A 4-3 road trip against teams vying for postseason spots has left more questions than people would imagine for the team with the second best record in Major League Baseball.
Aaron Hicks has joined Cedric Mullins on the IL, and the O’s bullpen is showing more cracks than people would expect. Yet not two years ago, a stretch like this would be met with “trust the process” or “we are building up our system and team.”
Even though the Orioles are 8-5 since the All-Star break, they struggled against the Dodgers and recently against the Phillies. The biggest reason for the struggles against Philadelphia was the team going a combined 4-for-15 (.267 avg) with runners in scoring position, while the Phillies were 10-for-21 (.467).
Let’s see how the games unfolded in the series.
GAME 1: O’s 3, PHI 2
Brilliant pitching performances from Dean Kremer and Cristopher Sánchez paced this game.
For as good as Sánchez was, Kremer was even better, pitching seven dominating innings of three-hit, one run-ball. Giving the bullpen a much-needed rest, Kremer was in line to win his 11th game on the season.
Jordan Westburg would hit his first major league home run in the second, and Ryan Mountcastle hit one to retake the lead in the sixth.
Unfortunately, between Danny Coulombe (H, 18) and Bryan Baker (W 4-3 – BS, 3), the bullpen would allow the Phillies to tie the game. That is until the heroics of rookie Colton Cowser.
Cowser would lace a double into the left field corner, which gave the Orioles the lead for good in the top of the ninth.
Cionel Pérez (SV, 1) would come in and pitch through the ninth to pick up his first save of the season and secure the Orioles 3-2 victory.
GAME 2: O’s 3, PHI 4
Kyle Gibson came back to his former team’s city and pitched another strong game, helping give the Orioles’ bullpen even more rest.
Gibson pitched six innings, allowing two earned runs while keeping the Philly batters off balance all night long. He would leave with the game tied at two all but keeping the Orioles within the opportunity to win.
Shintaro Fujinami would come in and shut down the Phils for two innings, striking out three and not allowing a single base runner.
Ryan O’Hearn would collect another game-leading hit, a solo home run to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.
All-Star reliever Yennier Canó (L, 1-2 BS, 5), who has a 4.50 ERA in July, continued his recent struggles by allowing four hits and two runs in 0.2 innings. The Phillies would walk off the game on an Alec Bohm single, winning 4-3.
GAME 3: O’s 4, PHI 6
Kyle Bradish has been nearly automatic this year, allowing more than three runs just two times in 18 starts this year. Unfortunately, this game would see Bradish have an uncharacteristic outing.
Despite seven hits and two walks, Bradish would only accumulate 84 pitches (55 strikes) over his 6.2 innings of work. The bad part is he would allow five runs during his outing, which would leave the Orioles trailing when he departed.
A three-run home run by All-Star Adley Rutschman and an RBI single by fellow All-Star Austin Hays (2-for-4) would account for all the scoring for the Birds.
Cionel Pérez allowed a walk, a hit and a run before Mike Baumann and Cole Irvin would finish the game for the O’s. The Phillies would take the game 6-4 and win the series two games to one.
BATTERY ❌-FACTOR
The Orioles’ defense, mainly the ability to tune double plays and snag deep flies, would be the BATTERY ❌-FACTOR in this interleague series.
Though game one had some strong efforts, ultimately, the Phillies made the bigger defensive plays in the final two games, which ultimately was the difference-maker.
Trea Turner had two errors in the first game, where Aaron Hicks, Gunnar Henderson, Anthony Santander and others made nice plays to help win game one.
The Orioles will receive a much-needed day off. After three difficult series against playoff contenders, the bullpen catches a break and some banged up Birds (Jorge Mateo (leg) and Gunnar Henderson (back) will get the chance to rest and recover for a big AL East battle.
The “Evil Empire” New York Yankees come to Baltimore for a huge three-game series. The AL-East-leading Orioles have a chance to put a boot on the neck of the Yankees when New York comes to Baltimore Friday.
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