The Baltimore Orioles needed and received another quality start from a pitcher in last night’s series-opener against Kansas City at Camden Yards. And they got it out of Brandon Young. While he didn’t qualify for the win – which came later- he put the Birds in a spot to win with how he pitched. Young’s line: 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K.
At first at least it appeared that Young might be victimized by a lack of runs offensively. Or become the most recent Oriole starter to suffer that fate. RBI-singles in the third by Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson gave the O’s a 2-0 lead. As much as Henderson has struggled of late, he needed that.
However Young allowed Kansas City to equalize. Caglianone’s solo home run in fourth cut the lead to 2-1, and Rojas’ RBI-double later in the inning tied the game at two. However it wasn’t tied for long. Blaze Alexander’s solo homer in the bottom of the inning gave the O’s the lead back at 3-2.
Young lasted through seven, and was sent back out in the eight. He led off the inning by surrendering a solo homer to Collins, tying the game at three. He was promptly lifted. Young probably deserved to win the game, and he probably shouldn’t have come back out to pitch the eighth. But again needless to say, he set the Orioles up for success in the game.
And in the last of the eighth inning, it was Samuel Basallo who delivered that success. With Pete Alonso aboard, he jumped on a hanging slider and smacked a two-run home run. The Birds took a 5-3 lead, which was closed out in the ninth and turned into a 5-3 win.
The series continues this evening at Camden Yards. Kyle Bradish gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Kansas City’s Noah Cameron. Game time is set for just after 7 PM,
Birdland Crush 