Baltimore Orioles, Jonathan Schoop take two in MoTown

The Baltimore Orioles have been hoping that their bats would break out at some point, and yesterday afternoon they did – on the heels of Jonathan Schoop. With the 9-3 victory in MoTown yesterday, the Birds took two-of-three from Detroit, the team that they swept in three games in last year’s ALDS. Miguel Gonzalez got the start, and although he struggled through five innings, he put his team in a position to win. Gonzalez’s line: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K.

The Orioles put Detroit on notice as to what type of day it was going to be in the top of the first inning. With two outs, Adam Jones gave the O’s a 1-0 lead with a solo home run. However two innings later is appeared that Detroit might hang around awhile, as Anthony Gose sent an RBI-single into right field to the tie game at one.

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But this was the Orioles’ day, and the Orioles’ series. One inning later in the fourth, the competitive portion of the game was over. The O’s loaded the bases with one out, bringing J.J. Hardy to the plate. Hardy’s two-RBI double gave the Birds a 3-1 lead (with one runner thrown out at home plate). That brought Schoop

Courtesy of Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

to the plate, and his aforementioned three-run homer gave the O’s a 6-1 lead. Manny Machado would add an RBI-single to run the score to 7-1.

This was exactly the game, and the inning that the Orioles’ offense had needed for some time. And it came against a staff ace named Justin Verlander. Whether or not this remains an anamoly, or whether it continues as a new trend for the O’s remains to be seen. However from the Orioles perspective it was certainly good to see.

Detroit would put an additional run across in the last of the fifth on a Cespedes RBI-single. While that may have caused just a bit of discomfort on the part of Orioles fans at the time, it certainly didn’t phase the Birds themselves. Chris Pamelee smacked a two-RBI single in the eighth, and Detroit would notch one more on a Marte RBI-single in the last of the eighth.

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As I said above, Miguel Gonzalez had his struggles in this game. He had some issues locating his fastball, however it occurred against a team that was struggling as much as the Orioles were coming in. When you can win games when you’re pitcher isn’t feeling his best, you’re really in businss.

However regardless of who was on their game and who was not, Oriole bats came to life in this series. And funnily enough it came in a park that’s thought of as being kinder to pitchers than hitters. The schedule also gives the O’s an opportunity to be in a great spot with their bullpen going into Tuesday’s series opener at Yankee Stadium. They used only one reliever for one inning on Saturday, and today is an off day. So everyone should be rested. As I inferred above, today is an off day for the O’s, and they’ll open a series in New York tomorrow night.

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