The Baltimore Orioles sent Cade Povich to the mound in this afternoon’s series finale with San Francisco at Camden Yards. The twist? It was his 26th birthday. Also the Oriole Bird’s birthday. And Povich didn’t back down on his special day. Povich’s line: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K.
Povich you’ll recall began the season in triple-A. He came up and last weekend gave the Orioles good innings to save the bullpen in Pittsburgh. As a result he was tabbed to start today. And on his birthday, he didn’t disappoint.
The two guys in the lineup who have been struggling the most, Pete Alonso and Samuel Basallo, may have attempted to break out today also. Mirroring last night( Alonso drew a walk in the last of the first. Which is good – despite the power outage, he’s getting on base.
Basallo followed, and smacked a two-run home run into the Orioles’ bullpen. With a 2-0 lead, Povich didn’t allow his first hit or base runner until the fifth. That runner would later score on an RBI-single by Susac. But he buckled down and closed out the inning.
That part’s big. You aren’t going to retire every batter. But you can attempt to limit damage when guys to get on. Povich stayed out of a big inning, and got back in the dugout.
In the home half of that fifth inning it was Alonso’s turn. With two runners on base, his two-RBI double extended the lead to 4-1. One inning later it was Coby Mayo’s turn, who followed through with an RBI-single to extend it to 5-1. Colton Cowser would tack on an infield RBI-single in the seventh, and San Francisco a solo homer by Schmidt in the ninth to run the final to 6-2.
Conventional wisdom says that Povich might be ticketed to go back to the minors. And in fact, the O’s need a starter tomorrow. But after this outing, who knows. He saved the bullpen, and steadied the ship even further.
As did Alonso and Basallo. Are things coming together more, despite the injuries? The future will tell us that. However that may have been the best start of Cade Povich’s career.
The Orioles are set to welcome in Arizona tomorrow night for the first of three at Camden Yards. The Orioles are yet to announce a starter, but Arizona will be throwing Ryne Nelson. Game time is set for just after 6:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 