O's hit the road looking for some offense in Boston (plus Aberdeen's SB record)

When the Orioles scored 13 runs Monday and nine runs Tuesday night in beating the Chicago White Sox, we had no idea the next few games would prove to be so futile for the Baltimore offense. 

Through Tuesday the Orioles had scored 38 runs over a five-game stretch. Was the offense finally coming around?

As it turned out, no.

In the last four games the Orioles scored one, two, one and zero runs. They actually won one of those games. But in the four contests, the Orioles produced four runs and 22 hits, going 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position. 

Here is something pretty remarkable: The Orioles did not hit a double or triple in the four games. Their last extra-base hit that was not a homer came on Tuesday. 

After the great numbers the Orioles produced last year hitting with runners in scoring position, we should have expected a falloff and there has been one.

In 2023, the Birds led MLB in team batting (.287), slugging (.481) and OPS (.837) when hitting with runners in scoring position.

This year they rank 18th in batting average (.251), eighth in slugging (.433) and 16th in OPS (.745).

This is not about one or two players as the Orioles batted 11 players Sunday and still did not score.

But while he drew a leadoff walk in the sixth inning Sunday, catcher Adley Rutschman was hitless again and continues to struggle and may need to be moved out of the two-hole. He went 0-for-10 over the weekend and is batting .211 with one homer his past 33 games. Rutschman had a .482 OPS in July, .624 in August and is at .470 in September.

Then the question becomes, who do you move up? It's not like several O's are hitting right now. The two that are in the last week or so are Gunnar Henderson and Cedric Mullins. Maybe they bat one-two right now in front of Anthony Santander and they go from there. Henderson is batting .406 with three homers his last eight games and Mullins is hitting .429 his last eight.

The Orioles have been a .500 team since the All-Star break at 24-24. Since July 1 they are 29-31. Since they were 45-22 on June 12, they are 37-40.

With 18 games left, a .500 finish would leave Baltimore with 91 wins. If they went 11-7, they win 93. If they went 13-5, they win 95. If they play under .500 and go say 7-11, they finish with 89 victories.

Maybe the sight of Fenway Park will help get the O's bats going. It's been a minute, but the last time they were there (April 9-11) they swept Boston three in a row scoring 23 runs on 31 hits and going 15-for-37 with RISP. In that series they produced six doubles, a triple and hit five home runs.

This year in 10 games against Boston, going 7-3, they are scoring 6.3 runs per game with a .789 team OPS in the season series.

What is left: The Orioles begin a road trip that will see them play three at Boston and three at Detroit tonight. They return home then for three with San Francisco and three with Detroit. They play the last week with three at Yankee Stadium and three at Minnesota.

New York hosts Kansas City tonight to start a three-game series and will host Boston for four. Then they have a West Coast trek with three at Seattle and three at Oakland. Then they host the Orioles and Pittsburgh to cap the regular season.

If the season ended today, New York would be the No. 1 AL playoff seed, followed by Cleveland, Houston, the Orioles, K.C. and Minnesota.

The Orioles have an 18-15 (.545) record on the year versus that group. The Yankees are 23-10 (.697) with a losing record only against the Orioles (4-6) among those clubs. Take that record away and New York is 19-4 (.826) versus the other four projected playoff teams. 

The Boston pitching matchups:

* Monday: Cade Povich (2-7, 5.76 ERA) vs. Brayan Bello (12-7, 4.75 ERA)

* Tuesday: Albert Suárez (7-5, 3.49 ERA) vs. Kutter Crawford (8-13, 4.08 ERA)

* Wednesday: Dean Kremer (7-9, 4.27 ERA) vs. Nick Pivetta (5-10, 4.38 ERA).

Aberdeen sets a record: High-A Aberdeen beat Jersey Shore 4-3 Sunday on the final day of its season and set a record in the process. The IronBirds stole three bases to finish with 363 on the year, setting an all-time Minor League Baseball record. The mark had been held since 1988 by the Osceola Astros of the Florida State League. Aberdeen set the mark in fewer games, 132 to 137.

Aberdeen ended the year going 67-65 overall, 33-33 in the second half and 38-28 at home.

The IronBirds had 25 players record at least one stolen base this year with seven players getting 20 or more. Their top guy was Enrique Bradfield Jr. with 59 while Tavian Josenberger had 45 and Douglas Hodo 42 and all three players are now with Double-A Bowie.

After an 0-for-16 start with Aberdeen, O's top 2024 draft pick Vance Honeycutt went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and also made a great catch in center field. 

Low-A Delmarva beat Carolina 9-3 to end its season going 53-78 overall and 30-36 in the second half. The Shorebirds led the Carolina League with 307 stolen bases, getting 78 over their last 21 games.

The O's Bowie club will end its season next Sunday while Triple-A Norfolk ends the year on Sept. 22. 

Click here for a look at the stolen base that gave Aberdeen the record and click here to see Honeycutt's outstanding catch.