Baltimore Orioles Keegan Akin Shuts Down Braves in Win

After a disappointing loss on Tuesday night, the Baltimore Orioles win the series against the Braves after a win on Wednesday.

In the series-winning game, the Baltimore Orioles Keegan Akin gets the win in five outstanding innings of pitching.

The rookie struck out nine batters, gave up three hits and no runs against one of the toughest lineups in the 2020 season.

This outing was similar to the performance he gave on September 5, when he pitched 5.1 innings against the Yankees and Gerrit Cole. That day, Akin’s line included three hits and eight strikeouts without any runs. He did not get the win that day because the score was 0-0 when he exited the game. The O’s went on to win 6-1.

Akins struggled in his previous outing against the Yankees on September 11. He didn’t make it out of the first inning. Fortunately, he was back at his best tonight, and the moment could not have been more important.

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Unfortunately for the Orioles, the Yankees are hot. And, the Orioles need to get ahead of the Yankees now, if they want to get into the playoffs. Defeating teams like the Braves won’t help the Orioles get to the playoffs. But, if they can win a few in their next series against the Rays, there is still a mathematical chance they could get in. But the chances are slim.

The Orioles won the Wednesday night outing against the Braves without hitting any home runs. Renato Nunez, Austin Hays, and Hanser Alberto added to their doubles stats, but the rest of the seven hits were all singles. Jose Iglesias had two hits on the night, and so did Hays.

The Orioles scored all of their runs in two innings, the third and the sixth. With only one walk on the night, the runs were all manufactured with timely, back-to-back hits. The game marked Cole Hamels debut with the Braves and the Orioles took advantage of the veteran, as well as his replacement Josh Tomlin.

The top-notch back-end Braves bullpen did hold the Orioles to one hit. But, the Orioles bullpen did an even better job. Hunter Harvey, Tanner Scott, and Cesar Valdez gave up only two hits in three innings.

The Orioles showed themselves to be a complete team tonight, and hopefully they can carry this success through the double-header on Thursday. The party starts at 4:35 at Camden Yards with Dean Kremer facing Cy-Young winner Blake Snell. The second-game pitchers have not yet been announced.