Series Results: 2-1 Twins
THE GOOD
Outfielder/designated hitter Nelson Cruz continues to mash early in the season, as he and his trusty “boom-stick” accounted for four RBI in the series, despite the Orioles only scoring six runs. Cruz also hit home runs eight and nine in the series, which currently has him in third place in the American League in long balls. Cruz is also on a six-game hitting streak and has pumped his average up to .294.
Starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez is on the good side for the first time all season, after pitching what was easily his best game of his season up to this point on Friday night. Jimenez held the Twins to only three hits and one walk, while striking out 10 batters over 7 1/3 innings. Jimenez has struggled to go deep in games this season, and still has an ERA over 5, but this start is a step in the right direction.
Outfielder Nick Markakis has been impressive all season up to this point, as the O’s longest tenured player is hitting over .300 on the season and getting on base at a .361 clip overall. Markakis also went 4/13 in the series, and is on a very impressive hitting streak of twelve straight games. Markakis has been consistent all season, and through the first sixth of the season has hit in all but four games.
THE BAD
Outfielder Adam Jones has been streaky at times in the past as a result of his lack of a willingness to take walks consistently, but has been marred in a slump of late. The centerfielder went only 2/12 in the series, and is hitting just .252 on the year, after hitting .285 in 2013. Jones also has been experiencing a severe power outage, as he has just one home run after hitting over 30 long balls each of the past two years.
Right-handed relief pitcher Ryan Webb struggled in his only appearance of the series, allowing two earned runs on two hits and a walk in only 1/3 inning pitched Sunday. At the time Webb allowed the runs, the O’s were only down by one run, but after they were surrendered the deficit was three runs in the late innings. Webb has been shaky this season, with an ERA of 5.56 and an unimpressive WHIP.
While his stats do not look too bad on the surface, (2 ER in 5 IP,) starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen was disappointing on Saturday, and struggled mightily. Chen was inefficient, throwing a season-high 108 pitches while only making it through five innings of work. Chen also allowed three runs to score (though one was unearned). Chen is still allowing way too many runners to reach base this season, and has not been going deep in games the way he did at times last season.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Winning games on the road is difficult in the major leagues, and it can be even tougher when you travel as far from home as the Orioles had to for this series. That being said, losing two out of three games is never satisfying, and the offense struggles far too much outside of Nelson Cruz. The other important takeaways are that Manny Machado continues to look better with each game, and that Jimenez’s impressive start may be a harbinger of what is still to come from the big right hander. Jimenez has been a streaky pitcher in the past, and when he is hot, he is one of the best pitchers in the game.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Orioles will next return to divisional play, as they will take on the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. The matchups in the three game series that starts on Tuesday night are Tillman vs Archer, Norris vs Ramos, and Jimenez vs Price. The Rays just won two out of three games in New York against the Yankees and are starting to heat up in the competitive AL East. All three games will be night games, starting at 7:05 PM. The Orioles took both games of a rain-shortened series last time these two teams met up back in April.
