Orioles’ offense heating up in time for postseason

NEW YORK–What happened? Teams that clinch a postseason berth are often sluggish in their next game. That didn’t happen to the Orioles who had 17 hits—14 singles—a night after they secured a spot in the playoffs.

The Orioles defeated the New York Yankees for the second straight time, leaving the Yankees a win away from the American League East title. They’ll try to beat the Orioles on Thursday night to win the AL East.

Entering the ninth inning, the Orioles had a 9-3 lead, but Matt Bowman allowed an RBI single by Juan Soto and a three-run home run by Aaron Judge, his 57^th, before Keegan Akin retired two batters for his first save and a 9-7 Orioles win.

Each Orioles starter had a hit. Gunnar Henderson and Cedric Mullins both had three. Jordan Westburg, Anthony Santander, Colton Cowser and James McCann each had two.

Cowser had three RBIs and Henderson had two.

The Orioles began the hit parade with six consecutive singles to start the game.

Starting pitcher Zach Eflin walked a career-high five batters in 4 2/3 innings. Jacob Webb got the last out in the fifth and threw a scoreless sixth for the win.

“Just really good at-bats from the first inning,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Nice to score a few runs there early. Eff probably didn’t have his best command tonight, but he did battle, worked out of some jams. But offensively we had a really good night.”

How good was the offense? Never in their franchise history had the Orioles had six straight singles to begin a game. Henderson, Westburg, Santander, Cowser, Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn produced the singles, and the Orioles had a 3-0 lead against Marcus Stroman in the first.

“We had a lot of singles. We had a lot of clutch hits,” Hyde said. “Kept the line moving. I thought our at-bats all night were really good. You can never score enough here, as we almost saw, so it was a great for us offensively.”

The nine runs scored were the most Eflin has seen in any of his starts.

“Obviously, putting up nine runs and the offense doing their thing is always great for everybody on the team,” Eflin said. “They’ve done it for a good while the past two years, and you’re going to go through little ruts and stuff through a 162-game season, it’s going to happen. But it looks like we’re on the other side of that right now and we’re playing some really good baseball.”

What was wrong with Eflin? Eflin had just six walks in his first eight starts for the Orioles.

“Honestly, [I was] just kind of stuck in my mechanics today, fighting an uphill battle of throwing the ball over the plate, but made pitches when I needed to,” he said. “Offense was there. It was a great win. Offense had my back. Defense made some great plays, but command was definitely a little frustrating.”

On July 19^th, when Eflin was still with Tampa Bay, he walked four Yankees.

“They’ve worked me pretty well the last couple of times I’ve faced them, and I had a tough time throwing the ball over the plate the last couple of times here at Yankee Stadium,” Eflin said. “But it’s not something I’m worried about, especially with the statement win. Putting up nine runs always helps. I’ll get back to my mechanics and get out there next time.”

Hyde was puzzled by Eflin’s outing because he’s used to seeing better control.

“I think he was just being careful with Soto and Judge there,” Hyde said. “I’m not really sure. The pitch count kind of got up there. The pitch to Soto he probably wants back for the homer. I think he made pitches for the most part when he had to. The command just wasn’t what it normally is.”

How happy is Mountcastle to be back? This was Mountcastle’s second game since missing a month with a sprained left wrist.

“Feel good. I got a couple at-bats down there in Triple-A just to try to get my timing down, and just going to use these last couple games here to hopefully be ready for the playoffs,” he said.

The Orioles are likely to face either Kansas City or Detroit in the wild-card round. If they win, they could face the Yankees in the Division Series.

“They’ve got a really good team, and we got a couple more games ahead of us,” Mountcastle said. “Hopefully, we can face them.”

The Orioles are 8-4 against the Yankees.

“I believe in our guys in this clubhouse and what we can do,” Mountcastle said. “We’re a really good team, offensively and defensively, and hopefully that leads to success.”

Are the Orioles thinking postseason? Yes, they’re thinking about it. Eflin pitched for Philadelphia in their World Series run and pitched for the Rays against Texas in the wild-card round.

“Obviously super excited to be a part of these guys and blessed to be here,” Eflin said. “It’s such a great group of guys, and looking forward to going on a deep October run with everyone.”

He believes the Orioles are ready for next month.

“No doubt. I think just watching the games shows it,” Eflin said. “It seems like we’re starting to peak at the right time, which is really important for October baseball, and we’re having a lot of fun doing it. So it’s going to be a lot of fun moving forward.”

Is Hyde adjusting the rotation for the postseason? Eflin and Corbin Burnes, Thursday’s starter, won’t have their starts shortened in preparation for the wild-card series next week.

“I’m not going to extend them and be irresponsible,” Hyde said. “Try to win these games.”

What does it mean? While Bowman pitched poorly in the ninth, the offense was impressive, and it was good to see the Orioles produce a robust offensive performance without hitting a home run.

What’s the word? “Win or lose, it’s always tough just watching from the side. So, just happy to be back and happy to be healthy and ready for the playoffs.”-Mountcastle on his return.

What’s the stat of the day? 17. The 17 hits were the most the Orioles have had this season without hitting a home run.

What’s going on in the minor leagues? Eight Orioles minor leaguers are on the roster of the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League, which begins play on October 7^th.

Double-A Bowie manager Roberto Mercado will be Surprise’s manager. Towson native Zane Barnhart, a right-hander who pitched for High-A Aberdeen will be joined by right-handers Tyler Burch, Preston Johnson and Houston Roth (Bowie), left-hander Juan Rojas (Single-A Delmarva), catcher Creed Willems (Bowie) and outfielders Jake Cunningham (Aberdeen) and Douglas Hodo III (Bowie).

IronBirds strength and conditioning coach Chris Frosch will also be part of the staff.

Prospects from Cleveland, Houston, Kansas City and Texas will join their Orioles’ counterparts to make up the team.

What’s next? It will be a matchup of aces on Thursday night. Corbin Burnes (15-8, 2.95) will face Gerrit Cole (7-5, 3.67) at 7:05.

Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com