Dylan Carlson knew the drill. Slap hands with teammates, approach dugout steps and remove batting helmet, receive pirate hat, go directly to hydration station and chug. And it’s much better in a crowd.
Carlson is on an offensive tear, hitting a three-run homer today after an earlier single and stolen base. And Charlie Morton is on a mission to prove that he can still pitch at age 41.
It proved to be a nice combination, the power and perseverance.
The Orioles ran their winning streak to a season-high three games today with a 5-2 victory over the Cardinals before an announced crowd of 21,717 at Camden Yards. Their record improved to 19-34. The vibe also is changing.
It’s no coincidence that the rotation is healing some wounds. Trevor Rogers gave the Orioles 6 1/3 scoreless innings Saturday in Game 2 of a doubleheader, and Dean Kremer followed yesterday with 5 1/3. Morton carried a shutout bid into the fifth before Pedro Pagés hit a fly ball to left field that drifted into the seats for a two-run homer.
Morton won his first game with the Orioles in eight decisions by allowing two runs and four hits in a season-high six innings. He surrendered two runs in 9 1/3 over three relief appearances to earn another chance, and today’s outing featured an uptick in fastball velocity and a sharper curveball, except for the one thrown to Pagés in an 0-2 count.
Six starts for Morton resulted in a 10.22 ERA, 2.068 WHIP and .340 opponents’ average, but he offered quality today. He walked two batters, struck out five and received a nice ovation as he returned to the dugout for the last time at 86 pitches.
The bullpen was nails. No one reached base against Seranthony Domínguez, Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista, who struck out two and notched his eighth save.
Jackson Holliday singled twice in three innings atop the order and drove in Carlson in the third. Carlson led off the inning with a single, swiped second base and advanced on Maverick Handley’s sacrifice bunt.
Carlson began his Orioles career 1-for-22 but was 3-for-8 with a double and home run in the last two games in Boston. His former team got in his way this afternoon.
Ryan O’Hearn collected his second of three opposite-field singles leading off the fourth, Heston Kjerstad reached on second baseman Brendan Donovan’s throwing error on an attempted force, and Carlson launched a sinker to center field at 107.6 mph to give the Orioles a 5-0 lead.
Holliday led off the first inning with a single, Cardinals third baseman Nolan Gorman committed a throwing error on a potential double play ball, and the Orioles went ahead 1-0 after Gunnar Henderson’s fielder’s choice grounder.
Cardinals starter Erick Fedde allowed one run against the Orioles in 23 2/3 innings before today, and his 0.38 ERA was fourth-lowest against them in a minimum 20 innings behind Steve Olin (0.00), Harry Dorish (0.32) and Rich Garces (0.32), according to STATS. His defense let him down and he complicated matters.
Fedde allowed three earned runs and five total with seven hits in five innings.
O’Hearn raised his average to .340 with a .968 OPS, and the Orioles won consecutive Memorial Day games for the first time since 2013-15.