Going into this series, we anticipated that it was going to be an intense three-game battle between the Orioles and Red Sox for sole first place in the division, and we weren’t disappointed.
Fortunately for us here in Birdland, it was the Orioles that would prevail after taking two out of three from the Boston rivals at Fenway Park. Of course, there are still 97 games left on the calendar, but first place is first place.
Tuesdays contest was mainly dominated by O’s staff ace Chris Tillman (7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) and Red Sox star David Price (8.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 11 K), but Manny Machado’s two-run blast in the first gave the O’s an advantage they would never relinquish.
Jonathan Schoop added an insurance run in the eighth with a solo homer to hand the Orioles a 3-1 lead, and despite Hanley Ramirez making it interesting with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to cut the O’s lead to 3-2, Zach Britton slammed the door shut by striking out the side in the ninth to remain a perfect 20-for-20 in save opportunities on the campaign.
After Kevin Gausman’s nightmare outing on Wednesday – he imploded after allowing five runs in the third inning to leave the O’s facing a 6-0 deficit – most people chalked this game up as a lost cause…especially with Steven Wright (7.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) on the mound.
But always remember; there are 27 outs in baseball.
The Orioles came alive late in the game after Adam Jones crushed a two-run homer in the seventh to cut the Sox lead to 6-2. They applied more pressure on the home squad after Matt Wieters came through with an RBI double followed by an RBI single from Schoop to make it 6-4 Boston.
Alas, Craig Kimbrel would close the books on this one in the ninth to force a series rubber match on Thursday.
Two words from Thursday’s game: Tyler Wilson.
The O’s 26-year-old hurler pitched what is surely his best game to date in this contest, scattering three hits over eight stellar shutout innings with one walk and six strikeouts. Hopefully, this will springboard Wilson back into form going into the center of the schedule.
For the first four innings, it was Adam Jones 3, Red Sox 0. The O’s 30-year-old star cranked a two-run shot in the third inning, followed by an RBI double in the fourth.
The O’s scored a few valuable insurance runs with a Chris Davis RBI single and an RBI double from Schoop in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 5-0.
Despite David Ortiz taking Brad Brach deep to avoid the shutout (I still can’t believe Buck didn’t at least let Wilson try and go out to lock up his shutout in the ninth, but Buck knows best, right?) the O’s would take the game, the series, and the division lead with a 5-1 victory before heading back to Camden to take on the Blue Jays (Again).
Now, let’s take a look at the highlights from the O’s trip to Fenway:
-Highlighted by another superb performance from Chris Tillman and Tyler Wilson having a career night, the O’s starting pitchers recorded a rock-solid 3.50 ERA versus Boston. More of the same please!
– Tillman recorded his 7th straight quality start on Tuesday, and has posted an immaculate 5-0 record with a stellar 2.72 ERA during that span. The California is 9-1 with a sparkling 2.87 ERA on the year.
– I said it before, but it sounds ridiculous so I’ll say it again. Zach Britton is 20-for-20 in save situations with a superb 0.96 ERA and microscopic 0.61 WHIP.
– Welcome to Birdland, Odrisamer Despaigne! The 29-year-old Cuban made his O’s debut on Wednesday and threw 2.2 scoreless innings in the O’s 6-4 loss. After coming on for the laboring Gausman, Despaigne must have impressed the coaching staff by really working hard and keeping the O’s in the game. Well played by the former Padre.
– After cranking four home runs versus the Sox, the O’s sluggers have now hit 34 homers over their last 14 games and lead the majors in HR (103).
– After scoring 12 runs over the three game series against the Red Sox, the O’s have now scored 93 runs over their last 15 games, good for 6.2 runs per game. They have scored five runs or more in nine of their last 15.
– Adam Jones might not be having an MVP caliber season, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by watching his glittering display versus the Sox. After going 5-for-14 with two homers and five RBI at Fenway, the O’s 30-year-old star is hitting .285 with eight home runs and 16 RBI over his last 16 games. He’s also hit four homers in his last four games in the middle of a five-game hit streak. Don’t look now folks, but Jonesy might be hitting his best form of the season.
– Even a looming suspension didn’t stop Manny Machado from going 4-for-13 with a homer and two RBI versus Boston. The O’s superstar third baseman is hitting .343 with two homers and four RBI over his last seven games.
– Jonathan Schoop will head home on a seven-game hitting streak after going 3-for-11 with one homer and three RBI against Boston. The O’s 24-year-old second baseman is hitting .346 with two home runs and five RBI during that span.
– And finally, could this series mark the return of Joey ‘’ROY’’ Rickard?! The 25-year-old rookie went 4-for-11 with two runs, one double and one stolen base while extending his hitting streak to four games. The Vegas native is hitting .437 with four runs, one homer and one RBI over his last four contests.
-As the O’s head back to Camden, they now own a 6-4 advantage over the Red Sox on the year, a 52-33 record over the Sox since 2012 and a 27-17 mark at Fenway during that span. For now (At least until we meet again in August), the O’s recent dominance over the Sox continues.
Now in sole first place of the division, the O’s are soaring back home to ‘’protect this house’’ against their invading northern neighbors in the form of the Blue Jays.
Here’s to staying in first place!
