The Orioles continued their back and forth for first place with the New York Yankees this past week, as the two teams have remained within a game of each other since July 27.
This past week, the Birds would play six games, two against the Washington Nationals and four against the Boston Red Sox. They would go 3-3 between the two series and improved to 73-52 on the season.
Let’s see who helped keep the Orioles in the AL East race and keep them on a 95-win pace.
The Great: Albert Suárez
The journeyman who played internationally for the past seven years has turned into one of the unsung heroes of the Orioles’ pitching staff.
This week, Suárez appeared in two games, leading the Orioles to a victory, completing 12.2 innings of scoreless ball and improving his streak to 17.2 innings without a run scored.
Suárez leads the Orioles with seven scoreless starts while compiling a 6-4 record across 25 games, 17 of them starts. He has posted a 3.18 ERA across 96.1 innings while striking out 78 batters and holding opponents to a .249 batting average.
Suárez is the type of pitcher that allows his defense to do the work, but he is holding opponents to a career-best in slugging percentage (.387) and OPS (.687).
The Good: Gunnar Henderson
Some extra hits might have seen the young superstar challenge for The Great spot, but Gunnar was outdone by Suárez this week.
Henderson has homered in four of the last six games, drove in eight runs this past week and played some strong defense in the process, especially in the Boston series.
Henderson is slashing .288/.374/.562/.936 for the season and has hit 33 home runs, one shy of the club record for a shortstop, while driving in 77 runs. The O’s star shortstop has 141 hits, with 62 of them going for extra bases while stealing 14 bases as well.
With Henderson’s bat heating up and his dynamic defense, he could be the factor that could push the Orioles down the stretch and lead them into the postseason.
The Ugly: Colton Cowser
Cowser’s streaky season continues, but his current slump has him struggling more than usual.
This past week, Cowser hit just .167 in the two series, collecting just four hits while striking out seven times and collecting only two walks.
August has been especially rough, as Cowser is slashing .227/.301/.364/.665, collecting 15 hits in 16 games while striking out 22 times to just six walks. He does have two home runs and nine RBIs for the month, but only three other extra-base hits.
Cowser,especially batting in the lead-off spot now, will need to turn things around quickly to help kick start the offense and set the tone for each game.
The Orioles continue their 13-game stretch by heading to New York for three games against the Mets. They will then return home for a big four-game series against the Houston Astros.
Will Suárez continue his scoreless streak? Will Henderson continue to wow Birdland with his bat and suave defense? Will Cowser break out of his August slump?
Tune in next week for the next edition of The Great, The Good & The Ugly.
Who stood out to you this week? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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