John Means comes up big as O's win road trip opener

The Orioles just completed a 4-2 homestand where they hit well and pitched well for the most part. Both continued tonight as they recorded an impressive 11-2 win over the New York Mets. It was a strong start to an important six-game road trip.

The trip began with the Orioles trailing the Yankees by 1 1 /2 games for the No. 8 American League playoff seed. But when New York lost 2-1 tonight to Toronto, the Orioles pulled within a half-game of a playoff spot with 19 games to play. The Yankees are 21-21 and have lost 15 of 20 games.

On a night when the Birds got homers from DJ Stewart, Ryan Mountcastle, Rio Ruiz and Pat Valaika accounting for eight runs, the most positive development was probably the strong start from lefty John Means.

Means went a season-high six innings and gave up just three hits and one run with one walk and five strikeouts. He had allowed six homers in 12 1/3 innings over his past three starts. He gave up one tonight on a solo shot to left-center by Jake Marisnick off a 93 mph fastball in the second. But that was all the offense the Mets got off Means.

He entered with an ERA of 8.10 for the season and had given up four runs in 5 1/3 innings last week in taking a loss to the Mets. The Orioles were 0-6 in Means' 2020 starts - until this one.

Not only did his changeup look more like the 2019 version in this game, but he used four pitches when often he relies mostly on three. His curveball was a bigger factor tonight and his fastball command looked sharper.

Of his 97 pitches and 64 strikes, Means threw 42 fastballs that averaged 93.3 mph, per Statcast. He added 25 changeups, 17 curves and 13 sliders. He usually throws a curveball just 6 percent of the time, but used that pitch 18 percent tonight. Means got 21 swings and six whiffs on his fastball and 17 swings with six whiffs off his improved changeup.

He improves to 1-3 with an ERA of 6.58. Means tonight gave the club just its fifth outing by a starter of six innings or more on the season. Tommy Milone had two such games while Alex Cobb and Dean Kremer have one each. Kremer and Means give the O's their first time on the year with consecutive outings of six innings or more. Before this, they had gone 15 games without one.

Means put up this outing against a Mets team that began play first in the majors in team batting average (.276), first in OBP (.353) and third in team OPS (.812). The Mets had scored 14 runs in two games last week at Oriole Park.

Over the last four games, O's starting pitchers have an ERA of 0.81, and over the last eight games, that mark is 2.52.

The Orioles have won four in a row and six of eight to get to 20-21. They improved to 2-1 against the Mets, 10-6 on the road, 9-7 versus National League teams and 20-9 when they score four runs or more.

The O's are now 5-2 in a stretch of 12 consecutive games against the Yankees and Mets.