My Two Cents: Upstart Orioles Here to Stay, Something Rays Already Knew
BALTIMORE, Md. — The Baltimore Orioles took two of three games against the oh-so-hot Tampa Bay Rays this week, capping off the series victory with an impressive 2-1 on Wednesday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
The Rays lead all of baseball in most every offensive category, but were able to muster just six runs in three nights, and their record fell to 29-9 on the season. The Orioles are 24-13, just 4 1/2 games behind them, and have the second-best record in the American League, and third-best in all of baseball. Only the Atlanta Braves (25-12) are better.
The Orioles, who feasted on an easy schedule early much like the Rays did, have hung right with a team that's been off to such a hot start that's they've been compared to some of the fastest starters in the past century.
They're good. Really good. They know it, and here's the interesting part. The Rays know it, too.
The Orioles made their move last year, bringing up a bunch of future stars and building a bullpen that worked in an 83-win season. It was a 29-win improvement from a year earlier, and a massive step forward for an organization that was among the worst in baseball for several years.
“We’re right there with them,” Baltimore starting pitcher Tyler Wells said when asked to compare the Orioles with the Rays. “We have our vision of what we think that we can be, and I think each and every guy shares that. I think that that kind of creates this network of guys who think that we are the best, that we can be the best and that we will be the best.
“We came into spring training this year with the full expectation of us going out there and competing with pretty much everyone in the league, and I think so far that we’ve done that.”
The Rays, who have made four straight playoff appearances, have picked on the Orioles for years, winning every season series since 2017. They went 18-1 against Baltimore in 2021, a major-league record.
But they went just 10-9 vs. Baltimore last year, and they've seen their growth first-hand. Adley Rutschman, who made his major-league debut against the Rays, is a star in the making. He was a college teammate of Rays starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen at Oregon State, and Rasmussen said last year that Rutschman ''will probably play in a dozen All-Star games before it's all over.''
The Rays have also seen the Orioles improve their pitching the past couple of years — both the rotation and the bullpen — and they paid for it by not getting any timely hits during this series. They went 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position during the series and left 22 runners on base.
“Look, we are very pleased with what we’re doing offensively, but we’re going to have some quiet nights,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "They’ve just kind of come here back-to-back, but would expect that we’ll bounce right back. You’ve got to credit their pitching. They’re making big, big pitches, for sure.
The Orioles got six scoreless innings from starter Dean Kremer on Wednesday, allowing only four hits. Closer Yennier Cano got another save with three straight outs. He's pitched 18 1/3 scoreless innings this year, allowing just three hits all year.
“Kremer was really, really tough, and that’s the way it goes sometimes,'' Cash said. "You’ve got to credit their pitching. They’re making big, big pitches, for sure,”
Just about all of Baltimore's best players are 27 or younger, and there's a lot of promise up and down the lineup, and on the pitching staff. Guys like outfielder Austin Hays have been through the good and bad, coming up in 2017 as the first wave of promising youngsters.
He's been on three Orioles teams that have lost 108 games or more, so being one of the top teams in baseball is what made all that rebuilding worthwhile.
“It’s what I always dreamed of, being in an Oriole uniform, just being one of the top teams in the AL East and fighting for the top spot in our division,” Hays said. “When I first came up, it was a winning atmosphere and environment, so to go through those rough years and to see it come full circle and get back to where we are now, it’s been just awesome.
“This is what you want. You want to play games that are meaningful, games that matter. You want to play well in series like this.”
The Rays and Orioles aren't alone in this American League East pursuit, of course. All five teams are well over .500, Boston by six games, Toronto by five and New York by four.
They have been crushing all the others. They are 41-14 vs. the American League Central, 23-13 against the AL West and 24-15 in interleague play. That's an 88-42 record, a whopping .677 winning percentage.
The new scheduling rules are certainly helping the AL East five. They see each other only 13 times a year now, instead of 19. That helps overall, but puts added emphasis on the head-to-head showdown. On the road, the Rays — despite their hot start — have lost series at Toronto and Baltimore. Now they're off to New York, for four games against the Yankees. They won two of three against them last weekend in St. Petersburg.
Since then, though, the Orioles have quieted their bats. A reason for concern, or were the Orioles just that good?
“No one on this ballclub should feel bad because we couldn’t get key hits (Tuesday or Wednesday),” Rays catcher Christian Bethancourt said. “We’ve still got a long season to go. We’re fine. We know what’s going on. The last two games, we couldn’t get it done with runners on base. Hopefully, it’s better (Thursday).
“We all know their pitching’s good. We didn’t execute when we had runners on base. It happened last night, and hopefully it’s better in the next series.”
The Orioles continue their 10-game homestand on Friday night with three games against Pittsburgh, then four against the Los Angeles Angels. That's while the Rays are in New York for a WEEK, playing the Yankees four times, and then the Mets three times.
It's going to be interesting to see where that 4 1/2-game lead stands in a week. The Orioles are sniffing the lead despite that terrific start by the Rays.
And they'll be there right up to the very end.
Related AL East stories
- BALTIMORE RELIEVER SHINES: Baltimore Orioles reliever Yennier Cano is putting up numbers that have never been put up before in the modern era. CLICK HERE
- JANSEN MAKES HISTORY: With a save against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night, Boston Red Sox reliever Kenley Jansen became the seventh player in baseball history to record 400 saves. He spoke about the accomplishment after the game and you can hear his remarks below. CLICK HERE
- MORE TROUBLE FOR GLASNOW: Tampa Bay Rays ace Tyler Glasnow, working his way back from injury, has left his Triple-A rehab start on Wednesday with another injury. It was described as generalized left-side tightness. CLICK HERE
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