After taking one game out of three against the Texas Rangers in yet another weather-shortened series, the O’s are flying back home to take on the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday after a fairly impressive six-game road trip.
The O’s are still setting the pace in the AL East with an 8-3 record and have a 1.5-game advantage over the Boston Red Sox for the division lead in the early stages of 2016.
After a sixth inning nightmare for Chris Tillman & Company in a 6-3 Orioles loss on Thursday night, the O’s responded with an epic comeback that was fueled by a four-home run, nine-run display in the seventh inning of an 11-5 win on Friday night. The tables turned again in favor of Texas on Saturday after a six-run seventh inning propelled them in an 8-4 ballgame to help the Rangers take a 2-1 series advantage going into Sunday’s scheduled matinee.
However, Mother Nature had other plans in the form of a Texas-sized rain storm, and as a result, the O’s are flying back to the yard having dropped two of three in the Lone Star State. The fourth game of this series was rescheduled for June 20.
But it wasn’t all bad vibes in Arlington. Here’s a few takeaway’s from the O’s trip to Globe Life Park:
– Along with making O’s history on Friday, Mark Trumbo continued his great run of form versus Texas and finished the series 4-for-12 with four runs, three home runs, and six RBI, and he now has five homers and 11 RBI in his last six games. The Anaheim, California native is now tied for first in the AL in HR (5) and tied for second in RBI (11), along with owning the 2nd best batting average in the AL (.386).
– The O’s offense must strike fear in the hearts of opposing pitchers. They head back to OPACY with an MLB-leading 23 HR through the first 11 games of 2016 after hitting eight in three games against the Rangers and 15 total over the six-game road trip. They have now posted six multi-HR games on the year, and four games with three HR or more. As of Sunday evening, they are on pace to hit 339 homers. Although I wouldn’t run to Vegas and bet on the O’s to break the record, just sit back and enjoy the show, and let’s see how long they can keep up the pace.
– The O’s offense is currently tied for 1st in MLB with a .291 average, along with leading the AL in OBP (.354), SLG (.540), OPS (.894), and average w/RISP (.321). Their 60 runs (5.4 per game) rank 2nd in the AL.
– Manny Machado extended his hitting streak to eleven games with a solo HR on Saturday, his fourth of the season. The red-hot superstar is now hitting .433 (13-for-30) with eight runs, four doubles, two homers, and three RBI over his last eight games. Machado is also 4th in the AL with a .383 average (18-for-47) as of Sunday. Oh, and how about that defensive wizardry on the hot corner that we’ve come to love? That was on full display against the Rangers, too.
– J.J. Hardy heads into the series against the Jays with a six-game hitting streak after a 2-for-3 performance on Saturday night. The 33-year-old is 8-for-23 (.347) with four runs, three doubles, two home runs, and six RBI during that span.
– Joey Rickard just might be the real deal, and the true leadoff hitter that the O’s have been missing since Nick Markakis left. He’s reached base in all eleven games this season and is hitting .304 (14-for-46) with four doubles, one home run and four RBI on the year along with a .320 OBP.
– Chris Davis has three homers in his last six games with eight RBI, and is now tied with Trumbo, Toronto’s Josh Donaldson, and Seattle’s Robinson Cano for first in the AL with five home runs. The 30-year-old Texan is also tied for third in the AL with ten RBI.
– And lastly, Adam Jones crushed (and I mean CRUSHED) his first homer of ’16 off the Rangers Colby Lewis on Saturday. Welcome back, AJ!
Sure, the O’s didn’t end the road trip on the highest of notes, but they are still flying home to OPACY atop the AL East, and have taken three of four series so far in 2016. It can’t get much better than that!
Keep pounding O’s!
