Kyle Bradish pitched a great game last night for the Baltimore Orioles. He was also the beneficiary of an offensive spurt that lowered the Orioles’ magic number to 18. And perhaps put other playoff teams on further notice of what sort of fate could befall them this October. Bradish’s line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 9 K.
The Birds took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Ryan O’Hearn sent a solo homer past Fenway!/Park’s “Pesky pole.” However that was a narrow lead, and only a precursor of what what to come. Cedric Mullins’ two-RBI triple in the sixth would add to the lead, which at that point stood at 3-0.
Mullins also took third on an error, and he would score on Austin Hays’ run-scoring single. Adley Rutschman would also add a sac fly-RBI, and the O’s led 5-0. Boston would get two back in the bottom of the inning on a solo homer by Wong, and an RBI-double by Turner.
At that brief moment you wondered if this wouldn’t end up being t more of a dog fight than it ended up being. But short of those two runs, Boston wasn’t up to the challenge. And this is an Orioles’ team that does it’s best work late.
They put two across in the eighth, one on an Adley Rutschman solo homer, and the other on a wild pitch which scored Gunnar Henderson. In the ninth Adley Rutschman would ground into a fielder’s choice-RBI, followed by Gunnar Henderson’s RBI-single. Aaron Hicks would tack on a two-RBI single, sending the O’s home with an 11-2 win.
Those last two innings were borderline unprofessional by the Boston bullpen. And mind you, Boston’s still in the outer fringes of the playoff race. The good news for the Orioles is that they took full advantage of the situation. They scored six runs in the last two innings. Part of being a winning team is taking advantage of your opponents’ mishaps. The O’s did that, and they narrowed their magic number to win the AL East to 18 games.
The series continues today at Fenway Park. Jack Flaherty gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Boston’s Chris Sale. Game time is set for just after 4 PM.
Birdland Crush 