The only downside to tonight’s game for the Baltimore Orioles is that starter Zach Eflin wasn’t around to be the pitcher of record. He missed getting the win by one out, however the more important thing is that the team wins. And they did. Eflin’s line: 4.2 IP. 4 H, 3 R, 5 BB, 1 K.
The real shocker was the five walks. Eflin doesn’t walk people. However the fact is that you aren’t going to have your best stuff all the time. Luckily for the Birds, it happened when they didn’t need him to have his best stuff.
New York had to scratch their original starter (Cortes) due to injury concerns. These Orioles of course know all about injuries; nobody had any sympathy when the injury bug bit them, And they didn’t offer that courtesy to their division rivals.
To be blunt, they ambushed New York from the beginning. They loaded the bases in the first inning with nobody out, and Colton Cowser’s two-RBI double gave them a 2-0 lead. Ryan Mountcastle’s RBI-single later in the inning extended it to 3-0 before the inning ended. And that was almost a disappointment – that they only got three runs that inning. But you take what you can get against New York in the Bronx.
New York would get on the board in the second on an RBI-single by Volpe. But the Birds did exactly what you should do against New York – they never really stopped adding on. In the fourth Gunnar Henderson’s two-RBI single extended the lead to 5-1. The best part? That came after a stolen base by Cedric Mullins. Having a more balanced attack offensively is yielding the Birds additional bases.
Yet, the inning wasn’t over yet. Henderson would score on an RBI-double by Anthony Santander. That brought Colton Cowser to the plate, and another RBI-double plus a James McCann RBI-single later the O’s led 7-1. This all in the fourth inning.
In most cases you’d say the game was over. And in reality, it was teetering towards being over most of the night. However this was against New York in the Bronx. Soto reminded the Orioles of that with a two-run homer in the fifth. But again, the O’s shut things down after that. Which is exactly how to play it.
For good measure, Jordan Westburg tacked on an eighth inning RBI-single to extend the lead to 9-3. And it’s a darned good thing he did. Because New York would get an RBI-single from Soto, and a three-run homer from Judge in the last of the ninth. At 9-7, the game was closer than the score indicates. But the Orioles won – which is all that matters to them.
They also prevented New York from celebrating at their expense with a division title. This for the second consecutive game. With the win, the Orioles snapped a six-series losing streak, and narrowed the magic number to clinch (at least) the top wild card spot to one.
The series concludes tomorrow night at Yankee Stadium. Corbin Burnes gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Gerritt Cole. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 