Baltimore Orioles Roundup: Castillo’s grand slam snaps 11-game road skid
The Baltimore Orioles have taken a nosedive in the American League East standings over the past 30 games, but last night’s Welington Castillo grand slam put the Orioles back in the win column at last.
The Baltimore Orioles schedule has been brutal, in fact, it’s been the toughest in MLB by a wide margin according to TeamRankings.com. However, the Orioles found a way Wednesday night to muster out a win against former Orioles pitcher Miguel Gonzalez and the Chicago White Sox.
Through the first two innings, the season continued to take a downward spiral as the Orioles most reliable pitcher Dylan Bundy allowed four earned runs that resulted in a 4-1 hole. The often reliable Jonathan Schoop turbo-charged the Orioles offense in the second inning with a hard line drive shot to center field to give the O’s their first run of the night.
After two innings, Bundy, Mike Wright and Mychael Givens combined to toss six shutout innings. On the offensive side, Hyun Soo Kim and Welington Castillo joined forces in the fourth inning, knocking in three runs which cut the Orioles deficit to just a run.
However, Castillo wasn’t done yet, crushing Gonzalez’s 93 miles per hour fastball straightaway over the wall in centerfield for his first career grand slam that steered Baltimore to a 10-5 victory.
Despite the pesky injuries that have kept him out of 30 games this season, Castillo has been a vital player on the Orioles roster. All but one of Castillo’s five home runs have either tied the game or given the Orioles the lead, per ESPN Stats & Info.
The victory not only helped the Orioles halt a six-game losing streak but also gained a game on the first-place New York Yankees that put the Orioles 6.5 games back in the AL East standings.
With a day game to conclude the four-game series in Chicago, the Orioles return to Camden Yards for a weekend interleague series versus the St. Louis Cardinals.
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