Baltimore Orioles Sweep the Nationals with Impressive Stats

The Baltimore Orioles are second in the MLB and first in the AL when it comes to batting average after they finally got the sweep against the Nationals.

The issue with the tarp several days ago prevented the Baltimore Orioles from officially getting the win.

They began the final game of the first Nats series with a 5-2 lead in the top of the sixth with one out and two on base.

Pat Valaika started the restart and flied out. Then, Bryan Holaday got an RBI single that scored Dwight Smith Jr. And, that was it for the offense for both teams. A few runners got on base for the Nats and O’s, but no one scored anymore runs. Take a look at Holaday’s offense in the video courtesy of MLB.com:

The game gave Stephen Strasburg a loss and an ERA of 10.38. Travis Lakins earned the win for the O’s. Tanner Scott and Paul Fry each earned holds. Mychal Givens closed the game, but since it wasn’t a save situation, he just got the pitches in.

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With this win, the Orioles earned themselves the number one spot in the batting average category in the AL with a .266. Only the Colorado Rockies are better at landing on base with a .285 average. This makes sense with Charlie Blackmon‘s slash of .466/.500/.671 after 73 at-bats. They have four other players with averages over .300. The Orioles have six batters with averages over .300.

The Orioles have another impressive team batting stat: strike outs. The Rays are leading the AL with 196 strikeouts in 21 games. The Orioles are in 12th in the AL with 149 strikeouts in 19 games. The Orioles aren’t walking much, and they aren’t missing pitches either.

As a team, the Orioles are second in the AL with doubles with 41. The Rays lead with 44.

And, the Orioles hold second place with team RBI, just behind the Rays. The Orioles 96 RBI is just a few below the Rays 104. The Orioles share the second-place honors with the Twins, who lead the AL in RBI and home run stats in 2019. Keep in mind that the Rays have played two more games that both the O’s and the Twins, so the stats could change overnight.

And, the Orioles have one more second-place spot: OPS. They are second only to the Yankees with a team OPS of .801. The Yankees have a team OPS of .819.

But, with the latest news about Aaron Judge sitting out with a calf strain and Giancarlo Stanton out with his own issue, the Orioles could overtake the Yankees, especially if Anthony Santander continues his dominance at the plate.