O's continued inconsistent play seen on this homestand

To say the least, the Orioles have been inconsistent over recent weeks and maybe even going back further than that.

It has been seen big time on this homestand, which started Tuesday with the O's getting blown out 9-3 by the Nationals. Then they put together solid starts by Dean Kremer and Zach Eflin and won back-to-back by 4-1 and 5-1.

But the Orioles have not won three in a row since July 14-20 around the All-Star break. They have now had five chances to win three in a row since then but are 0-5 in those games.

Friday night they lost 12-10 as Boston evened the four-game series at a win each.

It was surely surprising, even stunning, to see Corbin Burnes allow a career-high eight runs on 10 hits over four innings. In two earlier starts this year versus Boston he had allowed one run in 14 innings as the Red Sox went 5-for-47 (.106) at bat. Last night Boston was 10-for-22 (.455) with three doubles and two homers.

Craig Kimbrel allowed two homers and got booed in the top of the seventh as Boston moved ahead 11-6. The four homers the O's allowed for the game were tied for their second-most this year, behind the five they gave up July 6 at Oakland.

The 12 runs allowed were topped by opponents just twice previously in 2024. The O's lost 19-8 July 6 at Oakland and by 14-11 June 21 at Houston.

Jackson Holliday entered the game batting just .111 (3-for-27) his previous seven games and then he went out and went 4-for-5 with three singles, a triple, three runs and an RBI. 

At 20 years and 256 days, Holliday became the youngest player in Orioles history to record at least three hits and three runs in a single game. He also became the second-youngest Oriole with four hits in a game behind only Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson who did so on Sept. 25, 1957 at 20 years-130 days.

But while the Orioles are 4-3 the last seven games, 7-5 the last 12, 11-8 their past 19 and 14-13 since the All-Star break, it can also be said they have had a losing record for over two months.

On June 12, the Orioles were 45-22, but since then they are 27-29 with a team ERA of 5.01 in those 56 games. 

Now here is the strange part. On June 12 they were 2.5 games behind the Yankees for the division lead. Today they are one game behind after New York won 3-0 last night at Detroit.

On the farm Friday night: Triple-A Norfolk lost at Gwinnett 7-0 in a game shortened to six innings by rain. The Tides are 0-4 in this series, losing the last three games by a combined 35-4 score.

Norfolk is now 55-63 for the season and 19-24 in the second half.

The Tides were held to two hits in 19 at-bats, getting singles by Blake Hunt and Daniel Johnson.

With scheduled starter Cade Povich in Baltimore, lefty Tucker Davidson made the start and gave up four hits and four runs over 1 2/3 innings. He took the loss and is 4-7 with a 3.59 ERA.

Double-A Bowie beat Altoona 8-2 continuing its recent solid play. The Baysox, who got RBIs from five different players, are 8-2 over the last 10 games. Bowie is now 53-58 on the year and 21-22 in the second half.

Dylan Beavers had an RBI triple and Samuel Basallo singled in a Bowie run. He is batting .287 with an OPS of .810 after a three-hit night. John Rhodes had a three-run single for the Baysox. Enrique Bradfield Jr. in his third Double-A game went 2-for-5 and is 3-for-11 with Bowie. Bradfield stole his first base at the Double-A level, which was his 60^th steal of the year.

High-A Aberdeen lost 1-0 at home to Greenville to fall to 57-55 for the year and to 23-23 in the second half. With the loss, the IronBirds are 2.5 games out of first in the second-half race with 20 games left. The regular season ends Sept. 8 in the South Atlantic League.

Aberdeen was held to two singles Friday night while starting pitcher Michael Forret allowed one run and one hit over four innings on 57 pitches.

Low-A Delmarva beat Carolina 5-4 in Salisbury, Md. with a walk-off win in the last of the 11^th. Ethan Anderson drove in his first run as a professional with an RBI double in the eighth to pull Delmarva within 3-1 and a wild pitch made it a 3-2 game. Austin Overn’s sac fly in the ninth tied it 3-3 and Braylin Tavera’s single in the 10^th tied it 4-4.

Delmarva won the game in the 11^th with the placed runner on second when Maikol Hernandez dropped a bunt and the Greenville pitcher threw the ball away as the winning run scored.