Diplomatic Immunity

Rays 5, Orioles 4 (10 innings) : Phamtastic Finish – Tommy Pham singles w/ 2 outs in the 10th as the Rays walk it off on the O’s @ home for their 5th straight win. Austin Meadows hits a 2-run shot (#25) off of O’s starter Asher Wojciechowski in the 3rd & Pham doubles home 2 more in the 5th. Wojciechowski settles down & gives the Orioles 7 strong innings & the O’s rally to tie it in a 4-run 6th inning. Hanser Alberto hits a solo shot (#11) off of Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough, Mark Trumbo drives in Jonathan Villar & Renato Nunez on a double in his first game of the season, after a long rehab & Luis Severino singles home Trumbo to tie it. Yarbrough goes 6 innings, he allows 4 runs on 9 hits, strikes out 4 & walks none. Reliever Dillon Tate walks Joey Wendle in the 10th & he scores on the single by Pham as the Rays walk it off. Baltimore has now lost 14 of thier last 20. They will now play a doubleheader today.
Bal (45-92) TB (81-58)
WP : Poche (4-4)
LP : Tate (0-1).
GO O’S!!
#WalkOfShame

Royals 6, Orioles 4 : He’s The Mondesi – Alberto Mondesi matches career highs w/ 4 hits & steals 3 bases in his return from the DL & Whit Merrifield homers as the Royals take the series from the O’s @ home. Hunter Dozier doubles home 2 runs & scores on a single by Ryan O’Hearn in a 3-run 1st inning against O’s starter Aaron Brooks. Trey Mancini’s 2-run single in the 3rd ties the game against Royals starter Danny Duffy, who allows 4 runs on 7 hits in 6 1/3 innings, walks 1 & strikes out 3. Alex Gordon ties it up again on double to score Mondesi off of reliever Paul Fry in a 2-run 7th.
Meibrys Viloria’s single off of Shawn Armstrong scores Gordon to give the Royals the lead for good & Merrifield hits a solo shot off (#16) of Armstrong in the 8th to add some insurance. Ian Kennedy closes it out in the 9th.
Baltimore has now lost 13 of their last 19. They now head to Tampa Bay for 3.
Bal (45-91) K.C. (49-89)
WP : McCarthy (3-2)
LP : Fry (1-7)
S : Kennedy (25).
GO O’S!!
#StillFighting

Royals 7, Orioles 5 : Squeezing By – Bubba Starling & Hunter Dozier both homer & the Royals use 3 bunts to load the bases & take the lead in the 8th, beat the O’s to even the series. Starling connects (#3) off of Orioles starter Dylan Bundy in the 2nd, but Anthony Santander homers (#15) off of Royals starter Jorge Lopez in the 4th to tie it. K.C. scores 3 times in the 4th to take the lead back against Bundy, but Anthony Santander drills a 3-run shot (#16) off of reliever Tim Hill to put the O’s ahead & become the youngest Orioles player since Eddie Murray (24) in 1979 to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game. Dozier homers (#24) off of reliever Hunter Harvey in the 7th & Kansas City bunts 3 times to load the bases in the 8th & take the lead on a sac fly by Whit Merrifield. Ian Kennedy closes it out in the 9th.
Baltimore is now 6-12 in their last 18 games. Game 3 is today.
Bal (45-90) K.C. (48-89)
WP : Barlow (3-3)
LP : Fry (1-6)
S : Kennedy (24).
GO O’S!!
#RoyalRumble

Orioles 14, Royals 2 : Royal Beating – John Means pitches 7 strong innings to claim his first win against his hometown team, matching a career high for innings & the O’s back him up w/ 21 hits as they roll the Royals. Anthony Santander hits a 3-run shot (#14) in a 5-run 3rd inning against Royals starter Eric Skoglund, who allows 6 runs on 9 hits in just 4 innings, he walks 3 & strikes out just 1. Hanser Alberto has a career high 5 hits & drives in 2 on an RBI single in the 5th against reliever Kyle Zimmer.
Means allows 2 runs on 5 hits, walks 0 & strikes out 4 in his 7 innings. Pedro Severino has 3 hits & drives in 4 as he provides an RBI single in the 2nd, a 2-run single in the 3rd & an RBI single in the 8th. Jonathan Villar steals 3 bases, including a steal of home in the 7th & Renato Nunez singles home a run in a 2-run 9th against OF Alex Gordon, was pitching in a mop up role.
Game 2 is tonight.
Bal (45-89) K.C. (47-89)
WP : Means (10-9)
LP : Skoglund (0-1).
GO O’S!!
#CrownRoyal

Nationals 8, Orioles 4 : Mad Max – Max Scherzer strikes out 8 to go over the 200 strikeout mark for the 8th straight season, Kurt Suzuki homers & drives in 4 as the Nationals double up the O’s to earn the split. Washington scores 5 times in the 1st inning against O’s starter Asher Wojciechowski as Juan Soto drives in 2 on a triple & then scores on a single by Asdrubal Cabrera, who scores on the 2-run shot (#14) by Suzuki. Anthony Santander doubles home a run in the 3rd & Chance Sisco homers (#7) off of Scherzer in the 5th but the Nats would add more. Cabrera doubles home a run & scores on a 2-run double by Suzuki in the 5th against reliever Richard Bleier, who allows 3 runs on 4 hits in just 1/3 of an inning. Chris Davis hits a 2-run shot (#10) in the 6th off of reliever Tanner Rainey.
Washington has now won 6 out of their last 7.
Baltimore has the day off today before heading to K.C. for 3.
Bal (44-89) Wsh (74-58)
WP : Suero (5-7)
LP : Wojciechowski (2-7).
GO O’S!!
#GettingBelted

Orioles 2, Nationals 0 : Pick Up The Brooks – Aaron Brooks comes up w/ a rare pitching gem as he shuts down the hot hitting Nationals & gives the O’s a win on the road. Brooks goes 6 shutout innings, he allows just 2 hits, walks 1 & strikes out 6, allowing just 4 baserunners on the night. The Orioles offense helps him out early on & he makes it stand up the rest of the way, dominating a team that had scored 9.5 runs in their last 11 games. Anthony Santander doubles home Hanser Alberto & Jonathan Villar adds a sac fly in a 2-run 1st inning for the O’s against Washington starter Patrick Corbin. The lefty goes 7 solid, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, strikes out 9 & doesn’t walk a batter but takes the hard luck loss anyway. Richard Bleier goes 2/3, Miguel Castro goes 1/3, Hunter Harvey works the 8th Mychal Givens closes it out. Baltimore snaps Washington’s 5 game winning streak. Game 2 is tonight.
Bal (44-88) Wsh (73-58)
WP : Brooks (4-7)
LP : Corbin (10-6)
S : Givens (11).
GO O’S!!
#Blankman

Orioles 8, Rays 3 : Enter Santman – Anthony Santander goes 5-5, as he homers, scores twice & drives in 2 runs & Renato Nunez has 3 hits & drives in 3 as the O’s pick up the split in the 4 game series. Nunez singles home a run in the 1st against Rays opener Diego Castillo who goes 2 innings to start the game. Jalen Beeks takes over in the 3rd & he is rocked for 7 runs on 11 hits in 5 innings. Nunez doubles home 2 & scores on a single by D.J. Stewart in the 3rd, Jonathan Villar homers (#20) to become the 8th player w/ a 20-20 season in Orioles history & Santander singles home Rio Ruiz in the 4th. Stevie Wilkerson hits a sac fly in the 5th to score Stewart & Santander hits a solo shot (#13) in the 7th for his first career 5 hit game. The O’s pound out 16 hits on the day as Santander, Nunez & Stewart combine for 11. Baltimore will now travel to D.C. for the Battle of the Beltways starting tommorow night.
Bal (43-88) TB (76-56)
WP : Bundy (6-13)
LP : Castillo (2-7).
GO O’S!!
#SplittingUp

Orioles 7, Rays 1 : Slamming The Door – Pedro Severino hits his first career Grand Slam & John Means goes 7 innings to snap a 4 start losing streak as the O’s win to snap a 4 game losing streak of their own to Tampa Bay. Hanser Alberto scores on a wild pitch by Rays opener Jose Alvarado, who was not pitching in relief for the first time in his career – 139 appearances. He leaves w/ an injury after retiring only 1 batter in the 1st inning. He walks 3 & throws 2 wild pitches, departing w/ a 3-0 count on Severino. Austin Pruitt relieves him & he fares no better, as Severino takes him deep for the Grand Slam (#11) in the 3rd & Alberto (#10) & Jonathan Villar (#20) go back to back in the 4th. Michael Brosseau takes Means deep (#7) in the 5th but it’s the only run allowed by the lefty. Tampa Bay had won 11 of 12 on the road coming in.
Baltimore picks up just their 22nd win of the season @ home. Game 4 is today.
Bal (42-88) TB (76-55)
WP : Means (9-9)
LP : Alvarado (1-6).
GO O’S!!
#AngryBirds

Rays 5, Orioles 2 : Breaking Bad – The Orioles break the major league record for HR’s given up in a season w/ 259 as they lose to Tampa Bay @ home in the opener of a 4 game series. Trey Mancini doubles home Hanser Alberto & scores on an error by SS Willy Adames to put the Birds ahead in the 1st. All-Star Austin Meadows hits a solo shot off (#22) off O’s starter Asher Wojciechowski in the 3rd as the O’s allow HR #259 & set the major league record for home runs allowed in a season. Adames makes up for his error w/ a solo shot of his own (#16) to tie it in the 5th for HR #260 & then rain halts play for 2 hours & 16 minutes. When play resumes, Adames adds a a 2-run single in the 6th off of reliever Miguel Castro to add some insurance & Meadows also scores on a wild pitch by Gabriel Ynoa in the 9th to cap the scoring for Tampa Bay.
Baltimore has now lost 9 of their last 11. Game 2 is tonight.
Bal (41-87) TB (75-54)
WP : Drake (2-1)
LP : Castro (1-2)
S : Pagan (14).
GO O’S!!
#BadNewsBirds