Baltimore Orioles: The bats heated up against the Cardinals

The Baltimore Orioles did not get the win in Wednesday’s Spring Training game against the St. Louis Cardinals. But, fans got what they were waiting for – a plethora of home runs.

The Baltimore Orioles bats were on fire today against the Cardinals, but the O’s lost 9-10 in the spring training game at Ed Smith Stadium.

Overall, the Orioles hit four home runs. Trey Mancini hit his second of the season. Ryan Mountcastle hit his first of the season.

The ones we’ve been waiting for

While those were exciting, it was the first two that were the ones that fans were waiting for. Manny Machado hit his first of the season in the third inning. It wasn’t just any home run, either. It happened to be a grand slam that scored Caleb Joseph, Colby Rasmus, and Jonathan Schoop.

Then, two innings later, Chris Davis hit a three-run bomb. He earned RBIs for Machado and Cedric Mullins.

While it was only time until these two hit one over the fence, it always feels good to see the power arrive. With his first home run, Machado’s slash moved to an impressive average of .500 with an OPS of 1.445. Davis is still near the bottom of the pack, but the numbers increased a bit to .200 with an OPS of .833.

Quiet at the bottom of the lineup

Unfortunately, the hot bats did not reach the bottom of the lineup. Mark Trumbo, who batted 7th did not get on base. The same went for Tim Beckham who batted 8th. After his hot start with the O’s in 2017, Beckham’s bat has been quiet in these early spring training games.

Good and bad pitching

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Early in the game, the pitching was better than expected. Mike Wright pitched two innings and gave one hit. That’s all. After two starts, his ERA is 2.25. Granted, he did not face the Opening Day lineup for the Cards, but he did face Tommy Pham and Paul DeJong. Yefry Ramirez, a minor leaguer, gave up one run in the fourth inning. But, by this time, Machado had already hit his grand slam.

Darren O’Day pitched an inning and did what he usually does. He struck out one batter and got the hold.

The problem arose in the seventh inning. Two pitchers, Andrew Faulkner and Steven Klimek, combined to give up six hits and eight runs. They ended up with ERAs of 40.50. There’s nothing quite like spring training numbers.

Next: Orioles spring training broadcasting schedule

Despite the bad pitching in the final third of the game, the Orioles – at least the ones who will appear on Opening Day – did what they were supposed to do. They hit the ball. And, they hit it hard.