Orioles Win Third Straight Over Rays, This Time A Laugher, And Could Cap Sweep Monday

Could there be real, true, Orioles magic amid a season that seemed so lost? Are you not entertained by the brand of baseball this team is suddenly playing?

It’s hard not to fall for the O’s right now, and they mustered perhaps their best game of the season Sunday against the Rays, thoroughly outclassing them after surviving them on Friday and Saturday. Baltimore needed a laughter after two one-run wins and this was just that, a 10-2 drubbing over Tampa highlighted by a third straight unusual leadoff hitter providing massive run production, Jackson Holliday this time.

The Orioles could close a four-game sweep at Tropicana Field Monday, which would also give them just their second four-game win streak of the season and would pull them within a game of .500. The Rays had won nine straight heading into the series and were starting to print up AL pennant, well, pennants, prior to this series. The O's are fighting for a jumbled spot in a wacky Wild Card race.

It’s heady stuff given how this season has gone,. But as we told you, the Adley Rutschman trade was never going to be kill their season (he struck me as an energy vampire who had no future here and needed to go) and they have a chance to make this a winning 10-game road trip, which seemed impossible after how it began in Texas and, frankly, continued in Minnesota.

“We never counted ourselves out the entire year,” slugger Pete Alonso told the Peacock broadcast after the game. “And we’re really excited we’re playing good ball, and what a time to do it.”

Rookie skipper Craig Albernaz, seeming overmatched most of the season, continues to pull all the right levers in Florida. Dropping Gunnar Henderson (who continued to scald the ball Sunday) to the fifth spot on Friday provoked a four-hit night including a game-winning homer (Alonso led off for the first time in that game). Tyler O’Neill won Saturday’s game in extra innings (with a huge assist from de-facto closer Cam Sanders) and Holliday got his first start of the season leading off, and broke open a pitcher’s duel Sunday.

Catalyst At Top Of The Order

Holliday, a regular leading off – and struggling at it – last season, has turned around the course of his career since July 1, making significant changes to where he stands in the batters box and where he meets the ball). Baltimore was having trouble making contract the first time through the order but Holliday laid off a tough 0-2 pitch with two outs in the fifth and lined a ball up the middle to tie the game at 1, finally breaking through off starter Freddy Peralta

Alonso’s double plated two (he was in good form after a minor calf strain Saturday) and the Orioles went bonkers in the sixth, scoring seven runs as Rays pitchers needed over 50 pitches to finally bring the inning to a close. And it all went down with two outs.

"I'm just happy i was able to get one on the inner half of the plate and put it in play," said Alonso, a Florida native who always seems to hit well in his home state.

Colton Cowser homered and Holliday smashed a double to center to make it 7-1 and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who is heating up again, capped the scoring. It was more than enough for starter Trevor Rogers.

O’s starters battled without great stuff in the first two games of this series, and Rogers continued to give up more hits than would be ideal – 22 allowed in 22 innings pitched over his last four starts – but he limited damage and, most importantly, only walked one. The seven hits produced just two runs – one was a solo shot – and he kept Tampa off balance when they did get men on base.

All of it sets up what undoubtedly feels like the biggest game of the season Monday, with rookie revelation Brandon Young making the start for the Birds and who knows batting leadoff.

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