Cole Irvin put the Baltimore Orioles in a spot to win tonight. That’s all you can ask out of a starter. And that’s what the Orioles taxed him with doing tonight in the series opener with Arizona. Irvin’s line: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K.
In a game that was played in a perpetual misting rain, perhaps it was fitting that new Orioles’ owner David Rubenstein was the guest “Mr. Splash” at this evening’s game. However if the weather is “the great equalizer,” the Orioles proved to be the better team on the field tonight as a whole. This despite the fact that Arizona was a World Series team last year.
Jordan Westburg’s RBI-double in the second inning gave the Birds a 1-0 lead. Cedric Mullins would later add a run with an RBI-groundout. However Arizona would remind the Orioles that they were in the World Series last year, as Marte cut the lead in half with a solo homer in the third.
But the Orioles kept the pressure on. The teams would swap runs in the fifth and sixth, with the Orioles’ coming on an RBI-single by Ryan O’Hearn. Gunnar Henderson would add an RBI-double in the seventh, and the Oriole bullpen would close out a 4-2 victory,
Craig Kimbrel was used out of the bullpen in the seventh, and to his credit he sent down Arizona 1-2-3. That included a loud out on a line drive to Ryan Mountcastle, but he still sent them down 1-2-3. You have to hope that gives him some confidence.
The series continues tomorrow at Camden Yards. John Means gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Arizona’s Ryne Nelson, game time is set for just after 4 PM.
Birdland Crush 