Fastball

Baltimore Orioles' Fireballers Do Something Never Done For Team in 15 Years of Pitch-Tracking

The Baltimore Orioles did something they've never done in the pitch-tracking era on Sunday in a win over the New York Mets.
Brady Farkas|
Baltimore Orioles' Fireballers Do Something Never Done For Team in 15 Years of Pitch-Tracking
Baltimore Orioles' Fireballers Do Something Never Done For Team in 15 Years of Pitch-Tracking

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Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles shut out the New York Mets on Sunday afternoon by a score of 2-0.

The win moved the O's to an American League-best 70-42 on the year while the loss was the sixth straight for the Mets, who are now 50-61.

Baltimore's 70 wins are tied for the most in baseball with the Atlanta Braves, who are 70-39 overall.

In addition to the win, the O's pitching staff also made history, doing something it's never done before in the pitch-tracking era.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Félix Bautista had a 101.9 mph strikeout in the 9th

Shintaro Fujinami had a 102.6 mph strikeout in the 8th 

this was the first time the Orioles got at least 1 101.0+ mph strikeout from MULTIPLE pitchers in same game in the pitch-tracking era (2008)

Bottom line is this: Whether you are analytically-inclined or not, the O's bullpen throws gas. Bautista and Fujinami, coupled with Yennier Cano, are extremely hard to hit and will be a major weapon once the O's get into the playoffs.

Bautista now has 30 saves and a miniscule 0.85 ERA while Fujinami got his fourth hold. He has an ERA of 7.76 but nearly all of that was accumulated with the Oakland Athletics.

The O's have also begun to separate from the Tampa Bay Rays, who now trail Baltimore by 3.0 games in the American League East.

The Orioles are off on Monday but will start an important series with the Houston Astros on Tuesday.

First pitch is 7:05 p.m. ET from Camden Yards.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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