Tag: AL East

A Look inside the Baltimore Orioles: O’s Sweep A’s With Dominating 12-1 Victory

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Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jordan Westburg, left, throws to first base after forcing out Oakland Athletics’ Zack Gelof (20) at second on a double play hit into by Athletics’ Jonah Bride during the ninth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Aug 20, 2023 (AP News photo)

Sunday, August 20th 2023

By Troy Ewers

Oakland, CA – At Rickey Henderson Field, it’s the final game of the series between the Oakland A’s and the Baltimore Orioles. If the A’s lose, they will officially be out of playoff contention. The Orioles on the other have the second best record in the MLB behind Atlanta.

On the hill for Oakland is JP Sears and for Baltimore is Kyle Brandish and this game started off with a bang for Baltimore. Ramon Urias grounded into a fielder’s choice which scored the leadoff man Adley Rutschman who got on base with a single. 1-0 Orioles.

When Brandish got on the mound against the A’s, he had one goal, sit them down, and sit them down fast. Brandish struck out the side in the first inning and then in the second and third inning he retired the side with ease, 1-2-3. On the other side of the coin, Baltimore’s bats were  in go mode.

Jorge Mateo hit an inside the park home run, making it 2-0 in the second inning. In the third inning the momentum didn’t end when Ryan Mountcastle and Gunnar Henderson got back to back hits to start the rally and then they scored when Austin Hays hit a single, but he was thrown out trying to take second, but the damage was done, 4-0 Baltimore.

The fourth inning was no different for the O’s where a leadoff double by Jordan Westburg got the spark going, then after two ground outs and a Rutschman walk, Mountcastle hit a two out, three run home run and the game was blown wide open 7-0 Baltimore.

Rookie Gunnar Henderson hit a triple to follow up the homer, but it looked like a home run that would’ve been his 21st of the season, but after umpire review the ball hit the fence and resulted in a triple. Bradish finally got a hit knocked off of him when Zack Gelof got a one out single, but Seth Brown struck out and Brent Rooker grounded out, so Gelof’s hit didn’t turn into anything.

The A’s took Sears out and put Zach Neal on the mound in the fifth inning and he was able to retire the Orioles side for the first time all game.

The Orioles offense slowed down once Neal got in the game and in the sixth inning A’s first baseman Seth Brown got all three outs. Brown caught a line drive and tagged Ryan McKenna out at first for the double play, then grabbed a grounder from Rutschman to end the inning.

Henderson broke the two inning run drought with a loud dinger of a home run and there was no review with this one, it went 396 feet to deep right field, 8-0 Orioles. The insurance runs didn’t stop for Baltimore after Westburg singled to right and scored Ramon Urias, 9-0 Orioles.

In the seventh inning the O’s changed pitchers from Bradish to Nick Vespi and it didn’t start out well for him after Brent Rooker hit his 20th homer of the season to lead off the inning for Oakland and give the A’s their first run of the game. 9-1.

Jorge Mateo led off the eighth inning with a double and then was brought home by a Rutschman double, 10-1 Baltimore. Gunnar Henderson hit his second double and third hit of the game, but this one counted for an RBI as he scored Rutschman making the game a runaway 11-1 and then Henderson got across home plate when Urias hit a two out single. 12-1.

To close out the game Baltimore brings in former Oakland A’s pitcher Shintaro Fujinami. Even though Fujinami let a leadoff single get past him, a double play followed, and then struck Brent Rooker out looking.

The game ends with Baltimore winning decisively 12-1 with 17 hits and they recorded their eighth sweep of the season and they continue their streak of not being swept. Kyle Bradish walks away with the win (8-6) and JP Sears walks away with the loss (2-10).

The O’s go home with a day off then the following day it’s a series against Toronto. The current record for the Orioles is 77-47 and they maintain their position as the second best record in baseball.

The A’s host the Kansas City Royals at the Oakland Coliseum. The Royals have not decided on a starter yet and the A’s will be going with Paul Blackburn (3-3 ERA 4.09) for a 6:40pm PT first pitch.

Giants Lose Rubber Match Against Rays 6-1 at Oracle

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Tampa Bay Rays Christian Bethancourt (left) congratulates Luke Raley (right) at home plate after scoring the first pinch hit inside the park home run in Rays history in the top of the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

Wednesday, August 16 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Francisco, Ca – In Oracle Park, the San Francisco Giants play the Tampa Bay Rays in the rubber match of this 3 game series. The Giants are 5-8 in rubber games this season and hope to make it six wins at the end of this game.

On the hill for the Giants was Ryan Walker for his 10th start of the game against Aaron Civale for the Rays and they got on the board in the first inning when a single hit by Isaac Paredes scored Brandon Lowe, 1-0 Tampa Bay.

The Giants replaced Walker in the second inning and called in Ross Stripling. The Rays didn’t stop the pressure in the fourth inning when Josh Lowe hit a lead off home run to right center field, giving Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead.

The next inning the Rays weren’t done getting on Stripling. Brandon Lowe hit a 2 run home run to center field and it scored Yandy Diaz, making it a 4-0 lead, but the Rays weren’t done. Randy Arozarena hit a double and then scored off a Paredes single to extend it to 5-0 for Tampa Bay.

After five innings, the Giants only had four hits and no runs and the air deflated out of the park. The scoring avalanche kept rolling in the sixth inning when Luke Raley came in to pinch hit and hit the ball off the triples alley wall and it bounced off the top of the wall in right center, Meckler slipped trying to get the ball, and Raley goes all the way around for an inside the park home run, 6-0 Rays.

As the Giants entered the bottom of the seventh inning, the Rays made a pitching change and called Hector Perez to the hill. Civale put together a scoreless six innings with five hits and five strikeouts.

The Giants take advantage of the pitching change and finally get on the board when Sabol, who got on from a fielder’s choice and Estrada & Camargo hit back to back singles to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Lamonte Wade Jr. pinch hit for Heliot Ramos and got walked, giving San Francisco their first run of the game. 6-1 going into the eighth inning.

The Rays took out Perez after 17 pitches and put in Colin Poche who escaped the inning when Meckler grounded into a double play. The Giants replaced Stripling after six innings and allowed five runs with Scott Alexander and he got the first three up, three down inning since the third for SF.

The eighth inning for the Giants was where fans decided enough was enough, where the Giants grounded into their fourth double play of the game and struck out for the sixth time.

Alex Wood was the pitcher for the Giants in the ninth, but the damage was done, San Francisco had to comeback from five runs in the bottom of the ninth. Pete Fairbanks, the closer for the Rays, retired the side on 12 pitches and the game ended 6-1 Rays and they also took the series.

The winning pitcher for today was Aaron Civale (6-3) and the losing pitcher was Ryan Walker (4-2). The Giants have a needed off day before their next series on Friday, August 18th as they shake off this high scoring series.

The Giants open a three game series Friday night at Truist Park in Cobb County against the Atlanta Braves for a 4:20pm PT first pitch. Starter for San Francisco has not been announced and going for Atlanta Spencer Strider (13-4 ERA 3.75).

Troy Ewers is a beat writer and podcast contributor at http://www.sportsradioservice.com