The Baltimore Orioles decided last night that if you’re going to win the season series against New York, you might as well do it in front of a national television audience. The Birds, and starter Dean Kremer, returned to the bright lights last night, appearing on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Kremer’s line: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 7 K.
New York was lucky that the game didn’t turn into a rout early on. Although I suppose that depends on what your definition of a rout is. Because it probably came very close.
The O’s took a 1-0 lead on Anthony Santander’s RBI-double. That also left two runners in scoring position, who later scored on Ryan O’Hearn’s two-RBI double. Rack on a three-run homer by Adam Frazier, and the O’s were off to the races.
It was 6-0 before the Orioles had even recorded an out. Yet the Birds had effectively ended the game. You never say never, because it’s the New York Yankees, and anything can happen. Plus, nobody likes the bright lights of Prime Time like New York. Nevermind that fans from the Bronx to Long Island were turning their televisions off – if there was anyone who could dig out of that hole, it’s THAT team.
But the O’s we’re having none of that. They batted around in the first inning, with Adley Rutschman added an RBI-single before the first inning ended. New York did get on the board by way of Bauers’ solo homer in the third, and his RBI-double in the fourth. However the damage was done; as I said, that first inning effectively ended the game.
Gunnar Henderson added an RBI-double in the last of the fourth. Later in the inning Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI-single extended the lead to 9-2. Bader’s sac fly-RBI in the fifth chalked one up for New York, but that was as close as they got. The Oriole bullpen brought the Birds the rest of the way, and closed out a 9-3 win.
Aside from Dean Kremer only pitching four innings, you couldn’t write a script better for this game. On Sunday Night Baseball, at home, with the season series against New York on the line. That game was directly out of central casting in a sense.
As I wrote yesterday, this gives the Orioles the tie breaker against New York for the season. Odds are it ends up meaning nothing. But ultimately it means that New York would actually have to finish the season with a better record than the Birds to overtake them. Finishing the season tied won’t do it. In the AL East, that’s meaningful.
And they won the season series under the backdrop of Sunday Night Baseball. This game introduced the current Orioles to the country, and it did so in a dramatic manner. The city of Baltimore, and the ballpark that forever changed baseball were central on Prime Time television. And one has to believe that America liked what they saw.
The O’s now head to Toronto for an equally large series at Rogers Centre. Kyle Gibson gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Chris Bassitt. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 