Well, the bad news is that the O’s were one out away from taking the opening game in New York on Friday night, and perhaps giving themselves a chance to sweep the Yankees. The good news, though, is that they did not let Friday’s devastating defeat linger at all, and promptly bounced back to take the final two games of the series by a combined score of 14-1. It was an impressive showing by Buck Showalter’s club, who could have folded like a cheap tent following Carlos Beltran’s game-winning three-run home run, but instead did just the opposite.
THE GOOD
The Birds’ starting pitching continues to be a rather unexpected strength of the club. Ubaldo Jimenez (5.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 6 BB, 3 K), Bud Norris (5 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K), and Chris Tillman (7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 K) each turned in a solid outing over the weekend. Jimenez still needs to cut the walks down, obviously, but the bottom line is that he wiggled his way out of some jams and gave his team a chance to win. Norris looked poised to go deep into Saturday’s game before leaving with groin tightness that he experienced while warming up for the sixth inning. Bud looks like he’s doing all he can to get back for his next start though…
A huge huge shout out to @NTrecovery for always working behind the scenes. #gethealthy #blessed #birdland pic.twitter.com/1j1q5wF4Di
— Bud Norris (@BudNorris25) June 23, 2014
The bullpen was solid as well for the most part, with T.J. McFarland leading the way with four perfect frames (two each Friday and Sunday). Ryan Webb tossed two innings of one-hit ball on Saturday in relief of Norris, and Tommy Hunter added 1.2 shutout innings of his own.
Offensively, J.J. Hardy continues to hit the ball well, with five hits and four driven in over the weekend, including his first home run since September of 2013 (see his hilarious reaction to his teammates’ silent treatment here). Steve Pearce just keeps on having the hottest bat on the team, going 6-for-13 with a double, home run, and two RBI. Adam Jones had a good series as well, with five hits, two RBI, and another dinger.
THE BAD
Two usually-reliable members of the bullpen had a shaky start to the weekend. On Friday night, after McFarland left the game, Darren O’Day entered and gave up consecutive hits to put the tying run on base in the bottom of the eighth before ending the frame.
In the ninth, Zach Britton appeared to lack his normal control, as he gave up three hits and a walk, with all four baserunners scoring. It was Britton’s second blown save of the season.
Chris Davis just can’t find any consistency. The big guy went just 2-for-14 with six K’s, and his average has now dropped below .220 to .216. Yikes. Nelson Cruz wasn’t much better. Though he hit his 23rd home run on Saturday, Nelly was just 2-for-12, and stranded seven runners himself on Sunday.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Birds not only gained a game on the Yankees this weekend, but they gained one on Toronto as well, as the Blue Jays lost two of three to Cincinnati. Toronto also lost Brett Lawrie and potentially Jose Bautista to injury on Sunday. The three squads atop the AL East are now dead even in the loss column (35 each), with Baltimore and New York officially 1.5 back of Toronto.
The O’s now play 15 of their next 20 games at home before the All-Star break, against teams that are a combined 27 games under .500. As our friend Pete Gilbert of WBAL tweeted, it’s time for a run.
Unfortunately, getting said run started tonight will be a tall order. The Chicago White Sox are in town for three, and while they’re 35-41 and just 2-8 over their last 10, they send Chris Sale to the hill tonight, who has been nearly unhittable in 2014. In 65.1 IP, Sale has allowed just 39 H and 16 ER (2.20 ERA). He has, though, given up 3 and 4 runs over two of his last three starts. Hopefully it’s another down night for him.
The Birds send Wei-Yin Chen to the mound on Monday, while on Tuesday Miguel Gonzalez takes on Jose Quintana and Wednesday will see Jimenez against Hector Noesi.
