They got some clutch hits late in the game and they held an opponent to three runs. So Saturday was a good day for the Orioles as they beat Tampa Bay 8-3 for just their second road win 15 games.
They are still two games under .500 at 36-38 and have lost 28 of 42 games since May 10. The way their starting rotation has been pitching, there is no hint that the club is about to make a dramatic turnaround. But for one day they looked good. Now we see if they can do it again.
A win today at Tropicana Field would give the Orioles their first road series win since April 18-20, when they took two of three at Cincinnati.
Mark Trumbo has been showing signs of getting his bat going, and he had a huge hit on Saturday. With the game tied 3-3 in the top of the seventh, he drilled a two-out, two-run double on a 3-2 pitch for a 5-3 lead. Trumbo hit an 88 mph slider from Jumbo Diaz to break the tie. On the next pitch, Trey Mancini homered to right for a 7-3 lead. Two pitches, four runs and Birdland could finally breathe easier for at least a few moments.
The Orioles hit three homers in the game, with Welington Castillo and Adam Jones also connecting. The Orioles have 30 multi-homer games on the year and are 22-8 in those games.
Meanwhile, Mancini continues to hit the ball to right field like he is a left-handed pull hitter. But he's not. He is now batting .322/.368/.580 with 12 doubles, a triple, 13 homers and 42 RBIs in 60 games. His OPS for the year is up to .948.
Mancini has hit safely in 14 of his past 15 games, batting .429 (24-for-56). In 22 June games, he is batting .370/.414/.691 with six homers, 18 RBIs and a 1.105 OPS. Against right-handed pitchers Mancini is batting .355 with nine homers and 30 RBIs in 124 at-bats.
We are not done here. It gets better. When batting with runners in scoring position, Mancini is hitting .442. When batting with RISP and 2 outs, he is hitting .526 (10-for-19).
Seeing what Mancini has done this year has been one of the best developments to emerge from the 2017 season. I will remind you here that Mancini was never ranked in the top 100 of any best-prospects lists. Heck, he was never ranked higher than fifth among O's prospects, and that was at the end of the 2016 season.
Today we find out if Chris Tillman can begin to pitch better. His season has been pretty much terrible so far. He is 1-5 with a 8.39 ERA over nine starts. The Orioles are 3-6 in those games after going 22-8 in Tillman's 2016 starts. Over his past three starts he has allowed 19 runs in 10 2/3 innings, going 0-2 with a 16.03 ERA.
The Orioles need to win a series, and they sure need to show they can win a road series. A lot is riding on Tillman's right arm this afternoon.
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