Baltimore Orioles: They put it together

Throughout the four-game losing streak in which the Baltmore Orioles were mirred going into yesterday’s game, I said that they needed to find a way to put it all together. They did that yesterday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, breaking the losing streak with a 6-2 victory over the Bronx Bombers.

For starters, the Orioles got a whale of a day from starter Wei-Yin Chen, who stymied New York bats all afternoon long for the most part. Chen’s line: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K. Chen earned his first win on the 2015 season in yesterday’s game, evening his record at 1-1. His fastball was zinging into the zone all afternoon, which left New York batters guessing much of the time. And the best news of the day was that he got help from his own bats in winning the game.

More from Birds Watcher

Jimmy Paredes got the Orioles on the board in the top of the third with a solo

Courtesy of Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

home run to right field. One inning later that was followed up by another solo homer, almost to the same spot in the ballpark – this time off the bat of Chris Davis. However keep in mind that solo homers have been a part of the losing streak for the Birds. They’d smack a solo home run or two each game, but since nobody would be on base they wouldn’t have the chance to add anything more than the one run.

So that trend can now also go out the window, as later in that fourth inning Alejandro De Aza smacked a two-run homer to give the O’s a 4-0 lead. There was one curious part of that, however. Backing up a bit, Steve Pearce was hit in the back on the very first pitch after the Davis home run. So it was Pearce that was on base when De Aza homered. For what it’s worth, that’s something that was questioned by quite a few Orioles fans on twitter during the game.

The O’s didn’t necessarily need the long ball to score in this game, as Delmon Young’s RBI-single in the fifth gave the Orioles a 5-0 lead. New York however would get one back in the last of the inning on a John Murphy sac fly-RBI. There were a few times over the course of the game where Chen found himself with traffic on the base paths, yet he always managed to come out either unscathed or with minimized damage.

In Young’s next at-bat in the seveth, he sent an RBI-double to right, scoring Jimmy Paredes – who had reached on a triple. Paredes had a monster day at the plate, and it came just when the Orioles needed it the most. Carlos Beltran would add an RBI-single for New York in the last of the eighth, however the Orioles’ bullpen held behind Tommy Hunter, Darren O’Day, and Zach Britton to close out the victory.

For the Orioles’ sake, hopefully this win gives them some confidence going into tomorrow’s series finale. Earning a split in a four-game series is generally par for the course, as we all know. But the Orioles won this game without having to face ARod, who had the afternoon off. Invariably, they’ll probably have to see him tomorrow.

The Orioles will close out the series tomorrow in the Bronx with Bud Norris on the mound. He’ll be opposed by New York’s Michael Pineda. The Orioles will return home for the first time since the riots after the game, and Monday’s game against Toronto is being dubbed “Re-Opening Day” by a grassroots group of fans. Fans are encouraged to come to the game, and to gather in locally-owned businesses prior to and afterwards. That game will also open up a string whereby 17 of 21 games will be at home for the Orioles.

Home/Orioles News