Baltimore Orioles: News Flash – Something Goes Right!

Jul 25, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles right fielder Chris Davis (19) hits a grand slam during the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Like many things in life, baseball momentum can snowball; and it can happen in two directions. Over the past 20 games for the Orioles, the snowball effect has been a total avalanche as they lost 75% of those games. But the momentum shifted on Saturday evening, as amazingly a collection of things went right for a change.

Even though the Orioles only tallied a total of seven base hits, they were able to bunch five of them in the same inning, scoring four runs on a Chris Davis grand slam. Most of the Orioles’ recent home runs have been of the solo variety. Davis stepped up at a critical time.

Also stepping up was starter Miguel Gonzalez. He gave the Orioles their second consecutive quality start, giving up only an eighth-inning solo shot while yielding five hits in 7.1 innings. If he can get this sort of consistent performance back together, along with Chris Tillman hitting stride, the Orioles will have something. Chen pitches today (Sunday) and has been consistently good. So it comes down to Jimenez and Gausman getting straightened out in order for the rotation to dominate as it did in the latter portion of last season.

For the second consecutive day, Manny Machado batted in the number three position in the order. He has been good at leadoff … better than most people would give him credit for, in that he is not the prototypical speedster. But he simply has to hit lower in the lineup due to his power production. Truly he is the best hitter now on the Orioles, and third is typically where the top batter is placed. Adam Jones fits well at cleanup, or Chris Davis to break up the two right-handers.

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Another pleasant observation was to see David Lough succeed in the leadoff role. He loaded the bases with a single ahead of Davis, and he also used his speed to add the fifth run on a triple and defensive error.

It was odd to see the Orioles’ lineup before the game have Chris Davis in the number two spot. In support of that, even though he strikes out at a high rate, he also does draw a lot of walks. And even when his average is not the best, his on base percentage is really never terribly low.

But having Davis in the two hole where he hit the game-changing grand slam really makes Showalter look like a genius and prophet once again.

The home run was the 178^th of Davis’ career, but only the third time out of the second position in the batting order. The first time was August 11^th of last year off the Yankee’s Chris Capuano – a two-run shot that put the O’s ahead in the fifth inning 4-3 on the way to an 11-3 victory. This was the game where Machado was injured for the season, and Davis replaced him at third base while batting second in the lineup. The other occasion was just two weeks ago in Minnesota off Casey Fien, a solo shot that followed the same by Machado.

So, it is a win. Take it. Even though the Yankees and Jays also won. Maybe this begins a journey over the next 66 games of the season that can bring the Orioles back into contention.

Next: A rare bad day by O'Day

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