I’ll start this off by hoping that all of the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother’s day yesterday!
Now, let’s talk about another impressive display from your first-place Orioles!
The first game of Saturday’s doubleheader was a tough one to watch for the Camden Yards spectators, as the Orioles found themselves fighting an uphill battle after Marcus Semien put the A’s up 1-0 in the first inning and Josh Reddick tripled the A’s lead to 3-0 in the 5th. A two-RBI single in the sixth inning from Jed Lowrie would set up the knockout by way of Semien’s two-run homer in the 8th to extend the A’s lead to 8-1. Joey Rickard knocked in a run on a single before Pedro Alvarez cut the A’s lead in half in the 9th, but the O’s semi-rally fell short and the Athletics walked away from the rare Saturday matinée with an 8-4 victory.
The second game of the doubleheader was much more enjoyable for the O’s faithful. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a gem of a game in the nightcap, allowing two runs on nine hits over eight innings with one walk and six strikeouts. The O’s pulled away to a 4-0 lead in the third inning after an RBI groundout from Hyun-Soo Kim and an RBI single from Adam Jones before Chris Davis launched a two-run bomb to double the O’s lead to 4-0. Josh Phegley and Josh Reddick cut into the O’s lead with two RBI singles in the 5th , but Jimenez regained his dominance shortly after and Zach Britton closed it out with his seventh save of the season to lead the O’s to a 5-2 win.
And just like that, the series finale and rubber match was set on Mother’s Day. The O’s definitely did not disappoint by turning in one of their best displays of the young season and hitting a season-high six home runs and matching their season high of 11 runs.
A rocky first inning from Chris Tillman (6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K) and a fine hitting display from the Athletics in the form of RBI singles from Josh Reddick and former Oriole Danny Valencia followed by Yonder Alonso’s RBI double gave the A’s a 3-0 lead before the moms had even settled into their seats. However, the O’s wasted no time in responding as Manny Machado cranked a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. Pedro Alvarez would then launch the first Eutaw Street bomb of the O’s 2016 season, and the scorching-hot Jonathan Schoop followed directly after with a bomb to make the score 4-3 Orioles in the second.
But the O’s home run party wasn’t even close to being finished. In fact, it was just getting started.
Mark Trumbo would launch his ninth home run of the season with a two-run shot in the third inning before Joey Rickard crushed his third homer of the year on a solo bomb in the fourth to make it 7-3 O’s. Later on, Manny Machado walked up to the plate with the bases loaded with no outs in the eighth inning…And you know the rest.
Machado came through on the big stage with a grand slam, his second homer of the game and his second grand slam of the season. The 23-year-old ended the game with a career-high 6 RBI and now has 11 RBI in his last ten games. The grand salami put the O’s up by the eventual final of 11-3, and the O’s are heading to Minneapolis after taking two of three from their Bay-area visitors.
The O’s also went undefeated series-wise in their home stand after previously taking two of three from the Yanks and splitting with the White Sox. The O’s end their ten-game home stand with a 6-4 record and a MLB-best 13-5 home record at Camden Yards on the year. The O’s are now back in first place in the AL East at 18-12 and have a slim 0.5-game lead on the 18-13 Boston Red Sox, who just lost two of three to the Yankees in Manhattan.
Now, let’s take a look at a few highlights from the clash with Oakland:
– After scoring just five runs in three games versus the Yankees, the O’s quadrupled that number in an excellent hitting display against the A’s. Along with scoring 20 runs, the Orioles also went 27-101 (.267 average) at the plate after batting just .204 at the dish against the Yanks.
– After the O’s six-homer display on Mother’s Day, they have regained their status as AL-home run king with 43 dingers on the year. Oh, and by the way, the O’s sluggers are still on pace to hit 232 jacks this season.
– The offense also heads to Minnesota holding the second spot in the AL in batting average (.264) and tied for fourth in runs per game (4.4)
– I know it’s early, but Manny Machado might be the unanimous decision for AL MVP if he can keep even 75% of this up for the rest of the year. The O’s superstar went 5-for-12 with four runs, two doubles, two homers and six RBI versus Oakland, and Machado’s numbers are crazy ridiculous over his last ten games, going 16-for-40 (.400) with eight runs, seven doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI. The 23-year old is now hitting a sparkling .350 with a team-high 15 doubles and tied for a team-high nine homers with 22 RBI and a .403 OBP.
– Jonathan Schoop has been phenomenal over his current eleven game hit streak, going 14-for-40 (.350) with eight runs, two doubles, two home runs and four RBI. The O’s 24-year-old second baseman is now hitting .257 with six doubles, five home runs and 12 RBI.
– Joey Rickard. What else can you say? If you don’t believe this guy is the real deal by now, then continue to drink your Hater-Ade and watch as this rookie guns runners down at home, makes sliding catches in the gap look like child’s play and runs down fly balls swiftly and easily with his nonchalant demeanor. Joey ‘’ROY’’ Rickard, ladies and gentleman. The 24-year old also finished the series going 4-for-8 with four runs, one home run and two RBI, and is now hitting .286 on the year with five doubles, three home runs and nine RBI with a .328 OBP.
– Mark Trumbo had a great day on Mother’s Day Sunday, going 3-for-5 with one home run and two RBI. The 30-year-old slugger is now hitting .325 on the campaign with three doubles, a joint team-high nine bombs and a team-leading 24 RBI with a stellar .378 OBP.
To recap in a nutshell, the O’s are back in first place, they’ve now won back-to-back series, they still have the best record at home in MLB and they put on a grand display on Mother’s Day to cap it all off?
Sounds like pretty much a perfect scenario to me! There’s no negative’s in this series notebook, ladies and gentleman. You know why?
Because it’s all good vibes in Birdland!
Until next time!
