Baltimore Orioles Get the Win with Small Ball & Big Home Runs
The Baltimore Orioles are officially on a winning streak, after taking their second consecutive win.
This time, the Baltimore Orioles earned the win after a pair of timely home runs and a bunch of bunts.
Renato Nunez got the O’s on the board with a three-run home run in the first that got Cedric Mullins and Jose Iglesias across the plate. He got his second of the night – a solo – in the bottom of the seventh.
While it’s difficult to discount the power and importance of his four RBI in the game, kudos has to go to Mullins for his ability to get bunts down and scurry to first. He had two bunts for hits in this game, and now the speedy outfielder leads the League in small-ball hits.
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With a total of 12 bunts, the Orioles are leading the MLB. The next closest teams have six, and many haven’t even tried the basic skill. Mullins and Hanser Alberto both have three sac bunts. Playing small ball shows off the speed of the young legs on the Orioles squad, and it gives Brandon Hyde the opportunity to call what is one of the most exciting plays in the game: the suicide squeeze.
With so many successful bunts, could the Orioles be setting a “new” trend? The game has been dominated by home runs, with 2019 marking the most ever hit in a season. Of course, the 2020 season won’t set any home run records because it is so short. But, if it was a regular season, Nelson Cruz and Fernando Tatis Jr.are on pace to do so.
Along with adding bunts to their stats, a few Orioles continued their streaks. Jose Iglesias hit his 12th double of the season. Considering that he has just a little over half of the bats as Anthony Santander, who is tied for first in the League with 13, it is a notable accomplishment. Iglesias is still batting over .400. This also marks Iglesias’s fifth consecutive game with more than one hit.
The team faces off against the Mets at 4:05 ET. John Means gets the start against Michael Wacha.