Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Let me tell you — around the fourth inning of yesterday’s game, I was feeling a little grumpy. And I know I wasn’t the only one. The Orioles were in a 4-0 hole to the Twins in the rubber game of the season-opening series. The offense had continued its early doldrums in which the Birds scored just three runs in their first 20 innings. This wasn’t quite the return to glory that O’s fans were hoping for. Losing their opening series to a team that’s not expected to contend would be a bad look for an Orioles club hoping to rebound from their dismal 2025 season.
I’m happy to report that things greatly improved. The Orioles erupted for eight runs in the span of four innings, quadrupling their output from either of the previous two games. They were particularly potent with runners in scoring position, going 5-for-8. And after testing the new ABS system just once in the first two games, the Orioles went hog wild yesterday, using five challenges — part of a whopping 10 challenges in the game — and winning four of them, including a huge ninth-inning sequence in which Josh Bell twice thought he had walked but was rung up on strikes instead. Early returns on ABS: it’s good! Check out Andrea SK’s recap of the wildest game of the year so far.
So the Orioles have won their opening series and carry a 2-1 record into their three-game set against the Rangers. Hopefully their offensive explosion in the finale will spark the bats going forward. Still, there are some early causes for concern for the Birds. Their defense and bullpen, which many fans thought would be the Orioles’ biggest weaknesses, have indeed been shaky at the outset. There have been several misadventures in the outfield — including another yesterday, when Dylan Beavers lost a ball in the sun for a double — and the relief corps has had a heck of a tough time trying to preserve late leads. Yaramil Hiraldo coughed up a first-pitch homer and three walks yesterday, while Tyler Wells was scored upon for the second time in as many appearances. But kudos to Rico Garcia and Yennier Cano, each of whom escaped a bases-loaded jam yesterday with an inning-ending strikeout.
We’ll gladly take the series win. But after watching these first three games, I’m still clueless about where the rest of this Orioles season is going to go. You could tell me they’ll be a 90-win team or a 70-win team and I could easily see either outcome.
The Orioles’ late rally overcame a rocky outing by Shane Baz in his Orioles debut. It probably wasn’t the best first impression he could’ve made, but he’s got five years to make better ones.
Jake Rill takes a deep dive into Pete Alonso’s pivotal seventh-inning at-bat, which included another successful ABS challenge. I think we’re going to like the Polar Bear just fine.
Sandridge could just be a guy who immediately gets waived and spends all season in the minor leagues, but it’d be a nice story if the Maryland native made an appearance for his hometown team.
I never thought I’d be saying this, but…hurry back, Keegan Akin!
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! The Orioles didn’t have a player with a March 30 birthday for the first 71 years of their existence, but they broke that drought last year with Ryan Noda, who played seven games. He turns 30 today. Noda is currently playing for Triple-A Norfolk, where he’s 3-for-7 with a dinger so far.
The Orioles have played four games on this date in history, and they’ve won three of them: