With the feeling of sudden urgency looming around Birdland as the Yankees rolled into town, it was clear that the Orioles were in need of a momentum-building effort going into the last full month of the season.
And the home team did not disappoint by doing just that, shutting out the Yankees two nights in a row before dropping the series finale on Sunday.
While the O’s couldn’t deliver the KO blow and complete the sweep of the Yankees, it was an encouraging display that proved to the rest of the AL that these Orioles aren’t going down without a fight.
The Orioles used a six-run outburst in the second inning of the series opener on Friday to blow the game open, highlighted by two-run shots by Pedro Alvarez, his 20th of the season, and Chris Davis, his 33rd on the year. Mark Trumbo’s league-leading 41st dinger on the campaign capped off the Orioles explosion.
Manny Machado would put the icing on the cake with a two-run blast in the fourth as the Orioles cruised to a decisive 8-0 win over the Yanks on the golden shoulder of Dylan Bundy, who went 5 2/3 innings scoreless while holding the Bombers to just two hits.
Kevin Gausman’s tremendous performance on Saturday propelled the Orioles to a 2-0 victory, as the in-form flamethrower registered six shutout innings while stifling the Yanks offense to the tune of just two hits and eight strikeouts.
Adam Jones put the Orioles up 2-0 in the fifth with a solo shot off of CC Sabathia, which would be the eventual game-clinching run as the Orioles blanked the Yankees for the third time in a row.
The Yankees managed to avoid the sweep in the series finale on Sunday after putting up four runs on five hits over five innings against Wade Miley & Co.
A pair of RBI singles from Chase Headley in the first and fourth inning plus a two-run single by Austin Romine in the first carried the Yanks to the 5-2 triumph over the Birds.
After taking the series win over New York, the Orioles are now three games behind the first place Blue Jays and two games apart from the runner-up Boston Red Sox. Baltimore and Detroit remain tied for the second and final wild card slot in the AL, while the Astros are within striking distance at two games back.
Hold onto your seat folks; this roller coaster has just begun.
In the meantime, let’s take a look at the highlights from the Orioles impressive performance against the Yanks:
– Highlighted by young guns Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman, the Orioles starters registered a sparkling 2.16 ERA over 16 2/3 innings against the Yankees. The Orioles rotation has been a mixed bag all season long, but they are heating up at the perfect time for the Birds after posting a superb 2.44 ERA over the past 11 contests.
– Remember when Chris Tillman went down, we said something about Kevin Gausman having to pick up the slack and carry the torch? Well, he’s risen up to the occasion after recording a 5-2 record and a stellar 2.11 ERA over his past seven outings while racking up 49 K’s over 42 2/3 innings in the process.
– The Orioles bullpen has been a target of criticism as of late, but they responded in superb fashion by allowing just one run (zero earned) over 10 1/3 innings versus New York. More of the same please!
– The offense really didn’t break out as everyone hoped after the six-run outburst in the second inning on Friday, as the Orioles posted just six runs over the following 24 innings. Regardless, the Orioles still scored 12 runs on five homers while hitting a respectable .247 at the plate as a team.
– The 2016 Orioles are now just the second squad in team history to have six players hit 20+ home runs in a single campaign, so cheers to that!
– The Orioles still own the 2016 MLB HR crown with 214 home runs as a team, which puts them on pace to finish just two homers shy of breaking the franchises single-season home run record (1996 Orioles, 257).
– After recording his AL-leading 40th save of the season on Saturday, Zach Britton has now gone a perfect 40-for-40 in save situations on the year. Simply incredible.
– Manny Machado has also been incredible recently, as the O’s superstar has posted an outstanding .319 average at the plate with 12 runs, five doubles, seven homers and 16 RBI over his last 17 contests.
– Injured or not, Orioles star captain Adam Jones is red-hot at the moment as well. Over his last seven ballgames, Jones has gone 12-for-28 (.429) at the dish with five runs, one home run and three RBI.
After a much-needed positive result against the Yankees, the Orioles must find a way to capture that momentum and keep the train rolling in St. Petersburg against Tampa Bay this week.
Lastly, Happy Labor Day everyone! Take the day off, enjoy it with friends and family, and let’s hope for an Orioles W this afternoon!
Until next time, Orioles nation!
