The Orioles have 2 players to thank for saving their bullpen ahead of critical series against the Rays

About a month ago, the Orioles had a doubleheader against the Astros the day before an important series against the Yankees. In the second game of that doubleheader, Brandon Young got shelled by the Astros in the first inning, putting the game out of reach and forcing the Orioles to use several important bullpen arms to cover the rest of the game. As a result, the Orioles brought a worn-out bullpen up to New York, which played an unfortunate role in the Yankees beating the Orioles in four straight games.

On Sunday, the Orioles had a doubleheader the day before the start of this week's series against the Rays, but this time, the Orioles bullpen is in great shape following the doubleheader because of Young's start in the first game and Albert Suarez's performance out of the pen in game two.

The Orioles weren't expecting to be relying on Brandon Young and Albert Suarez but that's where they are now

What Young started against the Tigers on Sunday was exactly what the Orioles have been missing all season, and besides saving the pen, he also saved the game. If Young had put up a typical Orioles rotation start (which is to say less than five innings and more than 3 ER), the Orioles would have lost that game and the series to the Tigers. Instead, Young held the Tigers to just two unearned runs in 6.2 innings, which allowed the Orioles to hang around until Colton Cowser won the game with a three-run home run.

Young didn't do anything crazy in this start; he only struck out four of the 28 batters he faced, but he was aggressive and efficient. He went after the Tigers hitters; he threw a strike on the first pitch to 21 of the 28 batters he faced, and 20 of those 28 batters got a fastball to start their at-bat. He mixed his pitches well, too. Tigers hitters got mostly hard stuff to start the game, and then as the game went on, Young deployed more and more of his offspeed and breaking pitches to get key outs.

In the end, it was one of the best starts by an Orioles pitcher all season. Despite looking shaky in a few of his outings and having some unimpressive peripheral numbers, Young has now racked up a few of the Orioles' best starts this year and currently has the best ERA in the Orioles rotation. For someone who was supposed to be eighth or ninth on the Orioles' starting pitching depth chart, it's been impressive even if it's not likely to last.

Young's start set the Orioles up nicely to preserve their bullpen for the Rays series, but another poor start from Trevor Rogers put that in jeopardy. Fortunately for the Orioles, Albert Suarez was able to come out of the pen and pitch four scoreless innings of relief. If the Orioles' offense had been able to muster more than one run all game, Suarez could have been the reason the Orioles hung around and won the way Young was in the first game. Alas, the Orioles' offense did nothing all game.

Suarez's contribution is still a meaningful one, as Rico Garcia, Yennier Cano, Anthony Nunez, Tyler Wells, and Grant Wolfram will go into the Rays series on multiple days' rest.

Suarez's job is a thankless one, as he was DFA'd not long after the game. This is Suarez's third time being DFA'd this year. The last two times he's made it back to the Orioles, but he's looked really sharp his last few times out, and it wouldn't be shocking if someone claimed him this time around. Hopefully, the Orioles will get to keep their dependable swingman, and these kinds of roster shufflings won't be such a regular occurrence for him all season.

At the start of the season, Young and Suarez were not supposed to be this important to the Orioles success, but injuries and underperformance have thrust them into these roles where the team is depending on them. If they hadn't stepped up this season and this weekend, the Orioles would be in a much worse position.

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