The Orioles kicked off their nine-game road trip on a high note by taking the first two games of their three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels but were denied the sweep in a lopsided loss on Sunday.
Still, the Orioles exit California with an AL-best 26-16 record and remain locked in a two-way tie for first place in the division with the Red Sox (27-17). The O’s also improved their road record to a game above .500 at 9-8 and have been rolling steady over the past few weeks as they head into Houston with a 12-6 record over the past 18 games.
The Orioles wasted no time in introducing themselves to the hosts on Friday as Joey Rickard launched his fourth homer of the season to lead-off the first inning and Manny Machado followed suit by unleashing the long ball directly after to give the O’s an instant 2-0 lead. The Angels would peg one back with an RBI double from Carlos Perez in the second before Mark Trumbo crushed his team-leading 13th home run of the year with a two-run shot in the third to make it 4-1.
The Angels would claw back with a three-hit, three-run sixth inning capped off by Gregorio Petit equalizing with an RBI single to level the score at 4-4 heading into the seventh. In the blink of an eye, it was game on.
But the Orioles refocused quickly as Chris Davis made up for a critical error in the previous inning by launching a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh, his 10th of the season, to give the O’s a 6-4 advantage. The visiting Orioles would put the clamps on the game following Davis’s homer and added two valuable insurance runs with RBI singles from Rickard in the eighth and Nolan Reimold in the ninth to secure a 9-4 victory in the opening game of the series.
Starting pitchers Kevin Gausman (6.2 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and Matt Shoemaker (7.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K) were absolutely phenomenal on Saturday night as both sides were locked in a 0-0 stalemate through six innings.
However, the Angels would draw first blood with an RBI single from Yunel Escobar to score Petit in the seventh and would hold onto the slim lead heading into the ninth.
But what happened with two outs in the top of the ninth was nothing short of ‘’Orioles Magic’’. After Chris Davis’s single to center, Mark Trumbo drew a walk to put two on for Matt Wieters on his 30th birthday…And you know the rest.
With the O’s down to their last out, Wieters came through in the diamond spotlight with a massive three-run shot to left off of Angels closer Joe Smith to give the O’s a 3-1 advantage and send the visiting dugout into a frenzy. Remember games like this folks; it’s what made you fall in love with the game in the first place.
With the chance to pick up the three-game sweep away from home, the Orioles headed to the ballpark on Sunday in high spirits, but that euphoria didn’t last long. After Carlos Perez (3-4, 1 HR, 5 RBI) put the Angels in the driver’s seat with an RBI single in the second inning, the hosting Angels wasted no time in opening the floodgates with a five-hit, five run third inning. Kole Calhoun opened the rout with an RBI single followed by Albert Pujols lining an RBI double, an RBI single from Johnny Giavotella, and an RBI double from C.J. Cron to give LA an early 6-0 lead. The nightmare continues for Ubaldo Jimenez (5.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K).
Jonathan Schoop would respond with his eighth home run of the campaign by way of a two-run blast in the seventh inning, but it was too little, too late for the Birds.
The Angels would again burst open the floodgates with a four-hit, four-run display in the bottom of the seventh with Giavotella picking up another RBI single and a knockout blow from Perez by way of a three-run shot off of Dylan Bundy to give the Angels a decisive 10-2 advantage and eventual final.
Now, let’s get to the notebook:
– Despite a valiant effort from Mike Wright (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) and Gausman’s excellent outing on Saturday, the O’s starters finished the LA leg of the road trip with a 4.70 ERA. Thanks, Ubaldo.
– Speaking of Jimenez, one can only hope that the veteran turns his season around shortly but hemight just be the most sketchy and inconsistent starter in the bigs; it’s either smooth sailing or rough seas for the 32-year-old, and right now, it’s treacherous seas. Jimenez has allowed 16 runs on 22 hits over 15.0 innings with 11 walks and 9 Ks over his last three starts, good for a dreadful 9.60 ERA in that span. Jimenez is now 2-5 with a woeful 6.04 ERA and 1.78 WHIP.
– The bullpen was flawless over seven innings if you take away Dylan Bundy’s first rough outing (1.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 0 K) of the campaign on Sunday. Another series down for Britton, Brach and Co.
– Britton Watch: 12-for-12 in save situations with a vicious 1.50 ERA and a stellar 0.61 WHIP. Can we just dub him the White Knight of Charm City?
– While the Orioles may have been quieted at the plate during the last two games of the series after putting up nine runs on 14 hits with four homers in Friday’s triumph, they still managed to go 24-104 (.230) with 14 runs and six homers versus Los Angeles. That’s eight more hits (16), double the amount of runs (7) and triple the amount of homers (2) that the O’s high-flying attack managed to put up versus Seattle in the previous series.
– With Rickard & Machado going back-to-back on Friday, the O’s have now done it eight times in 2016. They did it just six times in all of 2015. Mind blown.
– We’re closing in on the end of May, and your Orioles are still the joint-HR kings in baseball with 63 dingers. The Tampa Bay Rays also have 63.
Now, let’s take a look at a few trends:
– After going 5-for-9 with two runs, one double, one home run and three RBI vs. LA, Matt Wieters has been in excellent form over his last eight games, going 13-for-28 (.464) with five runs, three doubles, three homers and eight RBI during that span. The 30-year-old backstop is now hitting .283 with five doubles, four homers and 16 RBI on the year.
– Jonathan Schoop continued his impressive run of form versus the Angels, going 5-for-11 with two runs, one double, one home run and two RBI and is now hitting .353 (12-for-34) with five runs, three home runs and 13 RBI over his last ten games. The 24-year-old slugger is hitting .270 with seven doubles, eight homers and 25 RBI on the campaign.
– And how about some love for Nolan Reimold? The 32-year-old veteran went 2-for-7 with two runs and two RBI versus Los Angeles, and is hitting .342 (13-for-38) with seven runs, one home run and six RBI over his past 15 games. On the year, Reimold is batting .323 with three doubles, three homers and eight RBI.
Who’s trending down? Well, Adam Jones is 2-for-23 over his last six games, while Chris Davis is 3-for-23 with one homer and two RBI over his past seven and Mark Trumbo is 5-for-27 (.185) with two home runs and three RBI over his past seven. And then there’s Manny, who’s 6-for-41 (.146) with two homers and three RBI over his last ten.
But I don’t consider these slumps for world-class players of this caliber. It just means that they’re due against Houston.
On that note, that’s all for now O’s nation!
Here’s to the O’s amplifying this road trip with another strong showing in the Lone Star State!
