect game into the sixth before giving up a base hit. And he made it to two outs in the ninth before allowing a second hit with two outs in the ninth. At that point Brandon Hyde went to the bullpen.
The O’s are still battling, which is a good sign. Whether they make it over the hump and into the postseason remains to be seen. However this was their 78th win of the season, three shy of a .500 record. Four shy of a winning record. This season is already a rousing success.
The series continues tomorrow night at Camden Yards. Dean Kremer gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Houston’s Jose Urquidy. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 