Orioles Sting the Rays; Win Three Straight For First Time in 2018
The Orioles defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 9-4 on Friday night to extend their season-long win streak to three games. The team has been riding a scorching offense this home stand, averaging eight runs per game.
Kevin Gausman followed up his nine-inning, 0-run performance in his last start with a solid 7 1/3 innings tonight. Gausman allowed 9 runs, but made sure to at least control his stuff and walked nobody. He only gave up 1 earned run, despite putting runners on base every inning, lowering his season ERA to 3.18.
Manny Machado had himself a night, racking up 2 homeruns and 6 rbi. He continues to play at an MVP level, hitting better than .350 on the season. Manny also appears glad to have Jonathan Schoop back, as the duo turned multiple flashy double plays, including the one that ended the game from Machado to Schoop.
Mark Trumbo continued to be productive since his return from the early-season disabled list stint. He smoked a couple balls in his first few at-bats that were unfortunately right at defenders for outs, however Trumbo broke through in the 7th with a no-doubt homerun onto the flag court. Trumbo is hitting .333 on the season, a pace that will would be huge for him to continue.
This is the type of game we’ve seen from the Orioles for the past few years now. Big on offense, with just enough pitching to get the win. Obviously, the team hasn’t gotten the hitting or pitching necessary to fulfill that formula very much this year. Rather, we’ve seen offense from other teams and a lack of team hitting to compete which has put the team in the deep, deep hole in which they find themselves. Hopefully, the birds can continue to do the right things in order to rack up more wins and reach a more respectable record.
The Orioles and Rays will play a single-admission double header tomorrow, May 12th in order to make up for the postponement in their first series of the year. Starters have yet to be announced. First pitch at 3:05 with the second game following 30 minutes after.
