Grayson Rodriguez was outstanding in his 2024 regular season debut for the Baltimore Orioles. He painted the corners and mowed down Anaheim hitters all afternoon. Anaheim hitters who watched and waved aimlessly all game. Rodriguez’s line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K.
Rodriguez was still going strong after six innings. But you don’t want to push too hard early in the season. Especially in his first start. Keep some gas in the tank.
Luckily for Rodriguez, his effort wasn’t wasted. Oriole bats got out in front of things early on. Gunnar Henderson smacked a solo homer, and Ryan Mountcastle and RBI-double. This in the first inning. And the Birds were off to the races.
Ryan Mountcastle’s next at-bat came in the last of the third. And it ended similarly, with an RBI-double, extending the lead to 3-0. Anaheim would get on the board an inning later with a solo homer by Ward. However you can afford one bad pitch if you’re Grayson Rodriguez. This team epitomizes the concept of TEAM. They picked him up, and moved on.
And move on they did. The O’s put runners at the corners in the sixth, and Austin Hays extended the lead with an RBI-single. He would immediately be plated by an RBI-double by Cedric Mullins, extending the lead to 5-1.
That all occurred before anyone was out in the sixth inning. So did what came next, that being a two-RBI single by Jordan Westburg. That extended the lead to 7-1, blowing the game wide open.
But the Orioles weren’t done. Gunnar Henderson added a two-RBI triple, and the O’s led 9-1. But wait…there’s more. Anthony Santander closed the inning out with a three-run home run. And then…the Birds recorded the first out of the inning.
Good teams have innings like that. And the Orioles are a good team. That goes without saying.
The Orioles would tack on a late run in the eighth, on a sac fly-RBI by Ryan Mountcastle. Anaheim would also put three across in the ninth, and the Orioles took the game 13-4. The lone sour note for the O’s came when reliever Cionel Perez. Had to leave the game in the ninth. He called for the trainer in the ninth and swiftly was pulled by Brandon Hyde. His injury and/or status is unclear.
The series concludes tomorrow at Camden Yards. Tyler Wells gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Anaheim’s Reid Detmers. Game time is set for just after 1:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 