What a weekend for your Baltimore Orioles, Birdland. Let’s recap, in bullet form:
— Swept the Minnesota Twins, who had taken two of three last week in Baltimore, and a team that always give the O’s fits for some reason (last July 3, the O’s broke a streak of 12 straight losses at Target Field).
— Outscored the Twins 15-2 on Sunday while hitting a season-high six home runs.
— Outscored Minny 24-5 in the three-game set.
— Have won five straight games, the longest current streak in MLB, outscoring the Twins and Yankees 44-9 over the stretch.
— Thanks to the Tampa Bay Rays losing seven straight games before winning their own first-half finale Sunday, enter the break dead even with the division leaders in the loss column at 35.
After Tampa’s torrid start, it was conceivable that they would run away and hide with the division, and be wire-to-wire AL East champs. While the Birds are still technically 2.0 games back, and haven’t “caught” the Rays per se, matching them in the loss column at this point is a feat in itself, and goes to show that the Orioles are in this race for the long haul, prepared to pressure Tampa in an ongoing fashion.
Outfield prospect Colton Cowser is undefeated as an Oriole since being called up prior to Wednesday’s game in New York, and is just the latest young exciting Bird to contribute to what’s quickly becoming a memorable season for all the right reasons. Cowser has three hits and six walks in 16 AB, and has scored six of those aforementioned 44 runs, while driving in two others.
Things don’t get any easy for the Orioles after the break, as they host the surprising 53-39 Miami Marlins and then 51-38 Los Angeles Dodgers before heading to Tampa for four, then Philly for three against the 48-41 Phils.
Nothing we’ve seen so far in 2023 suggests that the O’s aren’t up for the challenge.
Tonight, we watch Adley Rutschman take part in the Home Run Derby, then tomorrow night Austin Hays starts for the AL in the Midsummer Classic.
Not a bad start to July.
