Diplomatic Immunity

Orioles 2, Mariners 1 : Grand Finale – Chris Davis homers in the 7th inning as the O’s go on to beat the Mariners in their final home game of the year @ Camden Yards & take the series. J.P. Crawford singles home Shed Long in the 1st to put Seattle ahead & Mariners starter Marco Gonzales goes 7 strong innings, while battling O’s starter, John Means who also goes 7 strong. Means allows 1 run on 7 hits, walks 1 & strikes out 4. Renato Nunez doubles home Austin Hays in the bottom of the 1st to tie it against Gonzales & it would remain tied until the 7th when Davis tees off on a solo shot (#11) to put the O’s ahead for good. Gonzales allows 2 runs on 3 hits, he walks 2 & strikes out 4. Richard Bleier works the final 2 innings in relief to pick up the save, replacing closer Mychal Givens, who has struggled lately.
Baltimore wins the series & they now travel to Toronto for 3.
Bal (51-105) Sea (66-90)
WP : Means (11-11)
LP : Gonzales (16-12)
S : Bleier (4).
GO O’S!!
#PlayingForTheFuture

Mariners 7, Orioles 6 (13 innings) : Extra Crazy – Mallex Smith scores from 2nd base on an infield single by Tim Lopes in the 13th inning as the Mariners beat the O’s. Stevie Wilkerson doubles home a run & scores w/ Pedro Severino on a double by Richie Martin against Mariners Justus Sheffield in the 1st. Rookie Shed Long hits a solo shot (#5) off of O’s starter Asher Wojciechowski in the 3rd & scores on a single by J.P. Crawford, who scores on a passed ball by Severino in the 5th to tie it. Wojciechowski goes 4 1/3, he allows 3 runs on 6 hits, walks 2 & strikes out 4. Crawford hits a 2-run shot (#7) off of reliever Mychal Givens in the 8th & Austin Hays hits a 2-run shot (#2) to tie it off of reliever Sam Tuivailala, 1 of 10 pitchers used by Seattle, to tie it. It heads to extras before Smith scores to put Seattle ahead in the 13th.
Both teams would look to take the series in Game 3.
Bal (50-105) Sea (66-89)
WP : Altavilla (2-1)
LP : Scott (1-1)
S : Swanson (2).
GO O’S!!
#ToughBreaks

Orioles 5, Mariners 3 : A King No More – Felix Hernandez allows 4 runs in the 1st inning & labors through 5 innings as the O’s beat the Mariners @ home to get back in the win column. Rookie Kyle Lewis hits a 2-run shot (#6) off of O’s opener Richard Bleier to put Seattle ahead early but Hernandez gives the lead right back in the 1st, on a 3-run homer to Anthony Santander (#20) that puts the O’s ahead for good. Austin Hays grounds out to 3rd & Rio Ruiz scores to add another in a 4-run 1st inning against the Mariners former All-Star. Hanser Alberto hits a solo shot (#12) in the 4th to add some insurance & Aaron Brooks goes the rest of the way, working 7 innings of relief. Hernandez allows 5 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings of work & has to throw 91 pitches to do so. He walks 2 & strikes out 3 in what is probably his last start as a Mariner. Baltimore snaps a 4 game losing streak. Game 2 is tonight.
Bal (50-104) Sea (65-89)
WP : Brooks (6-8)
LP : Hernandez (1-7).
GO O’S!!
#StillPlayingToWin

Blue Jays 8, Orioles 4 : Bird Bath – The Blue Jays wash away the O’s by scoring 6 times in the 7th inning in a 3 game sweep @ Camden Yards. Rookie Cavan Biggio has 3 hits including going back to back (#15) w/ Lourdes Guirrel, Jr. (#20) in the 4th on solo homers to put Toronto ahead against O’s starter Gabriel Ynoa, who goes 6 1/3, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, walking none & striking out 1. Rookie Austin Hays robs Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a highlight reel catch in CF for the 2nd out in the 4th. Fisher walks w/ the bases loaded in the 7th against reliever Tanner Scott & then Biggio singles home Reese McGuire & Rowdy Tellez, Guirrel Jr. singles home Fisher & Guerrero Jr. doubles home Biggio & Guirrel Jr. against Dillon Tate to increase the lead. Trey Mancini doubles home C Austin Wynns in the 7th & Hays hits a solo shot (#1) but the game was out of reach. Baltimore has now lost 26 of their last 35.
Bal (49-104) Tor (62-91)
WP : Kay (1-0)
LP : Ynoa (1-9).
GO O’S!!
#BirdFightRoundSixteen

Blue Jays 11, Orioles 10 : Slamming The Door – Randal Grichuk hits a Grand Slam w/ 2 outs in the 9th inning as the Blue Jays rally to overcome a bad start by Clay Buchholz & beat the O’s @ Camden Yards. Jonathan Villar hits a solo shot (#23) & Anthony Santander hits a 2-run blast (#19) in the 4th to break the game open, as Buchholz allows 7 runs on 10 hits in just 3 2/3 innings, walks none & strikes out 4. Rookie Bo Bichette adds his 2nd RBI single of the game in the 6th & Teoscar Hernandez drills a 3-run shot (#23) off of reliever Shawn Armstrong in the 7th. Toronto scores 6 times in the 9th to take the lead for good, including Grichuk hitting the Grand Slam (#30) off of Miguel Castro & then adding 1 more. Derek Law loads the bases in a shaky bottom of the 9th but still closes it out for Toronto. Baltimore has now lost 4 of thier last 5 & 25 of thier last 34. Game 3 is tonight.
Bal (49-103) Tor (61-91)
WP : Stewart (4-0)
LP : Castro (1-3)
S : Law (5).
GO O’S!!
#BirdFightRoundFifteen

Blue Jays 8, Orioles 5 : The Cycle Of Life – Rookie Cavan Biggio hits for the cycle, just like his HOF father Craig, as he & his dad become just the 2nd father son duo in MLB history to hit for the cycle the Blue Jays beat the O’s @ Camden Yards. After Trey Mancini hits a 2-run shot (#34) off of Jays opener Ryan Tepera in the 1st, Randal Grichuk hits a solo shot (#29) off of O’s starter Colin Shepard in the 2nd & Biggio hits a 2-run shot (#14) in the 3rd to put Toronto ahead. Mancini adds a sac fly in the 5th against Trent Thornton & singles home Stevie Wilkerson in the 7th against Justin Shafer, he drives in 4 on the night. Biggio doubles in the 8th & scores on a sac fly by Lourdes Guirrel Jr., also triples off of Mychal Givens in the 9th to drive home 2, completing the cycle & scores on an error by SS Jonathan Villar.
Baltimore has now lost 3 of 4 & 24 of their last 33. Game 2 is tonight.
Bal (49-102) Tor (60-91)
WP : Law (1-2)
LP : Givens (2-6).
GO O’S!!
#BirdFightRoundFourteen

Ravens 23, Cardinals 17 : Week 2 – Recap & Grades :
Offense – Lamar Jackson makes history by passing for 272 & rushing for 120 to lead the way on the ground, averaging 7.5 yards per carry. They rush for 182 total & TE Mark Andrews leads the way w/ 8 grabs for 112 yards & a TD.
Grade : B-
Defense – This group gave up some big plays as Rookie QB Kyler Murray passes for 349 yards & Larry Fitzgerald & Christian Kirk each go over 100 yards receiving, but they also register 3 more sacks & get pressure all day long.
Grade : C
Special Teams – Justin Tucker connects on all 3 of his FG’s & Sam Koch punts it 3 times for a 149 yards, an average of 46.3 yards per punt. They total 91 return yards & also hold Arizona to just 59.
Grade : B+
Coaching : Once again the coaching staff had this team prepared, a couple lapses on offense & defense ended it up being huge but they were able to overcome it & work together to pull out the win.
Grade : B-
Overall Grade : B-
GO RAVENS!!
#ByAnyMeansNeccesary

Ravens 23, Cardinals 17 : Action Jackson – Lamar Jackson becomes the first QB to pass for over 250 yards & rush for over 120 in a single game in NFL history as the Ravens hang on to beat former Raven, Terrell Suggs & the Cardinals @ home & move to 2-0. Jackson leads the offense down the field for a TD on the first drive for the 2nd straight week, as the Ravens march 94 yards on 7 plays as they cap it off w/ a 27 yard TD pass from Jackson to TE Mark Andrews. Justin Tucker kicks a 33 yard FG in the 2nd & Jackson hits TE Hayden Hurst for the 1 yard TD & gives Baltimore a 17-6 lead @ the half. Tucker hits from 28 to pad the lead but RB David Johnson takes it in from 1 yard out w/ 12:52 left in the game & the Cards get the 2 point conversion to cut it to 3. Tucker hits from 51 to make it a 6 point game & the Ravens defense finally closes it out. Baltimore now heads to Kansas City for a heavyweight battle of 2 undefeated’s on Sunday.
Bal (2-0) @ K.C.
AZ (0-1-1) @ Car
GO RAVENS!!
#BirdFight

Tigers 5, Orioles 2 : Losing Battle – Jordy Mercer homers, Victor Reyes doubles & drives in 2 runs & the Tigers earn a split w/ the O’s in their 4 game series @ home. Mercer hits a 2-run shot (#9) off of O’s starter John Means in the 1st to put Detroit ahead early & Reyes doubles home Travis Demeritte & Dawel Lugo in the 5th to add more against Means, who allows 5 runs on 6 hits in 5 2/3 innings, he walks 2 & strikes out 3. Trey Mancini hits a solo shot (#33) off of Tigers starter Tyler Alexander in the 6th to get the O’s on the board, but Lugo adds a sac fly in the bottom of the inning to score Mercer & add more insurance. Alexander goes 6 innings, allowing 1 run on just 4 hits, walks none & strikes out 3. Austin Hays singles to score Jonathan Villar in the 7th against reliever Jose Cisneros but the O’s cannot get any closer.
Baltimore & Detroit are both still 50+ games under. 500.
Bal (49-101) Det (45-104)
WP : Alexander (1-3)
LP : Means (10-11)
S : Jimenez (7).
GO O’S!!
#TigerStyle

Orioles 8, Tigers 2 : Motown Mashin – Edwin Jackson allows 5 runs in 5 innings & the Tigers move closer to the first pick in the Draft as the O’s win their 2nd game of the series in Detroit. Jordy Mercer doubles to score Harold Castro in the 1st against O’s starter Asher Wojciechowski, who allows 2 runs on 8 hits, walks 0 & strikes out 2 in 5 innings of work. D.J. Stewart singles home Hanser Alberto in the 3rd & scores on a 2-run shot by Rio Ruiz (#11) off of Jackson. Jonathan Villar singles home Stewart & Pedro Severino in the 6th against reliever Nick Ramirez & the O’s led 6-2 before a 39 minute rain delay halts play in the 6th.
After the delay the O’s use 4 relievers to wrap it up as Evan Phillips, Tanner Scott, Dillon Tate & Tayler Scott each work an inning. Anthony Santander singles home Stewart & Villar against reliever Matt Hall in the 8th. Baltimore will look to take the series today.
Bal (49-100) Det (44-104)
WP : Wojciechowski (3-8)
LP : Jackson (3-10).
GO O’S!!
#TigersMilk