On Tuesday, Orioles Park at Camden Yards was reminiscent of the rebuild days.
The stands weren’t even half full. The small crowd wasn’t particularly cheerful. And one team was beating up on the other, leading the manager to pull a starter in the second inning of a game that was already out of hand.
But this being 2024, it wasn’t the Orioles who were sulking off after another blowout loss. They’ve already paid their dues, suffering three 100-plus-loss seasons from 2018 to 2021. And even in their darkest days, they never suffered a season quite like this. The White Sox have already lost 109 games, including a 9-0 beating by the Orioles on Tuesday, and could eclipse 115 losses, the worst mark during the Orioles rebuild, by this time next week.
Chicago’s future looks bleak, but the Orioles made it to the other side. And a September matchup against one of the worst teams in MLB history was just what Baltimore needed to get hot. They’ve won three in a row for the first time since July 14-20, when they took the last two games before the All-Star break and the first one after. That was back when they still had a full infield, too, before Ryan Mountcastle, Jordan Westburg and Jorge Mateo went on the injured list.
After this win, and a Yankees loss on a walk-off grand slam, the Orioles are now in sole possession of first place in the American League East.
“We treat every game the same no matter who we’re playing,” Ryan O’Hearn said. “Every win, obviously, matters at this point and we’re chasing down the East. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, you’ve got to find a way to win.”
Tuesday’s game, like Monday’s beating, saw nearly every member of the Orioles’ lineup get on base. Baltimore took advantage of the White Sox’s poor pitching, driving starter Nick Nastrini out after the Orioles scored seven runs in the first two innings.
Four runs were scored in the second without the Orioles getting a hit. O’Hearn, Gunnar Henderson, Anthony Santander and Colton Cowser all walked. Then Eloy Jiménez reached on an error, hitting a high pop-up that third baseman Miguel Vargas and left fielder Andrew Benintendi collided trying to field. Neither came up with the ball as three runners reached home. Vargas left the game with an abrasion on his right eye.
The fourth and the fifth were great opportunities for the Orioles to work on situational hitting. Cedric Mullins hit an RBI single and Anthony Santander hit a sacrifice fly to get runners in.
“We had a lot of traffic, and I thought we did a nice job of not expanding the strike zone,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Walked a ton. Nine walks. Did a nice job not trying to do too much and took advantage of some walks.”
And, perhaps more importantly, the game was a confidence booster for Cade Povich, whose role only grows more important as the Orioles deal with yet another pitching injury. Dean Kremer, who was hit by a 103.1 mph comebacker on Saturday, did play catch on Tuesday, but he is still dealing with swelling and it’s unclear how much time he may miss.
Povich pitched the best game of his career, shutting out the White Sox in 7 1/3 innings while striking out 10, both of which were career highs. He beat his old benchmarks by one inning and four strikeouts, respectively. He walked none, and only once allowed more than one runner on base at a time.
“It’s all about command with Cade,” Hyde said. “He’s got life to his fastball and he’s got secondary [pitches], and when he can work ahead in the count and be unpredictable, move the ball in and out the way he did, keep guys off balance, he’s capable of pitching deep into the game. And he showed that tonight.”
Could this outing be the one for him to build off down the stretch as he tries to find consistency at the major league level? He thinks so.
“I think it’s really good, obviously,” Povich said. “Stuff we worked on has kind of been working, but then to see kind of everything come together and execute as one is really good.”
