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ANAHEIM, California–What happened? Zach Eflin powered through five innings in his first start since April 7th, and the Orioles secured their first road series win of the season.
Eflin gave up two runs in the first inning, and the Orioles scored four runs in the sixth for a 7-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels before 29,460 at Angel Stadium on Sunday.
The weather in Southern California was unseasonably warm this weekend, and the Orioles’ bats finally heated up. Their seven runs were the most since scoring nine on April 19th. To make it even better, they scored a rare win against a left-handed starter, Tyler Anderson.
“I love the energy with how we played,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I thought there was a lot of fight in us today. These guys don’t want to lose. They’re not happy with how we’re playing. To get a series win on the road, it’s important. I thought everybody was really into it.”
Eflin pointed out that the Orioles scored on a sacrifice fly, a sacrifice bunt — both by catcher Maverick Handley — played good defense and got a strong pitching performance.
“We played a really good brand of baseball today and I think that that’s going to be our identity moving forward,” Eflin said. “Good defensive plays, starting pitchers that can go deep into games, a bullpen that can shut it down and an offense that can click when it needs to click. We did that today, and it was a fun day at the yard.”
It looked as if the Orioles (15-24) would waste a first-inning opportunity after Gunnar Henderson hit a leadoff double. With two outs, Adley Rutschman hit a deep but catchable fly ball. Angels leftfielder Taylor Ward charged the ball, appeared to lose it in the sun, and and saw it land just short of the warning track. Henderson scored on Rutschman’s sun-kissed triple.
After Eflin (3-1) allowed two runs to Los Angeles (16-23) in the first, he was assisted when Yoan Moncada, who doubled with one out in the third, initially ran through the stop sign of third base coach Bo Porter on Taylor Ward’s single. Moncada retreated and Jorge Soler, who had walked, met Moncada at third. Soler was tagged out in a rundown, and the Angels didn’t score.
The Orioles scored on Handley’s first major league RBI, a sacrifice fly, and Ryan Mountcastle’s run-scoring single in the fifth. Angels manager Ron Washington walked Tyler O’Neill intentionally to face Mountcastle.
Both runs were unearned because of Moncada’s error at third on Emmanuel Rivera’s sharp leadoff grounder in the fifth.
Henderson’s two-run home run, his fifth and second in the series, Handley’s squeeze bunt and a wild pitch gave the Orioles a four-run sixth and a 7-2 lead.
Seranthony Domínguez, Bryan Baker and Yennier Cano each pitched spotless innings in relief. Félix Bautista allowed a home run to Matthew Lugo in the ninth.
Cedric Mullins had two hits, breaking an 0-for-20 streak.
To make room for Eflin on the roster, the Orioles optioned right-hander Colin Selby to Triple-A Norfolk.
Did Eflin feel good in his return? Eflin allowed two runs on five hits in five innings, walking two and striking out five, after coming off the injured list.
“Felt strong the whole time, ready to go,” Eflin said. “Honestly, just going out to compete with the guys again means the world to me, and just so happy to be back out there and feel that rush of being competitive and being out there with the guys. It was awesome.”
With Eflin joining Kyle Gibson, Dean Kremer, Cade Povich and Tomoyuki Sugano, the Orioles rotation is a stronger one. Sugano has been outstanding, and Kremer has had two strong starts in a row.
First, though, Eflin had to get through the first.
“I’ve done a lot of failing in my career, so I kind of know how to rebound from that,” he said. “Going out and giving up a two-spot kind of just, I think more so just settled me in mentally more than anything. It kind of gave me a reason to go out there and put up zeroes and execute my pitches and really make sure I capitalized on what I capitalized on throughout the counts. I was happy to be able to put up some zeroes after that, and the bullpen came in and shut it down.”
Was Mountcastle surprised by the intentional walk? Mountcastle has a seven-game hitting streak, and his average has climbed from .200 to .227
He acknowledged being surprised by O’Neill’s intentional walk. But he was happy to deliver with a single to right field.
“Yeah, that was a first. I think T.O.’s got some good numbers off of him so, yeah, they’re trying to do whatever they can to get the last out and thankfully I got a hit … I just got on the on-deck circle, I saw T.O. going, and I just didn’t really think anything of it. Just got up and stayed with my approach.”
What does it mean? Every win is important in this difficult season, and it was a relief to finally win a series on the road, and to do it with a complete game.
What’s the word? “There’s nothing that can replace the feeling of being out there, pitching against a different colored uniform with the guys behind you. There truly is no other better feeling honestly in life. I’m more than happy to be back. I’m ecstatic to be back. But just to go out there and have fun and play baseball with the guys again was awesome.”-Eflin on his return from the injured list.
What’s the stat of the day? The Orioles are now 3-9 against left-handed starters.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Former Oriole Bruce Zimmermann pitched four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit to Triple-A Norfolk in the Tides’ 7-2 loss. Kyle Brnovich gave up five runs on seven hits in five innings. Andrew Kittredge pitched a scoreless inning in his rehab assignment.
Trevor Rogers, who was on the 15-day injured list with a knee injury, was optioned to Norfolk. Rogers had been on a rehab assignment with the Tides.
Braxton Bragg allowed four runs, three unearned, on three hits in four innings with eight strikeouts in Double-A Chesapeake’s 6-5 loss to Portland in 10 innings.
Five High-A Aberdeen pitchers combined to hold Jersey Shore to three hits in the IronBirds’ 5-2 win. Christian Herberholz (1-0) pitched two spotless innings.
Single-A Delmarva was beaten by Myrtle Beach, 11-0.
What’s next? After a Monday offday, the Orioles open a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins. Cade Povich (1-3, 5.55) will face Simeon Woods Richardson (2-2, 4.01) on Tuesday night at 6:35
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich,@BaltimoreBaseball.com
