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BOSTON – Aaron Hicks is in center field this afternoon against the Red Sox and James McCann is catching. Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter.
Austin Hays is the cleanup hitter. Jordan Westburg is at second base and Gunnar Henderson is at third.
Jack Flaherty has posted a 6.66 ERA and 1.521 WHIP in five starts with the Orioles. He struck out seven batters in 4 2/3 innings in Arizona but gave up four runs and six hits.
Flaherty has never faced the Red Sox.
The Orioles have won six games in a row and 12 of 15 and are 89-51 overall, 47-25 on the road. They’ve scored 34 runs this season in four games at Fenway Park.
BOSTON - Kyle Bradish must want to keep his ERA at 3.03. Must like the whiff of a palindrome.
Bradish allowed two runs in six innings last night for the third start in a row and fourth out of five. He registered his 16th quality start of the season and raised the Orioles’ total to 61. They lead the majors with 44 since June 1.
Are they getting close to the club’s single-season record?
Not at all.
Starters don’t work as deep into games and must complete at least six innings with three runs or fewer allowed to meet the criteria.
BOSTON – Kyle Bradish wouldn’t set the bullpen into motion tonight until two outs in the sixth inning. Ryan O’Hearn had to do it.
Orioles relievers raised their arms and jumped in the air as O’Hearn’s fly ball sailed into the right field seats leading off the top of the fourth. They couldn’t catch it. May as well celebrate it.
O’Hearn’s 12th homer of the season, Gunnar Henderson's latest Rookie of the Year push and Bradish’s latest quality start propelled the Orioles past the Red Sox 11-2 before an announced crowd of 33,852 at Fenway Park.
The Rays defeated the Mariners 7-4 to leave the Orioles with a four-game division lead.
Adley Rutschman curled a fly ball around the right field foul pole in the eighth for his 18th home run, and the Orioles won their sixth game in a row and improved to 89-51 overall, 47-25 on the road and 31-15 in series openers. They will go 85 series of multiple games in a row without being swept.
BOSTON – Orioles closer Félix Bautista played catch again today, increasing the distance on flat ground during his second session after a brief pause.
The club is downplaying the significance of it.
Bautista also threw in Anaheim while on the injured list with discomfort in his right elbow, described only as a “right UCL injury.”
“We’re going to see how he feels,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “We’re just kind of monitoring it day-to-day. It was just kind of a see how he feels, play a little catch today.”
Asked if Bautista throwing is a good sign, Hyde said, “I wouldn’t put any emphasis positive or negative about it. He was playing a little bit of catch, kind of seeing how he feels today.
BOSTON – The Orioles are a season-high 37 games above .500 and four games ahead of the Rays in the American League East as they reach the final stage of their road trip at Fenway Park.
They’ve won five in a row, seven of nine, 11 of 14, 14 of 18 and 25 of 35. On the line this weekend is a streak of 84 consecutive multi-game series without being swept.
Gunnar Henderson is the shortstop tonight against the Red Sox. Ryan O’Hearn is batting cleanup as the designated hitter, followed by first baseman Ryan Mountcastle.
Austin Hays is in left field. In 18 games since Aug. 15, Hays is batting .338/.413/.646/1.059 with eight doubles, four homers and 13 RBIs.
Adam Frazier is playing second base and Ramón Urías is at third.
The Orioles are in Boston for the final series of their penultimate road trip in 2023. Three games at Fenway Park, seven at Camden Yards – including four against the Rays that could influence the division race – followed by visits to Houston and Cleveland.
The latest quirk to the schedule has the Orioles engaged in a trio of four-game series this month, versus the Rays, Guardians and Red Sox. They’ve won six consecutive series while building an 88-51 record, including 34-16 in the second half, that’s the second best in baseball.
The organization’s hesitancy to look too far ahead is softening. Adjustments are being made to the rotation as if prepping it for the postseason. Back down to five starters, with the possibility of weaving in a sixth here and there. A clearer read on innings totals and how to proceed.
Making the playoffs is a formality. The goal now is winning the American League East, with a first-round bye and home field advantage.
They haven’t won 100 games since 1980 and are on pace to blow past it. Also blowing the minds of the oddsmakers who put them below .500.
The comeback that unfolded for the Orioles in the ninth inning Tuesday night, before the Angels rallied to tie and lost in the 10th, began with Adam Frazier and Ryan O’Hearn producing clutch hits in reserve. Frazier doubles with one out and scores on O’Hearn’s line drive single. Depth again playing its role in defining the 2023 club.
The Orioles keep finding ways. Many times, they only have to look as far as their bench.
Manager Brandon Hyde has done a nice job rotating players to multiple positions and out of the lineup. Frazier made 90 starts at second base and seven in the outfield. O’Hearn made 44 starts at first base, 16 in the outfield and 10 as the designated hitter.
“We’ve got really talented hitters up and down the lineup, and depth like that helps,” O’Hearn told reporters.
“We care a lot. We want to win. We want to win the division. We love each other. We play for each other. We trust each other. It’s not just me down there practicing and trying to get ready for every inning. It’s every guy on the bench, all (five) guys on the bench down there are getting ready to hit to potentially impact the game.”
ANAHEIM – For the second night in a row the second-place Tampa Bay Rays posted a win earlier in the night that the Orioles would later match. Tonight, the Orioles’ 10-3 romp over the Los Angeles Angels in front of 29,021 meaning they not only swept this series but maintained their season-high 3.5 game lead over the Rays atop the AL East.
The Orioles scored five early runs tonight and then added some late-game longballs to enjoy a much more comfortable win than last night when they were behind after eight innings and had to pull it out in the tenth.
Now 88-51, the Orioles are 37 games over the .500 mark for the first time since 1997. They have won five in a row on this road trip after losing the trip opener Friday in Arizona. Overall, the Orioles have won seven of nine, 11 of 14, 14 of 18 and 25 of the last 35 games.
They improved the American League’s best road record to 46-25 and are 34-16 in the second half.
Tonight they recorded their ninth series sweep and eighth of three games.
ANAHEIM – The Orioles are tweaking their rotation before the series with Red Sox that begins Friday night at Fenway Park. Had they stayed on turn after tomorrow’s off day with their current six-man, they would have thrown Cole Irvin Friday, then Kyle Bradish Saturday and Jack Flaherty on Sunday against the Red Sox.
But manager Brandon Hyde said today it will be Bradish in the Boston series opener, Flaherty next and Grayson Rodriguez Sunday in the series finale in Boston. Irvin is moving to the bullpen for now.
“We’ve put Cole in the ‘pen. He was in the bullpen last night,” Hyde said today. “He’s going to be kind of a length guy right now. Kind of get through the weekend and evaluate series-to-series right now.”
Is this a return to a five-man rotation?
“As as right now, for the weekend it is. After the weekend it might change,” he said.
The Orioles will try for their ninth sweep of the season tonight with Adley Rutschman serving as the designated hitter, Ramón Urías playing second base, and Jordan Westburg moving back to the bench.
Aaron Hicks is in center field, putting Cedric Mullins in a reserve role.
Gunnar Henderson is slugging .727 against Angels' fastballs this season and .362 against other opponents’ fastballs, per STATS. He’s the third baseman tonight.
The Orioles registered their 44th comeback win last night, tied with the Reds for most in the majors. They’ve won four games in a row and 10 of 13 to improve their record to 87-51, and they maintain a 3 ½ game lead over the Rays.
Kyle Gibson makes his 29th start. He’s 13-8 with a 5.15 ERA and 1.340 WHIP in 162 2/3 innings. His 172 hits lead the American League.
The Orioles are down to their last 24 regular season games. The final West Coast trip wraps up tonight, followed by an off-day and weekend series in Boston.
An actual finish line is out of sight. The Orioles can’t break through the tape and veer toward the airport. That’s for non-playoff teams.
Where they stop, nobody knows.
At least one more roster move is pending, with John Means scheduled to make his last rehab start tonight at Triple-A Norfolk. Tyler Wells is expected to be recalled but first had to resume pitching. He was shut down with arm fatigue until last night.
Means is on the 60-day injured list, but there’s an opening on the 40-man roster. He can slide into it.
ANAHEIM – In the end right-hander Shintaro Fujinami was on the mound, the Orioles eighth pitcher of the night, looking for his second career save.
And a game where the O's led, were tied, trailed, led again and were tied again, would end in an O's victory. They pushed across a run in the top of the 10th and Fujinami got the save in the last of the tenth, stranding the tying run on third with one out.
The 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels gives Baltimore an 87-51 record and four-game win streak and the O's maintain a 3.5 game lead on Tampa Bay, which won earlier.
The Orioles, who have 24 regular-season games left, have won six straight series and are 38-16 (.703) since July 5 - the best record in the AL in that span.
In the O's 10th, placed runner Austin Hays advanced from second to third on a groundball and scored the winning run on a Jordan Westburg groundout for the 5-4 edge.
ANAHEIM – The Orioles have won three straight games on this road trip by a combined 21-11 score and they look to keep that momentum going tonight in the second game of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.
Baltimore (86-61) opened a 3.5 game lead atop the AL East after Monday’s 6-3 win at Angel Stadium. Gunnar Henderson hit a three-run homer, Austin Hays added an RBI double while Ryan Mountcastle and Aaron Hicks produced run-scoring singles.
The Orioles are 3-2 against the Angels this year and 9-3 since the start of the 2022 season.
The Birds are 44-25 with the best road record in the AL and are 32-16 in the second half. The Orioles are 42-19 (.689) versus sub .500 teams.
Los Angeles (64-74) has lost seven of eight and 11 of 14 games and they are 8-23 since Aug. 1.
ANAHEIM – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde is pleased with the results for the club since they went to a six-man rotation. He said, “it’s been enormous for all our starters, so happy we did that.” But as the games begin to wind down and the playoffs approach, he said today the club could be returning at some point to a five-man rotation.
“Yeah. We’re still talking about all that," he said. "We’re mapping out some guys for certain teams and series. Might have a spot start here and there. Might just go straight five-man. Lot of different scenarios. We’re kind of getting through the weekend in Boston and then kind of reset a little bit. We’ve got Tampa and some big games coming up. All these are big games and trying to act accordingly."
Hyde is still not ready to announce how the Orioles will use lefty John Means who is scheduled to pitch for Triple-A Norfolk tomorrow night. His 30-day rehab ends Friday, so his next game after this one should be for the Orioles.
“Things can happen on a daily basis. We have some plans in place, some different scenarios, but we’ll kind of wait and see where we are after his start. See how he throws and do what is the best thing for our team at that time,” Hyde said.
The skipper today was asked again about picking up his 300th O's win last night becoming the fifth Orioles manager to win 300. Did he get any hardware for a milestone win?
Ryan McKenna is playing center field tonight in the latest Orioles right-handed heavy lineup in Anaheim.
Austin Hays is the cleanup hitter and left fielder. Jordan Westburg is starting at second base. Jorge Mateo is the shortstop.
Aaron Hicks is in right field, with Anthony Santander serving as designated hitter.
Adley Rutchman is back in the leadoff spot and catching.
Gunnar Henderson is too good to sit in any lineup. He’s the third baseman.
Outfielder Anthony Santander began last night’s series in Anaheim leading the Orioles with 26 home runs and 79 RBIs. He’s trying to finish first in both categories for the second year in a row, becoming the first Oriole since Chris Davis in 2012-13.
He’s doing a lot of other things, like how he’s pushing harder through the crowd for Most Valuable Oriole.
Don’t be too quick to concede the award to catcher Adley Rutschman, rookie infielder Gunnar Henderson, starter Kyle Bradish, closer Félix Bautista – whose value becomes more evident if the Orioles collapse from his elbow injury – or anybody else in contention.
Santander’s 33 doubles also ranked first on the club before Austin Hays tied him last night with an RBI double. And Santander was first with 60 extra-base hits, 239 total bases, a .489 slugging percentage and .818 OPS.
In case you missed it earlier, Santander is the first Orioles switch-hitter with at least 25 home runs in consecutive seasons since Hall of Famer Eddie Murray in 1987-88.
Anaheim, Calif. – The Orioles seemed to be headed for another game that went down to the last out and maybe the last pitch. They have played in a lot of close games this year and won a lot of close ones.
But in need of some insurance runs in the seventh tonight, Gunnar Henderson provided them.
His almost nightly big play or big swing came at the plate this time. He blasted a three-run homer to turn a one-run lead into a more comfortable four-run edge.
The Orioles went on to beat the Angels 6-3 tonight to improve to 86-51 and win their third in a row, ninth in 12 games and 23rd in the past 33 games.
They are now 17-6 in road series-opening games, produced their 43rd comeback win and have opened a season-high 3 1/2-game lead atop the American League East over the Rays, who lost this afternoon to the Red Sox.
Anaheim, Calif. - The Orioles will face three left-handed starters this series against the Angels, a rare occurrence. For tonight, it puts Ryan O'Hearn on the bench as Adley Rutschman rests.
O'Hearn is hitting .300 with an .830 OPS in 83 games. He has just 22 plate appearances this year against lefty pitching and is 5-for-20, but two of the five hits are homers.
"Well, it gives guys opportunities," manager Brandon Hyde said of his lineup against left-hander Kenny Rosenberg tonight. "But a lot of times in those games, too, those lefties come off the bench in big spots. So even though we are facing a lefty a lot of times O (O’Hearn) will hit, (Adam) Frazier will hit. I have Adley off the bench tonight, too.
"Best-case scenario is we can chase a starter early and get into their bullpen, which kind of sets us up for the series. We are going to face a lot of righties after this. At least two of three in Boston and at least two with St. Louis and probably four against Tampa."
Speaking of the Rays, they lost today 7-3 at home to the Red Sox. So the O's Amarican League East lead is three games at the moment and could be 3.5 games at the end of tonight.
The Orioles begin their series in Anaheim tonight with Adley Rutschman out of the lineup for the second time in six games.
The Angels are starting three left-handers, and Austin Hays moves into the leadoff spot tonight. Gunnar Henderson is playing third base and batting cleanup.
Jordan Westburg is playing second base and batting fifth. Jorge Mateo is the shortstop.
Aaron Hicks is in right field, and Anthony Santander is the designated hitter.
Rookie Grayson Rodriguez has allowed 11 runs in his last seven starts over 42 2/3 innings. He faced the Angels on May 15, before his reset, and allowed eight runs and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings. Shohei Ohtani and Chad Wallach homered in the fourth.
After the final out is recorded in the World Series, and before the start of the Winter Meetings in Nashville, important business is conducted that can be downplayed or ignored in some circles.
The four Baseball Writers’ Association of America awards in November. A much bigger deal for the Orioles after they regained their contender status and inflated the level of talent on the roster.
I remember when I could skip the MLB Network programs, which run longer than the Oscars, because the Orioles didn’t have anyone in the discussion. My work was done. Let the other beat writers craft their stories while I tuned into "Jeopardy" or whatever was streaming on Netflix. Those poor fools.
Those days are over.
Gunnar Henderson has become the leading contender for Rookie of the Year in the American League. I won’t say he’s a runaway winner, but the kid sits in the driver’s seat - looking young enough to carry a learner’s permit.
