Baltimore Orioles Not Going Away Quietly
Just about three days ago, the Baltimore Orioles had their backs against the wall against the Kansas City Royals (55-51). The Royals had a 5.5 game lead over the Orioles for the second wild-card spot in the American League. If Kansas City swept them that would have probably put the nail in the coffin on Baltimore's season.
However, the Orioles (53-54) did not back down and they swept the Royals. They are only 2.5 games back of the Royals for the second wild-card spot in the American League.
They still have a couple of other teams to jump between now and the end of the season. The Seattle Mariners (55-54) are 1.5 games back and the Tampa Bay Rays (56-53) are 0.5 games back.
The Orioles play a four-game set against the Detroit Tigers starting tonight. Baltimore's last 39 out of 55 games are against teams that are not currently in a playoff spot. Baltimore plays Seattle six times this month. The Orioles seven out of final nine games are against Tampa Bay.
There were rumors that Baltimore would trade Zach Britton, but it might be a good thing later on they didn't. They made small acquisitions like Jeremy Hellickson and Tim Beckham. They have made a good impression so far with the Orioles.
If they want to make a push for October, the starting pitching needs to stay strong and players like Manny Machado and Adam Jones need to be leaders.
Jones's batting average is .269 so far this season with 19 homeruns and 52 RBI's. Machado's batting average is .250 so far this season with 18 homeruns and 53 RBI's, along with 6 stolen bases.
Rookie Trey Mancini has been an x-factor for the Orioles in 2017. His batting average is .302 with 17 homeruns and 57 RBI's. Jonathan Schoop is probably the most under appreciated player for the Orioles. His batting average is .306 with 24 homeruns and 78 RBI's.
Mychal Givens is an impressive 7-0 for the Orioles. His ERA 1.86 and Givens has pitched in 53.1 innings and has walked 13 batters and struck out 57 batters. Brad Brach was the closer for most of the season when Britton was out. Brach's record is 2-2 with a 2.78 ERA. He's pitched in 45.1 innings. He has walked 13 batters and struck out 49. Brach has 16 saves in 20 tries.
Britton's record is 1-0 with a 3.15 ERA. He has pitched 20 innings and has walked 8 batters and struck out 16. Britton has 8 saves on the season. Dylan Bundy's record is 10-8 with a 4.24 ERA. He has pitched in 127.1 innings and has walked 40 batters and struck out 97.
The home stretch of the regular season for the Orioles will be really interesting.
