The Baltimore Orioles sent Cole Irvin to the mound this afternoon at Camden Yards against Boston on Memorial Day. This not only opens the summertime season in the “Land of Pleasant Living,” but it signals the open of a long stretch of games in which the Birds will play in the division. And it started with a bag. Irvin’s line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K.
Irvin and the Oriole bullpen shut down Boston bats this afternoon, save for the eighth inning. And as – shall we say – inconsistent as Oriole bats have been of late, they came to life today in front of a massive and enthusiastic hometown holiday matinee crowd. And it wasn’t even close.
Jordan Westburg’s second inning RBI-single and Adley Rutschman’s third inning sac fly-RBI put the Birds ahead 2-0. Boston had a brief moment where they challenged in the fourth with the bases loaded. But Irvin pitched out of that jam, ending the inning. And keep in mind, when you squander opportunities (which Boston did there), often times your opponent takes advantage.
Kyle Stowers’ two-RBI double in the last of the fourth doubled the lead to 4-0. Cedric Mullins added a two-RBI triple, followed by a sac fly-RBI by Cedric Mullins. And before you knew it, the O’s had busted the game wide open and led 7-0.
It can happen that fast. But the O’s weren’t done yet. Adley Rutschman’s RBI-double in the seventh ran the score to 8-0. Ryan Mountcastle added an RBI-single, and Kyle Stowers a two-RBI single. And again, before anyone knew what happened the O’s led Boston 11-0 on this Memorial Day Monday afternoon.
Boston would load the bases against new Oriole Thiago Viera in the top of the eighth, and Gonzalez would get them on the board with a bases-clearing triple. But that’s all Boston was able to muster today. And it was merely a blip in the radar.
Today was the first of 14 straight games in the division. They aren’t all going to go like this. Just saying that up front. But this is about as good as the Orioles could have asked for things to go this afternoon. It’s a win in the division. And a big one at that.
The series continues tomorrow night at Camden Yards. Grayson Rodriguez gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Boston’s Brayan Bello. Game time is set for just after 6:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 