BALTIMORE—A day after their ebullient win over the Los Angeles Angels that ended a 19-game losing streak, the Orioles followed it with a resounding win.
Keegan Akin threw seven strong innings and Pedro Severino had six RBIs, including a grand slam, in the Orioles’ 13-1 win over the Angeles before an announced crowd of 10,211 at Camden Yards on Thursday afternoon.
Temperature at game time was 91 degrees, and the heat index quickly reached 106.
Shohei Ohtani hit Akin’s second pitch over the right-field wall for his major-league leading 41st home run, but that was the only run Akin allowed and the only lead for Los Angeles (63-66).
Akin (1-8) pitched a career-high seven innings, the most by an Oriole starter since John Means on May 24th. After Ohtani’s homer, he gave up just two more hits, one a bunt and the other a fly ball that DJ Stewart lost in the sun. Akin walked two and struck out six, relying primarily on control of a fastball that reached 95 mph.
“That’s what you dream of as a starting pitcher,” Akin said. “You want to go out there and go six, seven innings, eight innings almost every start. It’s a lot harder to do than to say to do it.”
The Orioles (40-86) have their first two-game winning streak since July 30th-31st and recorded their first series win since they swept Washington July 23rd-25th. The Orioles scored 10 or more runs in consecutive games for the first time since June 6th-8th.
“I thought we were a little sloppy early and Keegan allowed us to stay in the game,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “It was an emotional night last night followed up by today. It’s a good feeling.”
Akin had never completed even six innings, and his win was his first since September 16, 2020, when he and Dean Kremer looked as though they might be in the Orioles’ rotation throughout 2021.The Orioles had lost 17 of the first 18 games Akin appeared in this season, and he was the seventh pitcher in franchise history not to record a win in his first 11 starts of the season. Kremer is trying to find his way back to Baltimore from Norfolk after going 0-7 with a 7.25 ERA.
Akin thought Wednesday night’s win relaxed the players and gave them a jolt of confidence.
“Everyone’s a little more confident,” Akin said. “The little blackout is over. It was a tough stretch.”
He retired the last eight batters he faced, with Hyde noting he got stronger in the latter innings. Akin abandoned the windup and threw out of the stretch.
“Try to keep things simple,” Akin said. “I was overthinking things for a good stretch … It’s starting to pay off a little.”
Trey Mancini’s RBI single against Angels Elvis Peguero broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth. Making his major league debut, Peguero recorded just two outs and allowed five runs.
Stewart’s RBI double gave the Orioles a 3-1 lead. Severino broken open the game with his grand slam on the first pitch by Jake Petricka. It was his 10th home run of the season, the second grand slam of his career, and the third grand slam of the season for the Orioles, and gave them a 7-1 lead.
Jahmai Jones had doubled to lead off the third and scored on Kelvin Gutiérrez’s single to tie the score, 1-1.
An RBI single by Ramón Urías in the seventh put the Orioles ahead, 8-1, in the seventh.
The Orioles had a five-run inning in the eighth. Gutiérrez and Cedric Mullins reached on errors and scored on Ryan Mountcastle’s single. Urías’ RBI double and Severino’s two-run single put them up, 13-1.
“We’ll try to finish strong,” Severino said. “It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish. We’ve lost a lot of games, and in the [next] month, maybe we’ll win 15 or 20 games.”
Notes: The Orioles begin a three-game series against Tampa Bay on Friday night. Matt Harvey (6-13, 6.27 ERA) will pitch for the Orioles. The Rays haven’t named their starter. John Means (5-6, 3.50) and Spenser Watkins (2-6, 7.07) are scheduled to pitch for Orioles on Saturday and Sunday. … Infielder Jorge Mateo remained out of the lineup because of a back injury.
Minor league update: Richie Martin hit a two-run home run in Triple-A Norfolk’s 4-3 loss to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. César Valdez pitched two scoreless innings, allowing one hit in relief.
High-A Aberdeen outfielder Hudson Haskin fractured a thumb and will be out for the season. In 82 games with the IronBirds and Low-A Delmarva, the Orioles’ second-round pick in 2020 hit .274 with five home runs and 42 RBIs.
Left-hander Zac Lowther will continue his rehab assignment at Double-A Bowie. He’s on the minor league injured list because of a sore left shoulder.
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