First Place Orioles Take Series Wins Over The Red Sox and Nationals, Are 9 Games Over .500
With three games left before the All-Star break, the Orioles remain in first place at 50-41 and are three games up on the Blue Jays. Last nights win over the Nationals guarantees the Orioles will at least have a share of first place at the All-Star break for the first time since 1997. Took 2-3 from the Sox and 2-3 from the Nats, everything is coming up Orioles right now. Yanks players are going down like flies (See ya never, Tanaka), Red Sox are scuffling, the Rays have been better but still have a lot of ground to make up, and the Blue Jays can’t keep their guys healthy. Buck’s squad is 7-1-2 in their last 10 series against the A.L. East, so yea, it’s a good time to be a Baltimore fan.
Battle of the Beltways
The O’s went down the road and back again for a home-and-home series with the Nationals this week and took 2-3 from the Nats with one game rained out. They now lead the all time series 28-21 and guarantees the Nationals won’t win the MASN Cup for another year. It was a great series with some fantastic games, and huge, rowdy crowds.
Two young stars kind of summed up the series for each team- Manny Machado was on fire going 8/12 with 2 bombs and raised his average from .246 to .267. On the other side, Bryce Harper went 0/10 with 3 Ks. Machado has been red hot since coming off his suspension, while Harper couldn’t hit a beach ball, and has 4 hits in his last 9 games. Clown stats bro.
O’s fans invaded Nats park on Monday night and watched the O’s take the Nats behind the woodshed and give them a good old fashioned extra inning ass whooping at home. Entering the 11th inning, the game was tied at 2, until the Orioles found their bats. Home runs by Chris Davis (!!!), J.J. Hardy, and Manny Machado made the home fans head for the exits, leaving Nats Park painted orange. The Nats fought back and won the next one, but the Orioles won the series finale. I’m not sure if these teams are “rivals” yet but I think they are getting there, the biggest rivalry is between the fans.
Notes From Nationals Series
- Wei-Yin Chen may be the worst 9-3 pitcher ever. He rarely reaches seven innings and when he does his arm turns into a wet noodle. Not sure what you do with a starter who gives up a ton of home runs and only lasts 5 innings.
-Anthony Rendon is a freak. Probably should have made the All-Star game, but don’t worry Nats fans, he’ll make his fair share of them. He terrified me every at-bat this series and thank god the Orioles only see him once a year. He can play all around the infield and hits bombs. Such a great player to watch.
-Bryce Harper- Tool.
Jayson Werth- Thank god some baseball teams have grooming policies. Was it always his dream to look like a homeless person? I liked him better when he was a failed catching prospect for the Orioles.
Upcoming Schedule
I hate the Yankees with every bone in my body, but if you go to these O’s-Yanks games and don’t give a round of applause to Brian Roberts I hate you. The guy played his ass off for us, cheer for him. The Orioles are facing Kuroda, Shane Greene(???) and they haven’t announced who is taking Tanaka’s spot, but who cares I think the Orioles taking 3 of 3 from the Yankees is a stone cold lock.
h/t @HAMgoOs
If I had told you that the Orioles would be in first place at the All-Star break with Machado, Davis, and Hardy all missing some time, Wieters missing ¾ of the year, Ubaldo Jimenez pitching like hot garbage, Chris Davis hitting around .200 and hacking at every ball in the dirt, close to no production from second base, and Tommy Hunter losing his job six weeks in, you would have thought I was on drugs. These guys have fought through injuries and poor performances all year and are still hanging around playing some decent baseball.
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