BALTIMORE–What happened? At the start of May, the Orioles were embarrassed in four games at Yankee Stadium. Last week, they were overmatched in three games at Tropicana Field by the Tampa Bay Rays.
In between, the Orioles won two of three against the Yankees in Baltimore and have won the first two games of a three-game series against the Rays.
The Orioles’ 6-1 win Monday night before 11,878 at Camden Yards wasn’t artful, but it was thorough. The Rays began the series with the best record in the majors, but after watching them commit seven errors in two games, they don’t resemble the team that outscored the Orioles 25-10 last week.
The Orioles (25-30) have won four of five.
Tampa Bay starter Griffin Jax (1-3) was hit in the back by a line drive hit by Leody Taveras in the second. Jax stayed on the ground for a few moments before he said he could continue. He completed the inning but left with a bruise and didn’t come out for the third.
Jax bobbled Samuel Basallo’s grounder for an error to start the second before he was hit by Taveras’ liner that was clocked at 107 mph. With the bases loaded, Blaze Alexander hit a ball that bounced off the second base bag and was mishandled by second baseman Richie Palacios, allowing Basallo to score. Jackson Holliday’s single to left scored Taveras, and Taylor Ward’s sacrifice fly drove in Jeremiah Jackson.
Basallo hit his ninth home run, a three-run shot, on a 3-0 pitch in the fifth against Trevor Martin. It also came after a Tampa Bay mistake when shortstop Oliver Dunn didn’t tag second on a force play, allowing Holliday, who had singled, to reach second as Gunnar Henderson reached first. After Pete Alonso flied out to left, Basallo crushed the 3-0 pitch, admiring its flight.
“They gave me the green light there and I thought, ‘I’ve got to give my best swing here,’” Basallo said through a team translator. “I was looking for a specific pitch. I usually don’t swing 3-0, but thankfully I was able to put a good swing on that one.”
Shane Baz (2-5), who gave up a run on two hits against the Rays (34-18) in six innings last Wednesday, wasn’t as sharp against his old team, but he was still impressive. He allowed one run on seven hits in seven innings, equaling a season high. Baz walked two and struck out a season-high nine.
“There’s always an adjustment period of learning people, learning how they like to operate, trying to just be the best player and teammate that I can be every day,” Baz said. “I feel like we’ve kind of started putting together good game plans and stuff and just being a little bit more comfortable.”
Manager Craig Albernaz watched Baz limit the Rays to one run in seven innings a day after Kyle Bradish held them to a run in six innings. With Trevor Rogers struggling, the recent starts by Bradish and Baz have been encouraging.
“It’s the same pitcher,” he said about Baz’s stuff. “To me, it’s all about throwing strikes and being efficient. The stuff’s the same. Obviously, the changeup is a new weapon for him that he’s trying to harness. And just the way he went out there and competes, to me it’s the same guy. You can just see the efficiency attacking the strike zone and the confidence he’s getting.”
Tampa Bay scored its run in the first inning on an RBI single by Jonathan Aranda.
Grant Wolfram allowed two hits in a scoreless eighth, and Andrew Kittredge pitched a spotless ninth
Former Oriole Craig Kimbrel, who signed with the Rays earlier in the day, pitched a scoreless eighth, allowing one hit. Tampa Bay is Kimbrel’s 11th team.
Is the starting rotation pitching better? Baz’s ERA is 4.48, his lowest since his second start. Bradish has had five good starts.
“I think they’re getting into a groove,” Albernaz said. “Whether it be delivery, pitch usage, and also with the starting pitching group, they’re a tight-knit group, and they also like to talk crap and compete, too.
“Obviously, being in our clubhouse, you can see it. So that competitive nature kind of filters over to the game. I’m not saying they want to one-up themselves, but when you see KB go out there and do what he does, then now it’s time for Baz to kind of step and do it. It’s been fun to watch.”
Baz thinks the staff is improving, too.
“I think that’s kind of the phrase of ‘midseason form’ and stuff like that,” he said. “Just settling in and not trying to do too much every outing, just kind of doing our best and staying locked in, making one pitch at a time, I think has been the theme the past couple weeks. It’s been really good. I think all of us have faith in each other and we’re just trying to keep the ball rolling.”
Basallo thinks the starting rotation is improving as well.
“I think they’re trusting in their pitches a lot more,” he said. “Really going after hitters, not being too shy or anything like that and thankfully, that’s what we’re seeing right now and hopefully they’ll keep it going.”
What does it mean? Baz is showing signs of being the pitcher who was worthy of a five-year, $68 million contract he signed on March 27th.
What’s the stat of the day? 6. All six runs scored by the Orioles were unearned.
What’s the word? “I don’t want to say yes because I also don’t want to bring us some bad luck here. But thankfully we have been playing a lot better and we feel really good about the way we’ve been playing and all we want to do is continue playing hard, playing the right way, and hope to keep this thing going.”-Basallo on whether the Orioles are about to go on a run.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Christian Heberholz pitched five scoreless innings, allowing one hit as Triple-A Norfolk lost to Durham 4-2 in 10 innings.
Double-A Chesapeake was held to two hits in a 6-0 loss to Erie. Juaron Watts-Brown allowed five runs on four hits in four innings.
Victor Figueroa hit his 11th home run as High-A Frederick beat Jersey Shore, 10-2.
Four Single-A Delmarva pitchers combined to strike out 20 batters in a 5-2 win over Fredericksburg. Christian Rodriguez struck out nine in four innings. Brendan Parks struck out six in 2 1/3 innings. DJ Layton hit a two-run home run
What’s next? The Orioles haven’t named a starter, although it could be Trey Gibson, to face Steven Matz (4-1, 3.70) in the final game of the three-game series with the Rays. Game time is 6:35 p.m.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: [email protected]