How can you not be romantic about baseball?
It’s ironic that the most memorable quote from a movie about the rigors of logic and statistical analysis in baseball is about the irrational side of the sport – the side that has you hugging strangers and accidentally injuring yourself from celebrating too hard. (those bleacher seats at Camden Yards are hell on the shins!)
It’s even more ironic considering Moneyball’s influence on Mike Elias and Sig Mejdal, the Orioles’ general manager and assistant GM who helped bring championships to Houston. Their “Astroball” vision was already starting to take shape with one of the best farm systems in baseball, but it has crystallized into a team that’s looking to finish above .500 for the first time since 2016, defying all reason and expectation along the way.
I don’t mean to get too excited, but the buzz about baseball in Baltimore has been building for quite a while. If there was a roof on Camden Yards, it would have popped off the stadium on Friday night, a perfect representation of the 2022 season thus far.
Motivated by the fan-favorite floppy hat giveaway and the chance to see the longest win streak since 2017, a crowd of 27,814 – the fourth-highest attendance of the year, trailing only Opening Day and two Yankee games – gathered on an overcast night in Baltimore. They got more than just the usual share of Friday fireworks with a late-game rally to overcome home runs by Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, beating the Angels in the bottom of a three-run ninth for their sixth win in a row and their third walk-off in five days.
But, as always with this team, it’s not just the mere fact that they won. It’s how they did it. Tyler Wells wasn’t at his best, but did just enough before handing it off to yet another masterful bullpen performance from Bryan Baker, Keegan Akin and Beau Sulser, who combined for four scoreless innings with six strikeouts and no walks.
There’s no denying the hodge-podge feel of the Orioles’ pitching staff right now, especially with John Means and Kyle Bradish battling injuries. But Jordan Lyles and Spenser Watkins have been devouring innings while the bullpen pitches their butts off every night. Even Friday’s win was the Orioles’ eighth straight victory with Tyler Wells starting, proving that he’s a future piece of this rotation.
You can’t help but be inspired by these gutsy performances, and I’m sure the Orioles offense feels the same way. But their bats were silent for the first six innings on Friday night before a late-game charge that’s an excellent metaphor for the drip-drip bursts of excitement in Baltimore in 2021 – Means’ no-hitter, Mancini at the Derby, Mullins’ 30/30 season – and 2022 – Adley’s debut, Austin Hays’ cycle – that preceded this win streak.
A 7th inning rally was held to just one run after three straight strikeouts with runners on first and third, with Rutschman ending the inning after receiving a standing ovation as a pinch hitter. Two more K’s ended the Orioles’ 8th-inning rally, leaving Baltimore down just one run. But when Ohtani homered off of the usually-reliable Dillon Tate (just his second allowed of the year), followed by two quick outs in the bottom of the ninth, it felt like the game – and the streak – was in danger.
Enter a quartet of Orioles who embody the fun-loving, hard-working ethos of the team.
Rougned Odor, who is batting .203 but leading the league in vibes, laced an opposite field single and took second and third. You know that line from Moneyball about how nine Scott Hattebergs might be the best offense in baseball? Well, don’t check me on this, but nine Rougned Odors in two-out clutch situations might be the best offense in baseball right now.
Then Adley Rutschman – practically the Prince Who Was Promised to Orioles fans – stepped to the plate. There’s no denying he struggled at the plate in the majors initially, but his leadership behind the plate was immediately present. It was only a matter of time until his bat followed, and we got a great example of that on Friday night. Rutschman worked the count, as he often does, before sending a rocket into deep right center to bring Odor home. 4-3.
Up next was Cedric Mullins, who got off to a slow start this year after his breakout 2021 season, but opposing pitchers (and fly balls) simply can’t escape him. He singled up the middle to bring Rutschman home, taking second in the process.
And in stepped Trey Mancini. The grizzled veteran leader of this Orioles team, beloved by teammates and fans alike and a true inspiration to the entire baseball world. He’s never played on an Orioles team that didn’t finish dead last in the AL East. No one deserves this more than him, and he proved that once again on Friday night with a walk-off single into left. I marveled at Kevin Brown’s call during countless rewatches that night: “Into left field, Marsh…will not get there,” with his voice cracking out of pure excitement on the last word. I think that’s how we all felt watching the ball hit the outfield grass.
Camden Yards exploded, with a sea of floppy hats – most of them inverted, rally-cap style – jumping around in absolute bedlam. The team celebrated on the field, not stunned at what they had accomplished but simply excited to be playing at their full potential.
And not only was this all done with two outs, each hit came with two strikes in the count as well. The Orioles were down to their last strike on four different occasions, beating back the odds in every instance.
I also have to credit Brandon Hyde for his bullpen and lineup management. Hyde not only made sure his star rookie got in the game after leaving him out of the lineup, but also substituted Odor for Robinson Chirinos to get Adley behind the plate and his most clutch hitter in the lineup. Obviously, it worked.
Friday’s win inspired 32,286 fans to gut out a rainy 1-0 Saturday win with five Oriole pitchers combining for the shutout. (In fairness, that game’s giveaway Hawaiian shirts are even more popular than the floppy hats).
The Orioles fell just shy of topping 20,000 fans in three straight games, but those who were in attendance saw two different four-run rallies in another exciting game that never felt close.
I’ll even admit that I was nervous about a hangover from the hot weekend heading to Chicago, especially down 2-0 in the second inning on Tuesday, but Jordan Lyles showed once again that he has that dog in him and the Orioles rallied back for their ninth win in a row.
That’s the longest Orioles winning streak of my entire lifetime, and I’m relishing every moment of it. We’ve known for a while that baseball is back in Baltimore, but this win streak – even if it ends tonight (looking good so far, however) – put the entire world on notice. We’ll always remember this franchise pivot point when the Orioles were finally back to winning again.
