Shane Baz struggled through one of those in between starts tonight against San Diego for the Baltimore Orioles. You’ll always have ten great, ten poor, and ten in the middle. That was tonight. Luckily the bats also showed up. Baz’s line: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 earned), 2 BB, 1 K.
Two of those runs were driven in by hometown boy, Gavin Sheets – son of former Oriole Larry Sheets. The first of those was in the top of the first on an RBI-double. However the O’s would immediately get even on Adley Rutschman’s sac fly-RBI in the last of the first.
The difference was that the Orioles didn’t stop at just one run in the first inning. Pete Alonso drew a two-out walk, bringing Samuel Basallo to the plate, who smacked a two-run home run. And that set the tone for the ballgame.
San Diego would inch back closer in the second on Tatis’ RBI-single. However the great thing about Baz’s outing and the defense behind him tonight was that they never allowed big innings to start to unfold. Whenever San Diego put a run on the board or a couple of runners on base; the rally would get shut down.
Jackson Holliday would tack on a sac fly-RBI in the fourth. Later in the inning Pete Alonso would come up with a runner on base, and he smacked his second home run in as many games. This one of the two-run variety. One inning later Gunnar Henderson tacked on a solo homer, the 100th of his career.
Sheets would plate his second run in the fifth on an RBI-single. Baz was clearly starting to tire, but Craig Albernaz got him through the fifth, qualifying him for the win. The Oriole bullpen was rock solid for the final four innings, and the O’s took game one of the series, 7-3.
Baz won tonight when he wasn’t perfect. That makes a difference. He tired quickly at the end. But the bullpen picked him up. And the Birds are now within three of .500.
The series continues tomorrow at Camden Yards. Trey Gibson gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by San Diego’s Randy Vasquez. Game time is set for just after 4 PM.
Birdland Crush 