After three brutal nights of watching the Yankees brush aside our Orioles, I guess the only silver lining of the trip to the Bronx is the relief of not being swept over the four-game series.
Still, talk about a bitter end to a road trip. And as a direct result of the slip up in the Big Apple, the O’s find themselves in second place in the division for the first time since June 4th, a stretch spanning six weeks.
The race for the AL East pennant is now condensed between three clubs just 1.5-games apart from each other, as the Orioles trail the Red Sox by half a game for first place, while the Blue Jays stand just a game behind the O’s in third place.
Kevin Gausman (6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) continued his dominance against the Yankees on Monday, but to no avail. Alex Rodriguez’s solo homer in the second was nullified by Jonathan Schoop’s solo blast in the third, but the Yankees would strike next, with Brian McCann knocking in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third. The Bronx Bombers would hand the slim lead to their trio of Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman to finish the job and cruised to the 2-1 victory.
The Orioles fell behind early on Tuesday after Starlin Castro’s 11th home run of the season off Vance Worley handed the home squad a 2-0 advantage in the second inning followed by Jacoby Ellsbury knocking in a run in the fifth inning. Joey Rickard would get the O’s off of nil with an RBI double in the sixth, but Castro extended the Yanks advantage with a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth. Chase Headley would finally put the grueling game to bed with a two-run bomb in the eighth, and the Bombers notched a 7-1 win.
After Carlos Beltran’s RBI sac fly in the first inning, the Yankees wouldn’t look in the rearview mirror once on Wednesday. Mark Teixeira cranked a solo shot in the fourth inning to double the Yankees’ advantage, and by the time Beltran launched his 20th home run of the season in the eighth, the game had already been long over. 5-0 Bombers.
With their backs against the wall and Chris Tillman on the mound, the Orioles saved face by avoiding the sweep in the Bronx on Thursday. The Orioles ace tossed a superb seven innings and allowed just one run on four hits while striking out seven batters in the process.
And the struggling O’s offense finally came through in the clutch as J.J. Hardy picked up a two-run single in the first inning and Schoop looped a two-run double to right in the seventh. It wasn’t always pretty, but the two clutch hits were all the Orioles needed to take home a 4-1 win as well as drawing level in the season series with the Yankees.
But before we sign off, let’s take a look at what went wrong in the Bronx:
– How can we not talk about this mystery illness that’s spreading through the clubhouse like wildfire? The bug caused Chris Davis to sit out three games, Manny Machado missed a game and even Buck Showalter succumbed to it on Wednesday. The next time you go to an All-Star Game, bring hand sanitizer. (hint hint, Mr.Britton and Mr.Brach)
– And how can we not talk about the injuries either? Along with Hyun Soo Kim currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, the trainer’s room now includes Matt Wieters, who’s dealing with a swollen foot after being drilled by Ivan Nova on Monday, Adam Jones, who missed Thursdays contest with back spasms, and Joey Rickard, who supposedly banged up his hand going into the warning track on Wednesday night. Godspeed and get well soon, guys.
– It’s not often that we’ve had to discuss our offensive production in a negative tone, but the Orioles were simply dominated at the plate in the Bronx. Orioles’ hitters finished the series batting a woeful 23-for-128 (.179) while recording just six runs and one home run.
– Over the last seven games, the O’s are batting a lowly .196 as a club while scoring just 14 runs on five home runs.
– But the real cause for concern has been the hitting with runners in scoring position. Over the last ten games, the Orioles are just 9-for-68 (.132) with RISP.
– But you’ve got to tip your hat where credit is due. The Yankees starters held the Orioles to six runs over 24 innings, good for a stellar 2.25 ERA, while the Yankees bullpen stifled the Orioles hitters to just three hits over 12 innings of shutout baseball.
As well all know, slumps are a part of baseball, and the O’s have a few that are going through the rough stuff as we head home to Camden Yards. Davis is hitting .172 with three homers and six RBI over his last 15 ballgames. Schoop, who has been on fire practically all season now, is batting just .207 with two homers and four RBI over his last seven games. MVP candidate Manny Machado is just 4-for-26 (.154) with zero homers and one RBI in his last seven, while fellow MVP candidate Mark Trumbo is hitting a lowly .214 with zero homers and RBI over his past eight contests.
And then you’ve got Ryan Flaherty, who is 3-for-20 over his last seven, and Caleb Joseph, who is 3-for-22 during that span as well. Heck, even Nolan Reimold is just 1-for-15 in his last seven games. Only Hardy, who is hitting .333 with two homers and 11 RBI over his past 15 contests, seems to be in top form at the moment.
But let’s end it with some positive streaks, and they come from the opposite side of the spectrum.
Brach has now allowed just one run on five hits over his last 17.2 innings while recording 20 K’s, while Britton, who’s now 30-for-30 in save situations, has recorded an immaculate 0.00 ERA and 24 saves over his last 30 games while scattering 16 hits over 29.2 scoreless innings with 32 strikeouts.
And of course, we had to end it on Tillman. The Orioles 28-year-old ace is now tied with Chris Sale for the most wins in the major leagues (14) while improving to a perfect 7-0 versus the AL East and an impressive 6-2 on the road. But none of this does Tillman any justice for what he’s done in the month of July.
Over four starts this month, Tillman has registered a sparkling 4-0 record and a stellar 1.29 ERA, allowing only four runs on 16 hits over 28 innings while punching out 17 batters in the process. How wasn’t this guy an All-Star? He could be up for the Cy Young if his form continues.
Well…that’s it, Orioles nation.
All I can say is let’s hope for a better result back home against Cleveland, and let’s get the hell out of the Bronx.
Sounds like a good plan.
