The Orioles were flying high coming into Seattle, having just dealt their rival Tampa Bay Rays a four-game sweep before taking both games of a two-game mini-series versus the Padres. The O’s owned a season-best 47-30 record and a season high 5.5-game lead over Boston for first place in the AL East.
Most were hoping for or even expecting at least a two-two split in the four-game set versus Seattle. A first place team that’s been in excellent form versus a squad that’s trying to keep pace in the wild card standings…what could possibly go wrong?
Well, a lot actually…
The story didn’t quite fit the script that everybody had in mind. Not only did the Mariners bring the Orioles win streak to a halt in the series opener on Thursday, they handed the Orioles a humbling four-game sweep over the weekend at Safeco and looked like a team that’s destined for more than being a third-place in the AL West.
After Seth Smith’s two-run homer in the fourth inning Thursday off of Chris Tillman (4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) gave the hosts a 3-0 lead, the Orioles would attempt a late comeback by way of Hyun Soo Kim’s record-setting solo shot in the seventh. That was followed by Manny Machado and Kim both picking up RBI singles in the eighth to cut the deficit to 5-3, but the O’s rally would fall short as Seattle took the series opener.
Chris Davis’s 20th homer of the season tied the game at 1-1 on Friday and Jonathan Schoop drove in the go-ahead run on a single in the third. With Kevin Gausman (6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) still cruising through five innings, things seemed to be trending in the O’s favor…
That was until Kyle Seager took Gausman deep with a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth and before Dae Ho Lee delivered the knockout blow with a two-run blast in the eighth. Mariners win 5-2 in a game that semi-slipped away.
Still recovering from two straight losses, Nelson Cruz would tear the Orioles wounds back open with a three-run bomb in the first inning off of Tyler Wilson (3.0 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) Saturday. And this was only the beginning of the misery.
Mike Zunino re-introduced himself to the Mariners faithful by launching a two-run blast in the second before Smith cranked a three-run shot in the fourth to open the floodgates and hand the M’s an 8-1 lead. The Orioles pegged two runs back in the sixth off of an RBI single by J.J. Hardy and an RBI double from Nolan Reimold to cut the lead to 9-4, but the Mariners put the game to bed in the bottom of the sixth after Dae-ho Lee drove in a run on a single before Adam Lind and Zunino mashed back-to-back homers to hand Seattle a massive 12-4 lead. “Crush” would crank a two-run shot, his 21st on the year, in the seventh inning to no avail in the 12-6 defeat.
I think everybody in Birdland was thinking the same thing when they woke up on Sunday morning:
“Please don’t get swept, Orioles”
Well, it happened and it sucks…but it’s baseball. Take it on the chin and move on.
Smith’s grand slam in the first inning off of Ubaldo Jimenez (4.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) gave the hosting Mariners an instant 4-0 advantage, and one that they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Orioles offense struck in the fourth inning after Mark Trumbo crushed his 24th home run of the season before Hardy pegged back two runs on a double to make it 4-3 Seattle. The O’s comeback, however, halted right after the frame was over. Trumbo pulled the game back within reach with an RBI single in the seventh to cut the deficit to 6-4, but the Mariners would wrap up the win and the sweep after Kyle Seager’s two-run double and Lind’s RBI double put the Mariners back up comfortably at 9-4.
Ballgame over, series over…Where’s the ‘’Neuralyzer’’ from ‘’Men In Black’’ when you need one?
Let’s take a look at a few notes from the O’s dreadful trip to the Emerald City:
– While the offense certainly wasn’t at its best versus Seattle, O’s hitters managed to hit .256 (37-for-144) at the plate while scoring 15 runs and clubbing four homers.
– Over the last 14 games, the Orioles dynamic offense is scoring a lofty 6.9 runs per game while the O’s hitters have launched 23 home runs along with a sparkling .331 average at the plate.
– Despite going 3-for-18 versus the Mariners, Adam Jones is still hitting an outstanding .338 at the plate with three homers and ten RBI over his last 14 games.
– Jonathan Schoop added to his already stellar first half of 2016 by going 5-for-16 with three runs and one RBI against Seattle and is hitting an incredible .444 with three home runs and ten RBI over his last 15 games.
– What else can you say about Hyun Soo Kim? The 28-year-old rookie continued his phenomenal run of form by going 4-for-12 with one double, one homer and two RBI versus the M’s. Kim is also hitting .385 (10-for-26) with two home runs and seven RBI over his last seven games.
– Chris Davis ended the first half of the season on a high note by going 4-for-17 with two homers and four RBI against the Mariners and is hitting .300 with four home runs and ten RBI over his last seven games.
– Mark Trumbo also ended the first half of the campaign on a surge in form by hitting .323 with three homers and ten RBI over his last seven games.
– After going 5-for-18 with one RBI in Seattle, Manny Machado is hitting a superb .448 at the dish with one homer and nine RBI over his last 13 games.
Of course, we have to take a look at what went wrong in Seattle:
– The entire quartet of starters struggled tremendously versus the Mariners and posted a woeful 10.50 ERA over 18.0 innings.
– The bullpen wasn’t much better and registered a 5.92 ERA over 14.0 innings.
– The Mariners were on fire at the dish over the weekend and ended the series with a stellar .335 average along with 31 runs, 21 extra-base hits and 10 homers.
– For whatever reason, the Orioles pitching staff refused to stop throwing to Seth Smith, and he made them pay by going yard in all four games. The veteran outfielder finished the series 8-for-17 with five runs, four home runs and 11 RBI.
I guess the bitter cherry on top for the Orioles is the fact that the Mariners seem to have their number this season. After the four game sweep, the Orioles own a dreadful 1-6 record against Seattle and have been outscored 50-22 against them on the year.
Here’s to getting the hell out of Seattle!
