Baltimore Orioles: Split Red Sox Series After LeBlanc and Severino Injuries

The Baltimore Orioles had a bittersweet win against the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon.

Yes, the Baltimore Orioles split the series against their AL East rival, but they also lost two of their top players in the process.

Both Wade LeBlanc and Pedro Severino exited the game. LeBlanc complained of elbow soreness, and Severino complained of hip discomfort. Hopefully, both injuries will be short-lived and just require a bit of rest.

No-Hitting the Red Sox

Pitchers seem to know immediately when something is off. With LeBlanc, the problem seemed to appear right after an outside pitch in the first inning. He left the field and was replaced by Thomas Eshelman who took over and led the O’s to a victory. Eshelman got the win after pitching 4.1 innings and holding the Red Sox hitless.

Earning Runs Against Godley

During Eshelman’s time on the mound, the Orioles had a bit of fun with Zack Godley and the rest of the Red Sox pitchers. The O’s scored three runs in a busy third inning. After Renato Nunez grounded out, Godley walked Pedro Severino and Chance Sisco. Pat Valaika lined out with runners on, then after a wild pitch, they both advanced.

Godley then walked Ryan Mountcastle to load the bases. That was just too much for the Sox to handle, so after a pitching change, Jeffrey Springs gave up a single to Rio Ruiz, then another to Andrew Velazquez.

Putting on a Bunt Clinic

Velazquez’s single was an absolutely beautiful bunt. The squeeze play scored Mountcastle who added a second run to his growing list of stats. We might ooh and ahh over home runs, but there is still a place for small ball and Velazquez played that pitch perfectly. Check it out thanks to MLB.com:

Rio Ruiz Had a Day

Ruiz earned two RBI on his single, and he got a monkey off of his back. Prior to that hit, he hadn’t done too well with runners on base. In 20 at-bats with runners in scoring position, Ruiz was batting .050/.130/.050. That’s all of one hit.

Today was Ruiz’s day, as he was also responsible for two more RBI in the seventh. This time, he hit a double to score Bryan Holaday and Sisco. By the end of the day, Ruiz had four RBI. The only other player with an RBI was Velazquez. That’s good production from the 8th and 9th batters in the lineup.

Keeping Up the Streak

To make the day even better, Anthony Santander kept his hitting streak going. He was 1-5 on the day with his 11th double of the season. This puts his streak at 18 games. Santander has now outlasted any of Cal Ripken Jr.’s hitting streaks, as his longest in his playing history was 17-games long. Santander has some work to do to reach Eric Davis‘s 30-game hitting streak that set the Orioles record in 1998.

With that double, Santander is leads the MLB with the most extra-base hits.

Mountcastle went 2-3 today and added another walk to his stats. The bullpen also did it’s job, but in the ninth, there were a few uncertain moments after Jackie Bradley Jr.hit his second home run in as many days. But, eventually, Tanner Scott did get the final out to earn his first save of his career.

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The Orioles have a much needed off day on Monday. Then, they head to Buffalo to play the Blue Jays.