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Baltimore Orioles: How They Fared Against World Series Teams

ByNick Stevens|
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 27: Pedro Severino #28 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates after Asdrubal Cabrera #13 of the Washington Nationals struck out swinging with the bases loaded in the eighth inning during the interleague game at Nationals Park on August 27, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 27: Pedro Severino #28 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates after Asdrubal Cabrera #13 of the Washington Nationals struck out swinging with the bases loaded in the eighth inning during the interleague game at Nationals Park on August 27, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

How did the Baltimore Orioles fare against the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals this season? We take a look ahead of game one of the 2019 World Series.

The 2019 World Series offers a lot to look forward to for Baltimore Orioles fans. Current O’s General manager Mike Elias played a major role in building up the Houston Astros into the dominant organization they are today, while the Washington Nationals are seeing homegrown prospects turn into budding superstars, something Orioles fans hope they witness in Birdland in the near future.

But the Orioles still have a very long way to go before fans are piling into Camden Yards to watch a World Series game again. One of the biggest takeaways from both the Astros and Nationals rosters are the elite pitching staffs. A staff led by John Means and Dylan Bundy is a far cry from Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander or Patrick Corbin and Max Scherzer, but Orioles fans remain optimistic that the talent will come.

Despite finishing the season with the second-worst record in baseball at 54-108, 53 fewer wins than the Houston Astros and 39 fewer than the Washington Nationals, the Orioles didn’t completely fall apart against this year’s World Series participants. Well, except for that one game.

Let’s start with the Astros. Baltimore went 2-4 against Houston, dropping two of three in their first series (at Houston), but were outscored by just two runs through the three-game set (9-7).

Gerrit Cole fanned 14 Orioles hitters in game one, but a two-run single from Rio Ruiz and home run off the bat of Chance Sisco kept the Orioles close, falling by a score of 4-3. After nearly shutting out the Astros in game two behind a quality start from Andrew Cashner, old friend Wade Miley took the bump in game three, tossing six shutout innings en route to a 4-0 Houston win.

The series in Baltimore was a bit of a different story. The O’s fell to Wade Miley, once again, in game one before surrendering 23 runs on Saturday, August 10th. Aaron Brooks, Branden Kline, and Tayler Scott gave up a combined 20 runs through the first seven innings as Houston hit six home runs.

Likely American League Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez hit not one, not two, but three bombs in the Houston victory.

To the Orioles credit, an 11 strikeout performance from Justin Verlander and seven runs on 11 hits by Houston’s offense on the following day wasn’t enough to pull out a win as Baltimore would salvage an 8-7 victory.

Overall, the Orioles hit .236 against Houston pitching and struck out 70 times in six games. Only the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Oakland A’s pitching staff kept Orioles hitters off the basepaths more effectively (.289 OBP vs Houston pitching).

Life was a little easier against the Washington Nationals in 2019 as the Orioles split their four games against the World Series underdogs.

Baltimore avoided Washington’s hefty top of the rotation in the first two-game set back in mid-July. Dropping game one by a score of 8-1 before winning game two 9-2 behind two Trey Mancini home runs. Nationals young RHP Erick Fedde gave up just one run across six innings before his bullpen collapsed in game two of the series. Orioles fans are sure to see a lot of Fedde over the next few years.

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After going much of the season without winning a series, the Orioles entered their August 27/28th series against Washington riding a series win against the Royals and four-game split against the Rays. A 2-0 win against Patrick Corbin (9 strikeouts, 2 ER, 7 IP) set Baltimore up for their second series win in a week. Unfortunately, Asher Wojciechowski was unable to outduel Max Scherzer as Mad Max fanned eight O’s hitters in just 4.1 innings.

The Orioles slashed .258/.305/.406 against Nationals pitching, striking out 32 times in four games. That doesn’t look so bad when you compare it to the numbers against Houston.

Best of luck to both franchises as they attempt to take home the 2019 World Series trophy.

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