Birds of a Feather, Split the Series: Orioles Take Finale 9-5 vs. Blue Jays

The O's bounce back with a 9-5 win to split the series in Toronto! Now in an intriguing spot, four games under .500, but 1.5 games of a Wild Card spot heading into June, can Baltimore catch fire and have a "June Bloom"? #Birdland #BaltimoreOrioles #MLBonX

Transcript

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What's going on, folks? Welcome back into another episode of the Charmed City Sports Podcast. I'm your host, Jay Holohan, back here on this Monday evening as we are breaking down, discussing the Baltimore Orioles, wrapping up their 7-3 homestand with the 9-5 win yesterday against the Toronto Blue Jays. They finish off the four-game series against the Blue Jays on a high note after the wild comeback walk-off win Saturday. They go really into Sunday's game and just manage to have their way with the Blue Jays pitching. The Blue Jays, whose starting pitching has been very suspect of late. It has not been uh what you would call, you know, really reliable, especially with a lot of the injuries they have suffered. And because of that, a lot of uh teams, and I mean the Baltimore Orioles being the latest example of this, have been able to have their way with their starting staff. Now, the Orioles, on really numerous occasions in this homestand, they had a tough time hitting the starting pitching of the Blue Jays, unless you look at Saturday's game and or really Friday's game, I should say, in which they were able to put up five runs. Now, when you take a look at Saturday's game and the comeback win, you know, you walk eleven times against Treya Savage, and you should not lose that game. And the fact that the Orioles were able to come back and win, I mean, obviously was or left fans really with a, you know, without a sour taste in their mouth that maybe would have been a sour taste, uh, really a sour taste in their mouth had had it gone the opposite way, knowing, you know, you worked eleven walks against a starting pitcher, or seven walks against a starting pitcher like a savage, but eleven walks overall in the win. And the Orioles, who got great starting pitching by Brandon Young, the bullpen obviously wasn't as solid as you wanted it to be, but you know, we we recapped that walk-off win in our previous episode as well as the two games prior. So if you're looking for that, go back to that one for that win. But through the majority of, again, this series, the Orioles were not able to get to the Blue Jay starters. But yesterday they did, and they built off the momentum from that walk-off win the night before. Sure, it was a ground out with runners at second and third, but Colton Kowser breaks through to plate the Orioles their first run in the bottom of the second. Pete Alonzo in RBI single with one away in the third, and then the Orioles continue to build off it. Samuel Basaio in RBI double, three-nothing O's. Colton Kowser blasting a three-run home or one one pitch, a sinker right in his happy spot. Kowser's fourth home run of the season, and in the calendar week, we're talking about four or three rather home runs in the week. In the week. I mean, the walk-off against Detroit, the walk-off against Tampa Bay on Memorial Day, and then the three-run home run yesterday to make it six-nothing O's, and obviously for the Toronto Blue Jays, Spencer Miles, he's kind of saying to himself, Oh my goodness, you know, this is this innings, this game has just really gone completely sideways on me as he was chased after just three innings. And then the Orioles gotten to the bullpen early, we go to the bottom of the sixth, they are able to bring in another run, bases loaded, and Taylor Ward, who grounded out into a force, um, call overturned, he's safe at first, and it's 7-0s, as hey, you know, you take him any way you can get him. Even though it's uh it's a ground out like Colton Cowsers earlier in the game, you're still able to come through and score a run. You obviously, uh if you're the hitter, maybe would like to get uh a little bit more there, other than that, but no doubt good to see the Orioles push another one across, get more insurance, and Gunnar Henderson comes through with an RBI double, rutch a sack fly, it's nine to nothing, and while Tyler Wells did struggle coming out of the bullpen, at the very least, the four runs he gave up, you never want to give up four runs, but Kyle Bradish kept the Blue Jays pretty much at bay. Goes seven innings, doesn't give up an earned run, gives up four hits, four strikeouts, only walks three batters, and his ERA is now down to a three-four-four. And Kyle Bradish has shut down a lot of the earlier season question marks about him because of, you know, the fact he wasn't really pitching well. His command wasn't really there, he was giving up a lot of hard contact, a lot of pitches leaking over the middle of the plate. And here was Craig Albernaz after the game as he spoke about what he saw from Kyle Bradish and especially recently from his starting pitching as a whole. Yeah, he was outstanding. I start in pitching all all homestead was was awesome. Um by KB in particular, like like we talked about the curveball usage. It was great because his both breaking balls, curveball and the slido were outstanding and throwing a ton of strikes, being efficient, and both fastballs were playing in the zone. He was just attacking hitters. Well, the Orioles certainly are going to need the likes of Kyle Braddish to help them come through here throughout as we push through into the summer. As we turn the calendar into the month of June, your starting pitching really needs to come into form. And that's something from the Orioles' perspective, we have started to see. You know, Bradish has been pitching well. Brandon Young, an unlikely source, has been pitching extremely well. Chris Bassett has been keeping you in the games. Uh, and that's pretty much with Chris Bassett, you know, what you want to see out of your quote unquote fifth starter. Now, Trevor Rogers, if they can just get him to kind of come back into his own, forget about what happened Friday evening, and really kind of lock it into place. Now, Friday evening, I didn't touch on this yesterday, but I wanted to get into it at some point. But I noticed something Thursday and Friday that I didn't really totally like from the Baltimore Orioles Clubhouse, and I wanted to address it because I forgot to in the previous episode. And that was after the game, and this really it didn't irk me as much Thursday because it was two to one loss. Okay, you just came off a sweep in the Tampa Bay Rays. You want to keep it kind of loose in the clubhouse. I I guess, you know, that's fine. But with the media in there and the cameras on the players, you could hear music in the clubhouse. And then after Friday's loss, as they're interviewing Trevor Rogers, you can hear music after they blew a 5-0 lead. Now, some people have sat there and said that my comments after the game were too harsh and explaining that players need to be even keel on the season. That's perfectly fine. If you they need to be even keel, but you need to be playing Kanye West in order to be even keel on the season and make it seem like you know you're vibing out in the clubhouse after losing five to nothing, because that's the perception everyone is getting. I don't think that's the look the Orioles want to be putting out there. And especially because it's not like it's been an hour after the game. The media's allowed in the clubhouse within 30 minutes, sometimes I mean less than that, after a game is comp completed. So why is it that you're hearing music being blared? I thought that was a weird look. I get wanting to keep the vibes high in the clubhouse, I get not wanting to dwell too much on a loss, and at the point in the season that you're at, you need to flush it and move on as fast as possible. But I don't know if I'm gonna sit here and and say that, well, I think it's okay if we're, you know, having good vibe music in the clubhouse. I think I would just want to hear silence in the clubhouse. That's it. Don't want to hear anything. So I just wanted to address that. But hey, they win their next two games, and they finish off the homestand seven and three. And here was Craig Albernaz after the game talking about and recapping that homestand. It was a good homestead. Boys played well, they competed. Great at bats, defense was awesome, base running, it was just both playing the baseball that we're capable of. Um, you know, just all the work that these guys have been putting in relentlessly every day. We're starting to see the rewards now, and you know, against some really good teams. It's been fun to watch, and especially with the starting pitching. You know, the starting pitching has has really taken a step forward and it's been awesome. We've shown that we're a resilient group. And I think now we're s we're starting to play a complete baseball game. And and especially offensively and on the base pass, like we we don't want to be a one-trick pony to win games. Like we've shown the ability to to win the game and compete in a variety of different ways. And to me, that's what a diverse offense, a diverse team can do. And you know, ability to play the play small ball, ability to run the bases, it'd be aggressive, taking the extra 90 feet. On defensive side, taking care of the ball, making the right decision, you know, the relays, the little things that add up throughout the course of the game, like this homestand, was we were on top of that, and that's something that you know, myself, I gotta say, on top of it with our coaching staff and and our players because they show them they can do it. So that's what we're losing about. Well, no doubt this is a resilient bunch. We've seen that play out uh throughout the season thus far. Now, as again, we flip the calendar to June and the Orioles start off with the Boston Red Sox here coming up, it is going to be a certainly a Boston Red Sox team that is as as the Orioles backs are against the wall, the Red Sox backs are firmly kind of pressed against the wall right now because just the way their season has unfolded has been just very strange. And I would think that clubhouse would have some backbone in it, some pride, they're eight games under 500. They've been playing, funny enough, better on the road than they have at home. They have a minus five run differential, which is interesting, but they're four and six in their last ten. You can really stick it to them in this first series in June. Now, does a first series in June make or break it? Sometimes Ken. This is a three-game series coming up. If the O's sweep the Red Sox and they're 25 and 36, you know, you're kind of looking at it going, man, th they're they're done. They are completely washed away. And they're looking towards the trade deadline, which is, you know, close to seven weeks away at that point. Seven or eight weeks away. And that's not something you want as a baseball fan, that's not something you want to be discussing. You want to be in the thick of things. And the Orioles want to be in the thick of things. They're a game back of a wild card spot. Now they've got two teams ahead of them with the Blue Jays holding that final wild card spot as they hold the tiebreaker over the Texas Rangers. You got the A's a half a game up on the O's, and the O's a game back. You know, they win tomorrow night, Blue Jays, Rangers, and A's lose. You have a wild card spot at 29 and 32. A glorious 29-32 at that. So we'll see what the Orioles do as we get into our starting pitching preview. Game one. Conley early on the mound for the Boston, five and two with the two nine-six ERA. He went six and two thirds innings, gave up two runs on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts earlier in the season versus the O's, and a five-three Orioles loss. Now Shane Baz takes the mound, he's two-and-five with a four-four-eight ERA in this season. He has been really huge, as I talked about earlier for the starting pitching. Shane Baz has been the one that's really gotten things I've noticed significant improvement. He is the first that I would say, hey, he's really been showing signs of turning the corner. And what I think is exciting going into this game that gives you confidence because you are on the road early, has good numbers. He is 3-1 with a 2-6-4 ERA versus the Red Sox since 2023. In those five starts, he's pitched into the sixth. He's pitched into the seventh. He's completed seven innings. And he's one and one with a three oh six ERA in Fenway. And I'm hoping that this Orioles offense can continue to use its positive momentum that they've gained from this past series or this past homestand and this past series into Fenway. Now, game two will see Peyton Toll take the mound for Boston. 2-2 with the 2-6-1 ERA. The 2024 second round pick has never faced the O's. He made his debut last season, so the O's will see him for the first time. And Chris Bassett will counter. 4-3 with the 5-0-6 ERA. 1-3 with the 3-7-4 ERA versus the ball versus the Red Sox in his last eight starts against them. He's 2-2 with a 3-8-2 ERA in Fenway in six starts. Now, that ERA is ballooned up because in his last start at Fenway last year for Toronto, he gave up eight runs on eight hits in just two innings. So I'm hoping that the veteran pitcher is going to go out there and give you a veteran start. Game three could very well be a rubber match. Bray and Bellow on the mound for Boston. Could be a rubber match, could be a chance to sweep for the O's. He's two and five with a five-six two ERA. He gave up eight runs on 13 hits and three and a third innings versus the Orioles earlier in this season. Then Trevor Rogers takes the mound for the O's. Two and six with a six eight four ERA this year. It has not gone well for Rodgers. Now, he was pitching extremely well Friday night, went six strong innings. We talked about it on the last pod. Goes into the seventh, gives up four straight hits, four runs, and that's what was the start to the Blue Jays' big rally. And for Trevor Rodgers, personally, I think I know it only would have been six innings, but personally I would have said, you know what, we want to build his confidence back up, let's send him into the seventh, let's let's give him the seventh, give him a shot, but we want to have someone ready to go in the bullpen. And they didn't ultimately have anyone ready to go. Now, Rogers. Earlier this season when he faced Boston, he gave up three runs on four hits and an inning in two thirds. Allowing two walks and had just two strikeouts. Now, what's good are his numbers at Fenway. One and one with a 1.40 ERA versus the Sox. In two starts last year, he went 13 in the third innings, gave up a run on six hits, a walk, and twelve total strikeouts. Now remember, it was Memorial Day weekend last year. I believe it was the Saturday during Memorial Day weekend when he made his first start after being optioned back up to the big club from Triple A Norfolk, and he went out and dazzled, and then that kicked off. He would be sent back down one more time, comes back up, and that start, I think, against Boston really gave him the confidence as the season developed from that point forward. So hopefully Rogers finds that form at a ballpark that he pitched well in last year for a team, you know, that was very much struggling, and against a team in the Boston Red Sox that were very much thriving. Now, with the two teams, not totally in the reverse, but obviously the O's have been playing better baseball than the Red Sox. Sox are only a game and a half back of the O's in the in the wild card. That just kind of you know lets you know of where things are at. But hopefully the O's can go out there and you gotta take two out of three from the Sox. You gotta take two out of three at minimum. What I would like is for the Orioles to go up there and pull off the sweep, but that is no doubt going to be a tall task against a prideful, I would assume a prideful Red Sox team that's trying to climb their way back into this thing. I mean, Boston has to you would expect find some type of jolt. I mean, they just took two out of three from Cleveland. Prior to that, they had lost five of six. They did sweep Kansas City, who's not sweeping Kansas City. So, you know, they are still very much struggling, but they're trying to turn it around as we flip the calendar to June. So thanks everyone for tuning in. We'll be back on throughout the series potentially, but we will be back on for sure to recap it coming up on Wednesday. Thanks everyone for tuning in, and we'll talk to you next time. Something magic happens. Every time you go, you make the magic happen. The magic of Oreals baseball when the game is closed. And the open top that's the thunder from the 34 to give it all a bit.