Orioles stave off a sweep and finally adjust to their rotations biggest weakness

All season long, the first two innings of each game have been a real problem spot for the Baltimore Orioles starters. Coming into Sunday's game, the Orioles led the league in runs allowed in the first two innings with 55. If you're counting at home, yes, that is a good deal more runs than games played, which means this is pretty much an everyday problem for the Orioles. It's not like there are multiple 10-run first innings that are propping up that number, either; it's been a very steady stream of the Orioles being down 2-0 or 3-0 after two innings.

The Orioles starters are bad at everything in the early innings; their opponents' OPS in the first two innings is .846. That means they're basically turning every hitter they face into Bobby Witt Jr. They walk too many batters, and they're near the top of the league in early-inning homers. Usually, they walk someone and then give up a homer to really maximize the damage.

In their previous 10 games, the Orioles allowed at least one run in the first two innings in eight of those ten games and were 2-8. Being down early has a compounding effect on the rest of the game that just makes it hard to win. There's more pressure on the offense to score some runs and get back into the game, so immediately, everyone is pressing. The pitch count in these games featuring an early inning implosion is usually elevated, which means the starter won't get deep into the game, which means more strain on the bullpen and arms the Orioles would like to keep on the bench, having to come in for high leverage spots. It creates a real mess.

The Orioles turned to an opener to try to avoid falling behind

The Orioles, realizing that these early-inning meltdowns were costing them games, adjusted before their series finale against the Athletics. With the team's backs against the wall, trying to avoid a sweep, they sent Keegan Akin to the mound to open the game ahead of starter Chris Bassitt.

Akin has been pretty terrible this season, so seeing his name listed as the starting pitcher was not greeted with rousing enthusiasm by Orioles fans, but 11.12 ERA aside, the most important thing about Keegan Akin this afternoon was that he isn't a member of the Orioles rotation and therefore has the ability to pitch in the first inning without having a meltdown.

Akin was able to pitch a shutout in the first inning and prevent the Orioles from being down before they even had a chance to hit. Bassitt came in for the second inning and did immediately give up a run, so the opener-to-bulk-guy transition wasn't a flawless success, but it's worth pointing out that if Bassitt had had similar issues in the actual first inning, he would have had to work through the top and middle part of the Athletics' order. By starting him in the second inning, he was able to get some key outs against the bottom third of the Athletics order and avoid a total catastrophe.

Bassitt settled in and pitched really well from there on out. He pitched six innings and didn't allow another run. The Orioles were able to win 2-1, making it the first time they won a game without their offense having to score five or more runs since April 7th.

Openers are not fun or cool, and MLB doesn't like it when teams use them, but until the Orioles' rotation is able to more consistently make it through the first two innings clean, they should continue to lean on openers.

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