2001 Cal Ripken, Jr. Topps Noteworthy
Whelp. That didn't take long. Less than 10 hours after I published the road map to success, the Orioles threw it out of whack. They did it in the best possible way, by shutting down, and shutting out the Washington Nationals, 2-0 on Tuesday night.
After guessing that they would get swept by one of the hottest teams in the major leagues, the Orioles guaranteed at least a split of the season series by pitching one of their best games of the season. Aaron Brooks started things off by going six innings and striking out six Nationals. He lived on the outside corner, painting it like Monet painted fuzzy lily ponds. Brooks, who is fighting for a spot on next year's roster, has strung together two strong outings (1 run allowed and 10 strikeouts over 11 innings).
The bullpen continued its recent run of success by shutting Washington out over the last three innings, highlighted by Hunter Harvey striking out Asdrubal Cabrera in the eighth inning with the bases loader. Harvey has yet to allow a run in his four innings of major league work this season. With a 99+ MPH fastball and a healthy arm (finally) he may be in line for a closer role next year.
Current closer Mychal Givens closed the game out for his 11 save of the season (it doesn't sound like a lot, but he's closed out 1/4 of all the Orioles victories so that's something).
They're down to needing three wins to match last year and sixteen to beat Vegas. Good times!
No comments:
Post a Comment