Well, the one positive to take from the trip to the Bronx was that the O’s were able to avoid the sweep on Sunday. Other than that, it was a pretty brutal series that brought back a lot of dark memories for the Orioles faithful.
After Yovani Gallardo, Vance Worley and Mike Wright were tagged for 14 runs on 18 hits in the Yankees’ 14-4 rout on Friday, Dylan Bundy & Co. couldn’t stop the bleeding on Saturday as the Yankees cruised to another 13-5 win over the ‘Birds.
If you turned off the TV or radio this weekend, I don’t think anyone would blame you. It was enough to make the most Birds fans cringe.
But thanks to Kevin Gausman’s continued dominance over the Bombers this season and a clutch performance by Steve Pearce, the O’s were able to save face in a 5-0 win on Sunday to avoid the embarrassment of a sweep in the big city.
Regardless, the Birds now find themselves three games behind the Blue Jays for first in the division, and clinging to a two-game advantage over Detroit for the final wild card spit in the American League.
Let’s take a look at a few takeaways, and never bring up this series again:
– O’s starters finishing the series with an 8.76 ERA over just 12 1/3 combined innings. The Orioles rotation will go into the Toronto series with a subpar 6.28 ERA over the past 16 contests.
– Gausman has been sensational in his last three outings, going a perfect 3-0 with a stellar 1.83 ERA after allowing just four runs over his last 19 2/3 innings.
– It was nice to see Tommy Hunter and Zach Britton preserve the shutout on Sunday, as the bullpen was simply atrocious on Friday and Saturday. The O’s bullpen ended the trip to NYC with a 9.95 ERA over 12 2/3 innings.
– The bullpen’s struggles have been glaring and well documented as of late, and for good reason. The Orioles relievers have registered a 9.12 ERA over the last seven games and a dismal 7.01 ERA over the past 23 games.
– The Orioles offense wasn’t given much of a chance to win over the weekend but still finished the three-game set with a solid .268 average as a team with 14 runs scored on seven homers.
– The Orioles potent line-up has been cashing in lately, as they are hitting .267 over the last 11 games along with 62 runs scored (5.63 per game) and an outstanding 26 home runs.
– The Orioles woes versus the Yankees and the AL East continued over the weekend, as the Orioles have posted a 3-6 record versus New York in the last nine encounters. To make matters worse, the O’s have now posted a dreadful 3-10 record over the last 13 games versus AL East rivals.
– The most unfortunate blow was losing Captain Adam Jones to a hamstring strain…here’s to hoping that he’s 100% for September.
– Manny Machado lit it up in NYC over the weekend, going 7-for-14 at the plate with four runs, two home runs and three RBI. Over his last 11 games, Machado is hitting a ridiculous .367 (18-for-49) with ten runs, four doubles, five homers and 12 RBI.
– After going 2-for-4 with a run scored and a double on Sunday, Jonathan Schoop is hitting an impressive .295 at the dish along with seven runs, two home runs and six RBI over those same 11.
– After being the first MLB player to hit 40 dingers this season on Sunday, Mark Trumbo now owns a .257 average with ten runs, six homers and ten RBI over his last 11 ballgames.
– Chris Davis continued his sparkling run of form in the big apple by hitting two long balls on Saturday, and will carry a .292 average with 11 runs, eight homers and ten RBI over his last 12 contests into the series versus Toronto.
– Lastly, the Orioles’ league-leading 204 homers mark the fifth straight season that the Birds have accomplished the feat of 200+ long balls.
Bring on Toronto, and let’s get the hell of out the Bronx.
