A new Oriole killer? Takeaways from the Orioles series loss to the Milwaukee Brewers

Well, the good news is that the Baltimore Orioles didn't get swept, continuing their stretch of avoiding the sweep to start the season. The bad news was a lot of other things, as the Orioles lost the three game series against the Milwaukee Brewers, a series they could have and should have won.

There certainly are some things to talk about, so let's jump into some takeaways.

Baltimore Orioles drop series to Milwaukee Brewers on the road

Game one: The offense shouldn't start and stop with Aaron Hicks

Two things about Aaron Hicks' tenure with the Baltimore Orioles thus far can be true. Yes, he has played well. No, he should not be the entire offense. Or even the majority of the offense. Hicks tied the game 2-2 with a two-run home run in the second inning and was ticketed for more RBIs in the third inning if it weren't for a incredible grab from Joey Wiemer.

But Hicks shouldn't be the majority of the offense in this lineup. The only reason he wasn't the entire offense was thanks to a late game home run by Ryan O'Hearn. Yes, Yennier Cano giving up the tying run in the eighth hurt, as did Austin Voth giving up the walk-off to the aforementioned Joey Wiemer, but if the Orioles offense shows up, the position the bullpen gets put in late-game is different.

This was a win that the Orioles had in their grasp, but if Aaron Hicks is the majority of this team's offensive production, there's going to be a lot left to be desired from the lineup.

Game two: They got Wiemer'd

We might have the makings of a new Oriole killer in Joey Wiemer. After the robbery of Hicks and the walk-off in the first game, Wiemer went 4-for-4 with five RBIs in the middle game, being responsible for three of Dean Kremer's six earned runs.

How did he do it exactly? Well, he hit a two-run home run in the third, an RBI single in the fourth, and another two-run home run in the seventh as part of a four run inning for the Brewers.

This was a pretty in-opportune time for Kremer to have a bad start, getting tagged for six runs on nine hits in five innings. Bruce Zimmermann did fine outside of the seventh inning, allowing all four of his earned runs in that inning.

It was also another bad night for the Orioles offense, with the only runs coming in garbage time in the ninth inning, wiping a shutout off the board thanks to an RBI single from Austin Hays and a run-scoring double play from Ryan McKenna.

Game three: They can still rally

The series finale proved that yes, the Orioles offense can still produce runs. In fact, all of their runs came after the sixth inning. Better late than never! With the six runs coming after the sixth inning, the Orioles have now outscored their opponents 107-82 from the seventh inning on this season.

Ramón Urías started the production in the seventh inning with a solo home run, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Anthony Santander made it a 3-2 game in the eighth with a double that scored Adley Rutschman. Gunnar Henderson then put the Orioles ahead 4-3 with an opposite field two-run home run. Yeah, I think the kid is figuring things out.

Adam Frazier put the cherry on top in the ninth with a two-run double that brought home Hicks and Jorge Mateo to make it 6-3. Félix Bautista sealed the sweep-avoiding win with the save in the ninth, his 16th of the season.

Series: Who won the Urías brother battle?

One storyline of this series was the matchup of Urías brothers, with Ramón for the Orioles and Luis for the Brewers doing battle in the series. Ramón started two games and came in as a replacement in the other, while Luis started two games.

Ramón went 4-for-9 in the series, going 0-for-4 in the first game, 1-for-1 in the second game, and 3-for-4 in the third game. Luis went 0-for-7 in the series, going 0-for-3 in game one and 0-for-4 in the series finale. While the Brewers won the series, Ramón won the battle of the brothers.

Up next

The Orioles return to the friendly confines of Camden Yards for a weekend series against the Kansas City Royals. Game one is set for 7:05 Eastern, game two is at 4:05, and game three is at 1:35. Hopefully a series win is in the cards at home.