A week that started with more talk of the broadcast team and owner John Angelos, the Orioles and Astros were squaring off for a three-game set from The Yard.
This was the young upstart Orioles versus the reigning World Series Champions, who are just getting their team healthy as the stretch run begins.
The Orioles played well, having positioned themselves to win the first game before coming up short. The Birds salvaged the last game, but not without a little drama before shutting down the Astros and maintaining their streak of not being swept to 76 straight series.
The 76 series without a sweep is the fifth longest in major league history and the longest since the St. Louis Cardinals set the record with 124 straight from 1942-44.
Let’s see how the series unfolded.
GAME 1: O’s 6, HOU 7
The Orioles came out of the gate strong on this one. Ryan Mountcastle (14) and Adley Rutschman (15) both hit two-run home runs, as the Birds jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead.
Grayson Rodriguez, who has a 3.52 ERA since rejoining the staff, once again dialed himself in for another big-time game.
Rodriguez would go six innings allowing two earned runs. He walked two, gave up six hits and struck out four on 93 pitches (63 strikes), and left with a chance to pick up his first win since his return (five starts).
Mike Baumann yielded a run in one inning of work before Yennier Canó worked the eighth, giving up one run. Unfortunately, Félix Bautista was unable to put away the Astros.
A lead-off walk, a single, a dropped fly ball and a dropped third strike would keep the inning alive as the Astros loaded the bases. Kyle Tucker would come up and send a Bautista fastball into right-center for a grand slam to give Houston a 7-6 lead. Joey Krehbiel picked up the final out before the Orioles went down in the ninth.
Ryan Mountcastle and Adley Rutschman both homered in this one, but the O’s would take a heart-breaker, dropping the game 7-6.
GAME 2: O’s 2, HOU 8
Jack Flaherty was making his second appearance for the Orioles, and this one was not a warm welcome by Houston.
Kyle Tucker sent a 3-1 pitch over the wall for a quick 2-0 lead in the first. The Astros would tack on another run to put the young O’s down 3-0.
Flaherty would find his groove, however, finishing with five innings of work. Though he took the loss, he gave up three runs while striking out eight.
Austin Hays would hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth to bring the O’s within one. Unfortunately, the offense only mustered three hits the rest of the way.
Jacob Webb, making his Orioles debut, pitched a perfect sixth, and Cionel Pérez had a scoreless seventh. Unfortunately, Shintaro Fujinami and Mike Baumann would combine to give up five more runs to put the nail in the coffin. The Orioles would fall 8-2.
The win also moved Dusty Baker into seventh all-time on the career wins list, as he passed Bucky Harris with win number 2,159.
GAME 3: O’s 5, HOU 4
Dean Kremer was searching for his 11th win and would be tasked with halting the Birds’ two-game losing streak.
Kremer (11-4) would pitch seven strong innings, allowing two earned runs while striking out five. He put forth the kind of lockdown performance that was needed to close this series and homestand with a 4-2 record.
Rutschman (16) hit his first career leadoff home run, and Mountcastle (15) added a two-run shot in the seventh, extending his hitting streak to 12 games (.463 during the streak), as they propelled the offense. Of the Birds’ eight hits, five went for extra bases.
Pérez (H, 9) and Canó (H, 27) would bridge the gap to Bautista to close it out. He made things interesting by walking two and allowing two hits to load the bases once again. This time, Bautista (S, 31) would force a pop-up to close out the victory.
The Orioles have now gone 76 consecutive series without being swept.
Most consecutive multi-game series without getting swept:
1. 1942-44 Cardinals: 125
2. 1903-05 Giants: 106
3. 1922-24 Yankees: 83
4. 2022-present Orioles: 76
BATTERY ❌-FACTOR
The BATTERY ❌-FACTOR this series was the ability of the Orioles to push out the distraction from reports of play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Brown being suspended.
While the Birds would drop two of the three games, it was more miscues in the first game that would force the loss than the outside noise.
The young Orioles learned you can’t give extra chances to the defending World Series Champion Astros, but they also hung with the team and were a missed fly ball and dropped foul tip away from winning the series.
The Orioles proved outside noise is not a distraction and that even short-handed, they can compete with the team that has dominated the AL for the past few years. This was a litmus test that the young Birds should receive credit for, even in dropping the series.
The Orioles have little time to breathe, as they will pack up and head out west for a nine-game road trip starting in Seattle.
The Birds start a three-game set with the Mariners Friday night at 10:10 p.m. EST. Will the Birds right the ship and quiet a Mariners team that currently is on a seven-game winning streak? Tune in tomorrow as the West Coast swing starts.
What are your thoughts on this series loss? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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