Much like many series this year, this one against the Houston Astros will be one to forget. The Astros outscored the Orioles 26-3 in these three games, while the Orioles could only record 14 hits across the series.
Coming in on a seven-game win streak, the Astros were playing with fire, while the Orioles were looking to regroup after winning just one of their last 11 games. One of these statements would remain true, and it wasn’t the Orioles bouncing back.
Here is a breakdown of what happened in this series!
Game 1:
This game was ugly from the start, and it was delayed an hour. A black sky filled with rain in Baltimore would be pretty telling of how the night would go for the Orioles.
Keegan Akin was on the mound and did a good job of holding his own for the first three innings. However, the fourth inning would be a killer. The rally started with an RBI single, then former Rookie of the Year, Yordan Alvarez, committed murder on a ball by Akin that landed in the left field seats. After this three-run shot, the Orioles were down 5-0.
With the game still at 5-0, and the Orioles still being no-hit, Mac Sceroler came into pitch in the middle of a monsoon. After six pitches, the game was delayed once again, but that didn’t stop the Astros. They put up two more runs on Sceroler, extending their lead to 9-0, following a two-run seventh before the delay.
Finally, the Orioles were able to break the collective no-hitter and shutout in the eighth inning. Maikel Franco blasted a ball with Austin Hays on base, giving the Orioles one of their two hits and their only two runs.
The Orioles dropped game one 9-2, and Keegan Akin moved to 0-3 with this loss.
The Baltimore Battery’s Player of the Game is Maikel Franco. Franco’s two-run bomb in the eighth helped avoid the shutout, while more importantly avoiding a team no-hitter.
Game 2:
This game here is one the Orioles really could have won. Jorge López was on the mound, and he pitched fantastic. He reached his season-high in innings pitched at 6.1, while allowing just two runs to arguably the best offense in the A.L.
Much like we have seen a lot this year, a quality start was blemished by a lack of run support. The one run for López came in the third with the O’s down 1-0. Cedric Mullins brought home Pedro Severino on a sacrifice fly and tied this game at one. Unfortunately for the Orioles, the offense would disposed after this.
The Astros were able to take a small lead in the seventh, scoring one run on a single. Then in the eighth, they extended the lead to 3-1 after a sacrifice fly.
Enter Tyler Wells in the ninth, needing to keep his team within two runs. He did just that, while also striking out two batters. Another great inning in high leverage, Wells has dropped his ERA to 4.01, while nearing a 1.00 WHIP, currently sitting at 1.01.
The Orioles were unable to complete the comeback and lost game two 3-1. Jorge López took a tough loss and moved to 2-9 on the year.
The Baltimore Battery’s Player of the Game is López. As mentioned earlier, he reached his season-high in innings pitched, impressing us all against a very good lineup. Keep it going, Jorge!
Game 3:
This game simply was not fun. Before the Orioles even had a chance with their bats, this game was over.
Thomas Eshelman received his second start since being recalled last week, and this one didn’t go nearly as well as his last.
Lasting just four innings, plenty of damage had already been done. Eshelman allowed six runs on eight hits and let the Astros run away with this one. By the time the fifth inning rolled around, the Orioles were down 6-0 and had only recorded one hit.
One exciting part of this game was the Major League debut of 33-year-old knuckleballer, Mickey Jannis!
Not necessarily a debut to remember, Jannis spent 3.1 innings on the mound, allowing another seven runs for the Astros. At this point, the game was long over, and watching the knuckleball provided some of the only joy in this game.
Dillon Tate delivered a clean 1.2 innings of work, allowing just one hit and three strikeouts. However, that didn’t mean much in a 13-0 game.
The Astros dominated this game and won 13-0, while also sweeping this series. Eshelman took his first loss and moved to 0-1 on the year.
The Baltimore Battery’s Player of the Game is Dillon Tate. This one comes more or less as a default, as his 1.2 clean innings was by far the only good thing to happen to the Orioles this game.
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