Two very important things happened this afternoon for the Baltimore Orioles. First off they got starter Zach Eflin back, and he turned in a solid outing. Keep in mind, Eflin ever so slightly stabilizes a rotation that’s been beleaguered on a good day thus far. Eflin’s line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K.
But another thing happened of equal importance: the O’s held their opponent (Anaheim) accountable for their mistakes. The Birds have made mental lapses in games all year, and they’ve allowed them to snowball – meaning opponents held them accountable. The O’s reversed that dynamic today; they pounced when they smelled blood in the water.
With Gunnar Henderson on second after a leadoff double, Adley Rutschman appeared to pop up to left which would have ended the inning. However the left fielder Ward appeared to lose the ball in the sun, this after being too far in to begin with. The ball fell well behind him, giving Rutschman an RBI-triple and the O’s a 1-0 lead.
However Anaheim strung together a few hits in the bottom of the inning and thought they had restored order with a 2-1 lead. And it almost got worse in the third. Ward singled to right with runners at first and second and one out. However the lead runner Moncada inexplicably stopped after rounding third base. When he turned around to go back, his teammate Soler was already standing there. The O’s played the ball back in to second base, recording the second out and erasing Soler.
That was a turning point. Teams get gifts all the time. Heck, the Orioles have given numerous gifts like that all year thus far. Luckily they weren’t going to let Anaheim off the hook on this day. Maverick Handley’s first big league RBI came on a sacrifice fly in the fifth, tying the game at five.
Ryan Mountcastle’s RBI-single later in the inning would give the Orioles the lead for good at 3-2. An inning later Ramon Laureano stole second (following a walk), and made it to third on an errant pickoff attempt. He would later score on a wild pitch, extending the lead to 4-2
Maverick Handley’s sac bunt-RBI came later in the inning, running it to 5-2. And that brought Gunnar Henderson back to the plate. Henderson’s hitting better of late, and he showed it on this day. His two-run homer broke the game wide open.
Anaheim’s Lugo would slug a solo home run in the ninth off of Felix Bautista, but that was no threat to the O’s. End of the day this amounted to a bullpen session for Bautista, with an off day tomorrow. End of the day, the O’s went to Anaheim this weekend and took two-of-three.
The Handley sacrifice bunt was a suicide squeeze, for what that’s worth. You don’t see that so often in baseball these days. But it was just at the right moment, and it was executed with precision. It also shows the Orioles doing whatever they could to win this game. Which is more important than anything else.
End of the day, Anaheim did everything they could to lose the game today. And the O’s held them to task for it. Which is a good sign.
Birdland Crush 