After bounceback win, do O's have a series victory in them today at Oakland?

On June 20, Zach Britton gave up a three-run homer in the ninth at Yankee Stadium and the Orioles lost to New York. On Friday night, he gave up a three-run homer at Oakland and the Orioles lost. The day after that first blown save, the Orioles beat the Yankees 6-1. The day after this latest one, they beat Oakland 8-4. What do both games have in common? Adam Jones homers. In the first inning. This time, it was a three-run shot. That's leadership. In my opinion, those are two of the Orioles' biggest homers of the season. They began the process of erasing the memory of crushing losses just minutes into the very next games. The Orioles are now 4-1 in games after they've suffered a walk-off loss. That stat tells us a lot about the 2014 Orioles. The O's have won the last six games that decided a three-game series. That is, six straight games when the first two games of a series were split. In order, they've won rubber-match games against Boston, Tampa Bay, New York, Chicago, Boston and New York. Their last loss in such a game? It was June 8 at home. Against Oakland. They get another shot at the A's in a decisive third game today. The Orioles have scored 12 runs in two games against Oakland pitching. The A's staff entered this series having allowed one run or less in seven of their previous 11 games with a team ERA of 1.73. The A's two big new acquisitions - pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel - have pitched nine innings in the series, allowing 12 hits, nine runs and four homers. The Orioles are 20-for-69 (.290) in this series with three doubles and five homers and have gone 4-for-13 (.308) with runners in scoring position. That is not bad considering just last night in this space, I was telling you that the Orioles had scored just 16 runs on a .205 average in the six games before last night. Chris Davis went 2-for-4 with a double and a solo homer on Saturday night. It was his first game with a pair of extra-base hits since June 11. Davis is 4-for-10 with two homers and four RBIs over his past three games. That is a small sample size, but he has to start somewhere if he is to rebound in the second half. He put a nice swing on that Jim Johnson pitch in the ninth last night. Nick Markakis went 4-for-5 after going 3-for-20 over his previous six games. Jones tied his career-high with five RBIs after driving in just one run his previous 10 games. Guess Jones' swing was not messed up when he took part in the Home Run Derby in Minnesota. The Orioles picked up a big win last night, one that keeps them four games ahead of the Yankees and Blue Jays atop the American League East. They provided a nice answer to a very tough loss. Can they win one more and start this road trip off with a big series victory at Oakland?



More on Jones' big night in Oakland
Graham on Yaz: "What you see with him is a very co...
 

By accepting you will be accessing a service provided by a third-party external to https://www.masnsports.com/