Orioles Run Win Streak To 7 Behind Brandon Young Gem And Small Ball Approach

The Baltimore Orioles are finally finding ways to win ballgames at the same time they may be running out of quality ballplayers.

The Orioles won their seventh-straight game Sunday at Daikin Park, 5-2, going from sweeping the Royals to end the first half to sweeping the Astros in Houston and getting yet another sparkling starting outing (steady Brandon Young in this case). However, it continues to come at a price as a team that lost its best player this season – Blaze Alexander to a broken hand just before the All-Star break – now may be down both catchers for a spell.

All Star Adley Rutschman, who has caught less than half this team’s games since June 21, 2024 and ranks just 20th in innings caught this season, continues to pick up knicks and knocks he wasn’t available Sunday with what manager Craig Albernaz called left wrist discomfort. Hence the addition of third catcher Sam Huff, and Huff had to enter the game after Samuel Basallo’s first at bat when he left with right shoulder discomfort.

"Its been a lingering thing," Albernaz said of Basallo's injury, "and obviously it was aggravated." Albernaz was quite tight-lipped about his other catcher, not revealing any details about the timeline of the wrist issue. "We wanted to avoid him today," was about the extent of it post-game on Rutschman.

Obviously this will warrent consideration attention this week in Boston.

This comes at a time when the Orioles are 25th in runs scored on the road and have been striking more than any team in MLB on the road. They’ve been undaunted to this point, with their most prodigious winning streak in years, and it continued to be fueled by outstanding starting pitching, one of few positive surprised for the club this season.

Baltimore (49-51 and creeping back to .500) has been riding a much improved rotation, honestly, since aged veterans Zach Eflin and Chris Bassitt succumbed to injury and Young picked up Sunday where Trevor Rogers left off on Saturday. Young went seven innings and rarely had to deal with any pressure with striking out seven.

Yordan Alvarez, maybe the best hitting in the world right now, drove in an early run with a double but that was it. Unlike other O’s starters he can lean heavily on his four-seamer, and he did, picking up eight called strikes with it (and six more with his two-seamer) in an outing in which he get very little swing and miss (eight total).

Young, who made the start with Kyle Bradish pushed back after landing a five-tear extension on Saturday, was economical and only walked one and lowered his season ERA to 3.25. He picked up his 8th win of the season against a team that hammered him for one of his only poor starts of the season.

"Shoutout to the starting pitchers," third-baseman Coby Mayo said on the MASN broadcast after the game. "They've been outstanding."

Albernaz said: "BY was really efficient - attacking the strike zone. He had all of pitches working."

Manufacturing Runs

The O’s lineup has been a problem on the road and striking out 28 times in the first two games of this series left much to be desired. Sunday, they repeatedly cut down on swings in key spots and shot the ball the other way and it worked out quite well.

Astros ace Hunter Brown, coming back from a shoulder injury, was clearly not right and could not find the plate. He walked five and hit two in 4 2/3 and nearly hit a few more. With the offense scuffling the small-ball approach was needed – as evidenced with all the bunts Saturday – and one run was plated on a double steal with Pete Alonso just getting in safely to second.

Gunnar Henderson scored that run and he drove in the first run to snap a miserable funk by shooting the ball the other way with two strikes. The situation with Rutschman and Basallo will thrust more pressure on him in what’s been a lost season – and Henderson went just 1-for-13 in this series with six strikeouts. He entered Sunday with a July slash of: .163/.222/.224 - .447 OPS. That should be impossible.

Ledoy Taveras, so clutch all season and second on the team in win-probability added, drove in two runs and sent Brown from the game with an opposite field, two-run hit with two on base and two out. Mayo launched his 13th homer – once again of a lefty; he is a top five MLB hitter in OPS vs southpaws this season – to make the lead 5-1 in the sixth.

Bird Seed

To make room for Huff on the roster the Orioles sent reliver Cam Sanders back to AAA. Sanders played a vital role in the wins Friday and Saturday and there could be another arm coming to a bullpen that doesn't have a real lefty-lefty option with Keegan Akin out for the season needing surgery ... The Orioles will have to stay scrappy to keep this going. They head to Boston now to face a Red Sox team that has won 13 in a row and 18 of 20, led by a dominant pitching staff.

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