Baltimore Orioles: Adam Jones made it all finally click

With tonight’s 5-2 victory over Boston, the Baltimore Orioles and Adam Jones have at a minimum taken two-of-three from their division rivals in this series. In doing so, they also gained some ground on New York, who lost earlier this afternoon to Washington. That sets up a huge three-game set this weekend at Camden Yards with the Bronx Bombers – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s still one more left to play with Boston.

Wei-Yin Chen didn’t go as deep as the O’s would have liked, however he left the Birds in a position to win the game – a game in which he was credited with the win. Chen’s line: 5 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K. Chen was the victim of a high pitch count, however the Orioles’ bullpen bridged the gap with little problem. 

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Courtesy of Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

With the score still tied at zero, Boston’s Zander Bogaerts hit what appeared to be a double to center field. Adam Jones fired to second base, however despite J.J. Hardy‘s tag Bogaerts was ruled safe. However the Orioles challenged the call…and quite frankly it was an open-and-shut case; Bogaerts was out, on a great play by Jones and Hardy.

The next batter was Pablo Sandoval, who hit a soft liner down the line the opposite way to left field. Similarly, Travis Snider came up throwing…and gunned Sandoval down at second base. This time the runner was immediately ruled out, and in fact Boston manager John Farrell opted not to challenge. As if that wasn’t enough, Mookie Betts ended the inning by flying out to Adam Jones – who made a spectacular catch running to his left. This is a feat that Jones would accomplish again in the fifth inning – with Betts at the plate. 

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Chris Davis harnessed the Orioles’ defensive momentum in the last of the second with a bunt down the third base line which settled as a base hit. That’s exactly what the Orioles offense has been missing – guys willing to do whatever it takes just to get on base. Davis would move to second on a fielder’s choice, however he would score on J.J. Hardy’s RBI-double. Hardy would later score on Ryan Flaherty‘s RBI-double, and the O’s held a 2-0 lead.

Boston would cut the lead in half in the top of the third, as Brock Holt would single home a run. However in the last of the third Adam Jones would also show that he still had it at the plate as well, with an RBI-single to center which gave the O’s a 3-1 lead.

While Boston would push a second run across on Ryan Flaherty’s errant throw in the sixth, this was the Birds’ night.  Travis Snider would net an RBI-single in the last  of the sixth, along with a sac fly-RBI by J.J. Hardy. The rest was all the Orioles’ bullpen. Tommy Hunter pitched two solid innings, and Darren O’Day pitched the eighth and ninth to close out the Orioles’ 5-2 win.

This was one of the first times we’ve seen both the offense and the defense have it all together at one. Granted Boston did net a run on an Orioles’ error, however that didn’t affect the outcome of the game. Incidentally, this was the second consecutive game, and the second consecutive win in which the Orioles didn’t hit a home run. While last night the O’s almost won “by default,” tonight they took the bull by the horns and thus took over the game.

The series concludes this evening, with Chris Tillman on the mound for the Orioles. He’ll be opposed by Boston’s Wade Miley. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Next: Baltimore Orioles turn to offense in the draft

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