Despite the struggles thus far this year by the Baltimore Orioles, Brandon Young continues to be a great story. Young’s pitched outstanding all year, despite not having been supposed to be a part of the rotation. Tonight he served as the Orioles’ stopper – but the offense didn’t make it easy, at least early on. Young’s line: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K.
Bluntly put, Young attacked the strike zone tonight. However if you look through his starts this year, he always has. From a defensive perspective, that’s how you record outs and win games. BECAUSE…winning begins and ends with starting pitching.
But he didn’t get much help. The Orioles did put men on base. But they couldn’t plate them. That came to a head when they loaded the bases in the third with nobody out. And couldn’t score.
Ironically they did get a hit with a runner in scoring position in that sequence. Gunnar Henderson got a base hit but the runner had to stop at third. And before long the inning ended and the Birds couldn’t score.
The O’s needed to get something across. They needed to thrust Brandon Young into the lead. He didn’t deserve to be non-decisioned. And he certainly didn’t deserve to lose. Luckily Pete Alonso’s sixth inning solo homer made that a bit tougher – to leave in line to lose.
Colton Cowser would steal second following his walk after the home run. He would later score on Leody Taveras’ RBI-double. Taveras would score later in the inning on a subsequent RBI-double by Blaze Alexander. And the Birds suddenly led, 3-0.
One inning later it was over. In theory. The O’s loaded the bases again, bringing Jackson Holliday to the plate. On a 1-1 count, Holliday sent a deep shot to right center, which ended up in the seats. With the grand slam, the O’s opened the game wide open and led 7-0.
Grant Wolfram would make it interesting in the eight, allowing two runs. But Yennier Cano shut the door, and the Birds snapped a four-game losing streak with the 7-2 lead. The situational hitting was off early. But they got it together late.
The series concludes tomorrow night at Camden Yards. Kyle Bradish gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Seattle’s Bryan Woo. Game time is set for just after 7 PM,
Birdland Crush 