Baltimore Orioles: Chris Davis and company power the O’s

The Baltimore Orioles have been waiting for the likes of Chris Davis among others to wake up at the plate of late. You knew that the Birds’ bats were too good not to come around at some point, and that finally happened last night. The O’s defeated Kansas City 8-5, in a power surge that I suspect most fans wished had also happened in last year’s ALCS.

The Orioles also got a solid start behind Wei-Yin Chen, who although sprinkled hits all over the ballpark also limited the potential damage. Chen’s line: 6.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K. Yesterday I wrote about how Oriole pitchers needed to change their approach if they wanted to be successful. Perhaps that happened in a way last night; the O’s teach their pitchers to pitch-to-contact. As opposed to doing that and allowing Kansas City to shamelessly bloop and seeing eye single them to death, Chen nibbled – and for once, it worked. 

Live Feed

FanSided

In general, nibbling isn’t the greatest thing in the world. But it worked last night with Kansas City hitters looking to bloop pitches just to get on base. However an RBI-double by Perez and an RBI-single by Infante in the last of the second gave Kansas City a 2-0 lead. (Incidentally, that Infante hit was an infield single – can’t totally keep them down!) But as the game went on we saw the resiliency that made this Orioles team so great last year.

One inning later suddenly it was tied. In the top of the third Manny Machado smacked a two-run homer, which knotted things at two. Jonathan Schoop joined the party in the fourth, with a two-run homer of his own that gave the Birds a 4-2 lead.

Courtesy of Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Davis padded that lead in the fifth with another two-run homer to run the score to 6-2. At this point Kansas City was probably about as overwhelmed as you’ll ever see them – they had no reason to believe that their act of soft hits, bloops, and unconventional manners of scoring would ever run thin. Needless to say from their perspective, being powered to death wasn’t part of the script heading into the night.

But sure enough they fought back – just a bit. Morales’ RBI-single in the sixth cut the Orioles’ lead to 6-3. However the O’s weren’t about to let the game slip away – not this time! Steve Pearce stepped up to the plate in the top of the eighth and smacked another two-run homer, and it’s a good thing he did. Kansas City added a two-run shot from Hosmer in the last of the inning, leaving the score at 8-5. 

More from Orioles News

• Baltimore Orioles Sign RP Mychal Givens
• Gunnar Henderson: Destroyer of Four-Seam Fastballs
• Which Current Baltimore Orioles Pitchers Have the Best Curveballs?
• Orioles News: Should the O’s Pursue Eovaldi? + More MLB News
• Should the Baltimore Orioles Consider Signing Nathan Eovaldi?

Make no mistake about the fact that this was a huge win for the Birds. It’s ony one game, but it snapped a six-game losing streak. It also brought them back to within two games of the final AL wild card spot, which is currently held by Minnesota. But perhaps more importantly than the standings in the interim, it hopefully flips the negative mometum that the Orioles had going around – for their sake. If they can string together a few wins here at the end of the month, they’ll be in good shape come September.

The O’s will have an opportunity to earn a two-game split with Kansas City in this afternoon’s series finale. Chris Tillman will take the ball for the O’s in this afternoon’s game. He’ll be opposed by Yordano Ventura of Kansas City. Game time is set for just after 2 PM.

Next: Baltimore Orioles: In memory of the great Mike Flanagan

More from Birds Watcher

• Baltimore Orioles Sign RP Mychal Givens
• Gunnar Henderson: Destroyer of Four-Seam Fastballs
• Which Current Baltimore Orioles Pitchers Have the Best Curveballs?
• Orioles News: Should the O’s Pursue Eovaldi? + More MLB News
• Should the Baltimore Orioles Consider Signing Nathan Eovaldi?