Corbin Burnes turned in perhaps his worst start as a member of the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon at Progressive Field in Cleveland. And it was still a darned decent outing. As I’ve said many times, the success or failure of your season lies in those “in between” (good and bad) starts. Burnes’ line: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R (4 earned), 1 BB, 4 K.
The O’s led from the beginning, although that’s not to say this game was easy. It absolutely WAS NOT. Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI-double in the top of the first gave them a 1-0 lead. However the real highlight in that was Gunnar Henderson and his outstanding base running. Henderson was on first base, and O’Hearn pulled a liner into the left field corner (with the outfield playing straight-away. Henderson picked up on that, and scored from first base.
The O’s continued their assault on the scoreboard in the third with a sac fly-RBI by Adley Rutschman, and an RBI-single by Eloy Jimenez. However Cleveland applied some pressure in the bottom of the inning with RBI-singles by Kwan and Ramirez. And that’s really what this Cleveland team does. They keep pressure on you…to the point to where you could be up ten with two outs in the ninth and you still might not feel secure.
BUT…the Orioles know how to apply pressure as well. Jackson Holliday’s solo homer in the immediate aftermath of that third inning extended the lead to 4-2. Later in that fourth inning, Gunnar Henderson sent a two-run shot into the stands, extending the lead to 6-2. The game appeared to have opened up a bit at that point, that is until Naylor smacked a three/run homer in the fifth off of a tiring Corbin Burnes, cutting the lead to one at 6-5.
Again, pressure. Cleveland. That’s part of what they do. However again, the Orioles answered the call to arms immediately following the Cleveland rally. With two outs in the sixth Ryan Mountcastle’s RBI-single gave the Orioles a bit of a cushion at 7-5. Adley Rutschman followed with an RBI-single, extending the lead to 8-5.
Similar to last night’s game we saw Cionel Perez in the eighth, and he recorded the final two outs with a runner on base. And he was masterful in doing so. Make no mistake, that meant as much to today’s win as it did last night’s.
Adley Rutschman gave the Orioles a slightly larger amount of insurance with an RBI-single in the eighth. And the Orioles pen was once again sure, as the O’s cruised to a hard-fought 9-5 win. This following a ninth inning in which new acquisition Seranthoby Dominguez gave up one base hit in shutting Cleveland down. But make no mistake, this game was a grind. Much like last night’s.
The O’s looked so bad on Thursday and Friday. It’s huge to say that they came back and won the final two games of this series. They had a similar series in Cleveland at the tail end of last year, dropping the first two games, but grinding out two tough wins in the final two games.
And if you look back over 2023 and now 2024, Cleveland’s been a pesky thorn in the side of the Orioles. So both yesterday and today’s wins were really big. The Birds atoned for themselves in a big way in this series, especially given that Cleveland has the best record in the American League. They’re also a team that the Orioles could very well see again.
The Orioles now hold a half-game lead over New York in the division. As this is being written, New York and Toronto are tied at three in the eighth inning )under a rain delay). Assuming that game is completed, the O’s will either return to holding a percentage points’ lead in the division, or they’ll finish the day a full game up. Both the Orioles and New York are idle tomorrow.
Birdland Crush 