Kyle Bradish pitched four solid innings this afternoon for the Baltimore Orioles in the series finale in Detroit. He hit a brick wall in the fifth, and couldn’t finish the inning. It wasn’t ideal, but it was what it was. Bradish’s line: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K.
The O’s took the lead in the second inning on Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI-single. Ryan Mountcastle added an RBI-double an inning later to double the lead, which was extended to 3-0 in the fourth on Adam Frazier’s solo homer.
Austin Hays would also add a sac fly-RBI in the fifth. And with Bradish dealing on the mound, things appeared under control. And make no mistake that Bradish was dealing; he was mowing hitters down. Then the last of the fifth happened.
Bradish’s pitches were suddenly very hittable. Detroit started squaring balls up and hitting them HARD. Rogers’ two-run homer cut the lead in half. Baez would add an RBI-double, before Brandon Hyde had to pull the plug on Bradish’s day. The Orioles were hoping for Bradish to go deep because of the doubleheader yesterday, but the team also has an off day tomorrow. So in that sense it was all hands on deck (to a point).
Austin Voth pitched the seventh and eight, and seemed to stabilize things a bit. And make no mistake, that was key. He pitched two scoreless innings. He stabilized the game in the moment, and he possibly saved the use of an additional reliever (or two). These are the intangible things in games that never make it onto the stat sheet. But they often mean more than what’s on the line score.
The O’s would finally get an insurance run in the top of the ninth. Jorge Mateo smacked a solo homer which gave the O’s a 5-3 lead. Yennier Cano got the save by finishing out the final four outs, and the Birds took the series in Detroit three games out of four. Also worth mentioning that Danny Coulombe was strong in the eighth inning, getting credited with the hold.
Birdland Crush 