Baltimore Orioles: Tampa held accountable late

Grayson Rodriguez didn’t give up his first base hit against Tampa this afternoon for the Baltimore Orioles until the sixth inning. Of course Tampa mounted a rally at that point, but that’s another story. Rodriguez’s line: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K.

Adley Rutschman got things started with scoring. Later on he would also put the exclamation point on everything, but his RBI-single in the third got the O’s on the board. One inning later Anthony Santander’s solo homer would extend the lead to 2-0.

The Orioles kept scoring. Colton Cowser’s RBI-triple in the sixth gave them a three-run cushion. But following their first hit of the game, Tampa mounted a rally. Two bloop RBI-singles in the last of the sixth would cut the Orioles’ lead to 3-2.

But again it was Adley Rutschman who got things going again. He added an RBI-single in the seventh, followed by an RBI-groundout by Anthony Santander. That gave the O’s some cushion. But again, they just kept scoring. And they weren’t done yet.

With runners at the corners in the eighth, Gunnar Henderson drew a walk to load the bases. They say nothing good ever happens after a walk. But that’s only true from the perspective of the team in the field…

…of you’re at the plate, lots of good things can happen. And following that two-out walk to load the bases, Adley Rutschman smacked a grand slam, propelling the Birds onto a 9-2 victory. They’ve now taken the first three of four in Tampa.

Two out walks are the worst from the defense’s perspective. You’re asking for trouble when that happens. Tampa played a dangerous game with that walk to Gunnar Henderson. And the O’s made them pay for that mistake. They held them accountable.

Cedric Mullins also busted out of an 0-for-25 slump, smacking two hits this afternoon. That might be the best news of the day. However I suppose that the win itself is more a big deal.

The series concludes tomorrow night at Tropicana Field. Corbin Burnes gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Ryan Pepiot. Game time is set for just before 7 PM.