BALTIMORE—In the Orioles’ 14-game losing streak, they scored two runs or fewer seven times. That seems so long ago.
Since that streak ended a week ago, the Orioles have won five of six and their quiet bats have begun to boom.
On Tuesday night, they had 16 hits, nine for extra bases, as they beat the New York Mets, 10-3, before an announced crowd of 9,431 at Oriole Park.
In their last two games, the Orioles have 28 runs and 37 hits.
Cedric Mullins continued his hot hitting with a pair of doubles and moved his average up to .325. Freddy Galvis had three hits. Maikel Franco, Trey Mancini, Anthony Santander, Pedro Severino and Pat Valaika each had two hits. One of Franco’s hits, a three-run homer, reached the second deck in left field — only the sixth time that has occurred at Oriole Park.
“I thought tonight we took really good at-bats,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “A lot of production from the bottom half of the order … just a balanced offensive attack tonight. A lot of deep counts, we weren’t chasing much.”
Starter Bruce Zimmermann, who pitched five innings, allowed a two-run home run to Pete Alonso, his eighth, with two outs in the first to give the Mets (29-24) a 2-0 lead.
The Orioles (22-38) scored three in the bottom of the second against David Peterson (1-5) on a two-run double by Valaika. Mullins’ double scored Valaika.
Valaika doubled in the third to score Galvis, and the Orioles led, 4-2.
Mullins led off the fourth with another double, this one against Robert Gsellman, and it was 5-2.
Franco launched his three-run home run in the fifth. It was his seventh of the season and put the Orioles ahead, 8-2.
Ryan Mountcastle, who edged out Mullins for American League Player of the Week on Monday, drove in Santander with a single in the sixth to make it 9-2.
Santander’s eighth-inning home run, his fourth, made it 10-2.
Zimmermann (4-3) allowed two runs on two hits, none after the first inning. He walked two and struck out seven. In his four wins, the Orioles have scored 38 runs.
“It’s great for a young pitcher like myself,” Zimmermann said. “I can pitch a little bit differently, a little more aggressive. It means a lot, and it gives me a lot of confidence.
“The way that they’ve hit lately is phenomenal and gives the pitching staff a lot of confidence and be aggressive and get strikes early. It has a snowball effect.”
Hunter Harvey pitched a scoreless sixth. Tyler Wells pitched two spotless innings. Travis Lakins allowed a two-out home run to Alonso in the ninth.
Notes: The other Orioles to hit a home run to the second deck in left field were Mark Reynolds (August 7, 2011) and Manny Machado (June 2, 2017). Alonso was the last to do it on September 2, 2020. … Matt Harvey (3-6, 6.62 ERA) will face Taijuan Walker (4-2, 2.17) on Wednesday night. They faced each other on May 12th when the Mets won, 7-1. … The Orioles, who defeated Cleveland 18-5 on Sunday, scored 10 or more runs in consecutive games for the first time since September 23-24, 2019..
Valaika’s heavy heart: Valaika returned after missing three games after the death of his father-in-law, Joaquin Vega.
“He was one of my biggest fans,” Valaika said. “He loved watching me play, more than anything. He really lived for it. I knew coming back that all he would want me to do is to play. That’s what he told me all the time.
“’Just go and play, play like in Little League, have fun.’ He always told me I’m living the dream. Sometimes, I take it for granted. He was definitely with me tonight.
“That game was for him, and the rest of the season, honestly, is going to be for him.”
Winning night in minors: Austin Hays homered in his first rehab game for Triple-A Norfolk. Hays, who’s on the 10-day injured list because of a strained left hamstring, went 1-for-3 and played seven innings in left field. Dean Kremer pitched 4 2/3 innings for the Tides, allowing three runs on one hit. He walked three and struck out seven as Norfolk beat the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 4-3. In his return to the Tides after missing nearly a month because of an oblique injury, second baseman Jahmai Jones was 1-for-3.
Grayson Rodriguez, who on Monday was named the top pitching prospect in the minor leagues by Baseball America, threw five shutout innings as Double-A Bowie beat Binghamton, 12-0. Rodriguez gave up two hits, walked two and struck out six. In two starts with the Baysox, he’s allowed one run on six hits in 10 innings.
Rightfielder Johnny Rizer went 4-for-5, including three doubles. In his first seven games with Bowie, Rizer is batting .485. Shortstop Cadyn Grenier had three hits and is hitting .293. The Baysox improved to 22-7, the best record in the minors.
High-A Aberdeen scored four runs in the seventh and five in the ninth in a 10-1 win over Bowling Green. Drew Rom pitched six innings, allowing one run on four hits, striking out seven without a walk. Rom is 3-0. Shortstop Jordan Westburg had two hits and two RBIs for the IronBirds, who are 20-9.
Noah Denoyer improved to 3-0 as he threw five scoreless innings and allowed just one hit as Low-A Delmarva beat Lynchburg, 3-0. Denoyer walked three and struck out five. The Shorebirds are 21-9.
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It was interesting the way Jim Palmer talked like he knew very little about doctoring a baseball last night while the Yankees ace said it was pretty much handed down through the ages, want to help the offense, enforce the rules as they are & put two infielders on each side of the field, ps, keep pitchers mound where it is...go O’s...
I think they should put X's or boxes on the field and make players start each AB on the X or inside the box.
Richard, why don't you contribute something other than attacking CalsPals. Your act is older than mine, and I've been here since 2016.
Condolences & prayers to the Valaika & Vega families...go Pat & O’s...
I think every player should hear Mr. Vega’s words, “Just go and play. Play like in Little League. Have fun.”
Absolutely:)....go O’s....
The offense is finally getting it going. I was on board with trading or at least listening to offers for Santander but with Hays in ability to stay healthy and the same for Diaz I’m off that bandwagon. There is really no immediate outfield help. Mountcastle is finally getting going. Had to go through is adjustment phase. On the pitching side I have one question and Rich maybe you can answer it what has been the difference since Chris Holt has come back? What does he do that Darren Holmes didn’t when filling in? The pitching has been great since he returned. We saw what the pitching was with out him. As far as the minors is concerned guys continue to play great as further evidence that Elias and cos plan is working. For example, take a guy duquette drafted and couldn’t develop in Caden Greiner he’s up to 293 did absolutely nothing under duquette. I wonder if maybe playing with ex college teammate in Adley has helped.
Okay so you don't like Duquette that is quite obvious. But Cadyn Grenier was drafted in June 2018 and played all of 43 games at Delmarva in 2018 after being drafted. Duquette was gone October 2018. Please forgive Dan for not spending time on site for each of Grenier's 43 games with Delmarva and developing him into an MLB player in 2018. "did absolutely nothing under duquette" hahahaha that's a good one!
That's the type of comment you should post. Except, you still make it personal by laughing at the poster.
It’s not that I don’t like duquette but guys that were drafted under him are doing better under Elias. Look at the stats. And let’s be honest duquette is the reason we are in this rebuild. Some his fault like the lack of development of players you drafted but others are on Pete for spending on the wrong guys like Davis instead of Cruz and Machado. Also the lack of international talent. Duquette and Showalter did great things here but failed to keep the window open by developing talent
These guys that were drafted by Duquette have simply grown older, gotten better and progressed though the minor leagues as they naturally would under ANY organization. This whole 'developing' players thing is totally over thought or over credited IMO. Did you not get better as you aged, grew and got stronger and faster in little league all the way to high school? It's a natural progression. Same thing here. There's no amount of "developing" that can turn a Urias or Wilkerson into an all star. The player either has talent or he doesn't. Or he wastes it.
One more thing ... didn't Duquette lose a few very high picks because of the Cruz, Ubaldo & Cobb signings? They guy was in a hole when drafting. Elias drafted from the top of the heap from jump. Largely his own fault...granted...but still these are very different situations.
And yeah, I have been and have always been in the tank for Duquette. IMO...he did a great job here. And I honestly hope that Elias does even better.
"Largley his own fault" .... referring to Duquette there.
A lot of teams lose draft picks for signing players or going over the tax but that not an excuse. Look at the the dodgers the lose picks for that all the time and yet they continue to develop prospects drafted in later rounds.
Os20 ...absolutely. Only difference being is that the Dodgers have the $$$ to support the scouting and farm systems. Hopefully, Mr. Elias will building a similar infrastructure. Question there will be for how long the O's can afford to support it. The Dodgers can support it indefinately.
Just a quick comment, Grenier was drafted by Duquette in summer 2018, Mikey was hired in November, hard to say he did nothing under Duquette, didn’t have much time, I think he was similar to Swanson but didn’t have to get traded & struggled early, now pretty legit SS, definitely think playing with Adley has helped...go O’s...
Orioles20, others have noticed the Holt jolt, too, maybe just coincidence.
O20, can’t argue Mikeys guys are doing well, but the example you gave with Grenier doesn’t work...go O’s...
Agree that O's should not jump the gun in trading Santander ... some folks appear convinced that Hays and Diaz are sure things ... I like Hays, but he has a total of only 373 MLB at bats so far, and Diaz has zero MLB at bats.
Read an article this morning saying that they expect the O’s to move Santander and Trey….I hope not they are corner pieces to build around
Mancini and Santander would figure to be key contributors, if the Orioles hope to field a playoff contender in 2023 ... they will be 31 and 28, respectively, in 2023, within the peak age range for most MLB players ... if the Orioles trade them at this point, I think it will be seen as a cynical cost cutting move by ownership.
Trey isn’t actually a youngen anymore, he’ll be 30 in the spring, ok for the team getting him, maybe 3-4 prime yrs yet, but I doubt they’d give up anyone really good back...go O’s...
Agreed something has to be different between Holt and Holmes doesn’t mean Holmes can’t do his job just means evidently Holt has a different better approach maybe because he had them in the minors or more video oriented.
Either Hayes or Diaz needs to get healthy and stay healthy the nagging injuries need to stop to much talent in the middle minors in a year or two they may be bypassed .
Something sure is going on at Bowie Greiner could be a big piece for the middle infield . He was rated as a stretch when taken in the second rd by Duquette because scouts didn’t think the hit tool played and until now it didn’t a 237 career average is now hitting 293 . Rich maybe you could ask Matt Blood what’s going on with him .
Balt mp, I’ve written about Grenier in the past, and he’s certainly someone Todd Karpovich may be writing about in the coming weeks.
I honestly, honestly believe this team could reach .500 THIS year, if Mike would just pull a few strings. We're not that many pieces off. One note, every time I think I've seen all I need to see of Franco, he goes off and does something like he as the past couple of games. Not saying we don't need to replace him, all I'm saying is he's better than I thought he'd be.
Ken, please stop fixating on .500. The team lost 21 of 23, and even with the improved play over the last week, they’re still 16 games under.
In order to play .500 ball, they’d have to go 60-43, which isn’t likely to happen. Even if they played .500 ball for the rest of the season, they’d be around 72-90, which would have been the best-case scenario this year.
I tried to tell you this wasn’t close to a .500 club, but you convinced yourself otherwise. No one around baseball thought they could do that, and now you’re disappointed.
The team has more pieces than before, but not enough.
And why don't they have enough pieces? Could it just possibly be that the GM is keeping his thumb down combined with ownership's refusal to loosen the purse strings?
And the reason no one around baseball thought the O's could be competitive is for the exact 2 reasons I just proposed.
Right now, it appears as though we're about 1 starter and 2 to 4 relievers from playing .500 ball the rest of the year. I'm not disappointed in the team. I am however, tired of the Mickey Mouse way in which it's run. Enough already.
How's that old saying go? ... "If you don't want to compete, get off the pot? (something like that anyway)
And no, I'm not going to stop fixating on .500. I'm not a big believer in participation trophies.
Rich
I'll settle for something close to 72-90 this year.
Next Year (2022).....I expect to see incremental improvement. Something like 80-82.
The year after that (2023)......I expect a .500 Baseball team in Baltimore
That gets us to 2024, which allowing for a 1-yr backwards spiral due to "whatever", now gets us to 2025.
2025.....now that's the year, no excuses, no what ifs, no long essays on why it's still too soon.
NOPE.....2025, We're either playoff caliber (WC or better) or it's time to let someone else steer the ship.
PITCHING, PITCHING, PITCHING, AND MORE PITCHING
2023 just to get to .500 ? ... hope there are still a few fans left attending games at OPACY by 2025, when they finally reach the playoffs ... ownership needs to invest $$ to field a playoff caliber team before 2025.
I couldn't agree with you more Birdman.
WTH, totally agree...go O’s...
Hallbe62 - I have the same expectations for 21 and 22 as do you but in 23 I don’t think it unreasonable to expect 85-90 wins. Continued development of those in the minors and recently promoted to the big league club, plus spending CD money on a #3 starter, closer and an above average infielder should make that a possibility
Heard Mets radio announcer sarcastically criticizing O's for never using the shift and how it costs them runs allowed,then innings later heard Palmer criticizing the Mets for shifting too much costing them runs. Gotta love it. It's getting close for Zimnerman--looking good through 5 but way too many pitches,(a common O's theme). Something that can be adjusted and hopefully make a 6-7 inning starter out of him. Amazig how Galvis seems to be getting 2 hits every game but still only batting .257. Gary Cohen(Mets TV) commented about Galvis-"one of 5 best players in baseball that nobody wants". Keep it up boys--pretty soon the snide out of town comments will cease.
Galvis and Mancini both beat the shift last night. That takes intentionality and skill. I loved it. Their infielders were stunned.
I think you're going to see players concentrating much more on hitting against the shift in the coming years. That's a good thing.
I wish I believed that Boog, but as the focus continues on mashing, and titanic home runs, launch angle, exit velocity, bat flips, huge contracts for HR hitters and and orgasmic fan reaction, unfortunately I think hitting against the shift will be an ongoing scarcity. Hope I’m wrong.
You could be very right Icty. But look what someone like Mullins does to the shift. I think there's a place in the game for it.
I agree, and love the high average hitters who use the whole field. Love what Mullins is doing. Just think that the current zeitgeist of focusing on pull hitting and massive HR production will continue to reign. If that’s what gets them paid mega bucks, that’s what they’re gonna do. I can’t stand the over use of the shift, but hey, here we are.
I have been reenergized by the O’s play! They have been fun to watch. I can’t say that has happened in long time. I love to see timely hitting! They don’t need to be the best team out there but seeing good offense from this team has been great! I am tired of being the team everyone just laughs at! Go O’s!!!!
Josh Linn nails it on Eutaw Street Report yesterday.
Very informative article. Anxious to hear comments from all who read it,
Can someone post a link to it?...thx & go O’s...
eutawstreetreport.com
Thx...go O’s...
Love it! The more these kids taste winning, the more they’re gonna hate losing.
Exactly....breed that winning atmosphere and it will be so. Just ask the Yankees how that works.
Not to mention the Ravens. Can’t imagine Ozzie-EDC-Harbs-Bisciotti ever greenlighting a Cleveland Browns style 5 year dumpster fire on the hope they can one day strike gold in the draft. Next man up, or you’re gone.
Ozzie, HOF Brown...go O’s...
Couple comments. I'm not here to promote Duquette, but when do you stop beating a dead horse? I may have underestimated Elias. Knowing we had multiple games with the other New York team, he signed Franco, a Mets killer, who now has 20 HRs against them. That's definitely a targeted acquisition.
Really? You think Mikey signed Franco 'specifically' because we have 4 or 5 games against the mets? Hmmmmm....
Franko and Galvis were good signings for what they are and where the club currently is. Not understanding the hate on these guys. They were cheap, as advertised, and they were available and they were known stop gaps. Franko is inconsistent, looks disinterested half the time, smirking and paying what appears to be half hearted attention. But he snares some mean shots down there and has a definite big league arm. I don’t like his lack of hustle either, but he’s done an adequate job. And don’t tell me about his .200 average and how he’s having the worst year of his career. I see that too. But again, he is a fill in until we develop a third baseman.
Galvis is a spark plug, is smiling and seems to be a positive guy that tries very hard. Good doubles hitter and good defensively. I like him.
No, it’s not Brooks and the Blade, but can we live in the moment and realize it is sort of a necessity for the interim?
Lately it just seams we are so close being competitive against anyone. Wish a pitcher or two of the you g bloods would be sent to the big club. It seems so close. Bring the boys up this year and next year who knows how good we could be. And to hell with 500 for the next decade, let’s just win now
:)....go O’s...
I think I love you Bee.
We seem to be cleaning it up in MiLB. Hopefully that translates to MLB in a few seasons.
I"m thinking of starting a web site called BowieToNorfolkbaseball.com