Behind the Bowie Baysox’s Remarkable 10-Game Win Streak

Aided by top prospects and under-the-radar players, the Bowie Baysox have strung together 10 consecutive wins

Last Tuesday, the Bowie Baysox, the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, came away with a 7-3 victory over the Washington Nationals’ Double-A affiliate, the Harrisburg Senators. The win would spark several more to follow in what became a streak of 10 consecutive victories with Bowie’s 5-4 win over the Altoona Curve Wednesday evening.

The hot streak has come at the perfect time, as the Baysox sit just a half-game back of the Akron RubberDucks and attempt to re-take first place in their division. To Bowie’s benefit, Akron has hit somewhat of a rough patch as of late, going an even 5-5 in their last 10 games. Capturing the very first Double-A Northeast league title would be something for Orioles fans to get excited about, and winning the Southwest Division title is a big step towards it.

Leading the efforts on the mound at AA Bowie during this streak has been the organization’s top pitching prospect, Grayson Rodriguez. Since his promotion from Advanced-A Aberdeen in early June, Rodriguez has done nothing short of setting the world on fire with his incredible pitch arsenal, and the stats prove it. Rodriguez completed eight innings of work over his two starts during the 10-game winning streak, striking out 10 batters and allowing just one run. More often than not, the game is well in hand when Rodriguez is on the mound.

As for the hitters, there have a few different Baysox players to step up and provide offense when the team has needed it during this run. Most prominent among them is the Orioles’ sixth-highest ranked prospect, Jordan Westburg. During the streak, Westburg has slashed .324/.405/.588 with four doubles, a triple, and a home run, aiding Bowie to some healthy offensive production.

Sharing the left side of the infield with Westburg is Patrick Dorrian, a non-top 30 Orioles prospect who has been delivering big at-bats throughout this streak. Having played in all 10 games, Dorrian’s .306/.342/.528 slash line with a pair of home runs jumps off the page. The heroics of Toby Welk are another piece to mention among the unranked prospects who have shown up in the box score for Bowie. Wednesday night may have been the game to break up the winning streak if not for Welk, who launched a solo home run in the second inning and later walked it off with an RBI single in extra innings.

While the current-day Baltimore Orioles face the reality of their next loss putting them in triple digits for the season, the Orioles of the future are building something for fans to enjoy down at Double-A.