O's play it close, but still looking for a win over Tampa Bay

There is no reason to look at anything as a moral victory – and the Orioles and their fans want real wins anyway, of course – but the Orioles have taken the first two games of their series at Tropicana Field down to the last pitch.
 
After 110 losses a year ago, they may be making some progress even while being 0-2, but fans, of course, are ready for wins, not just being close. Especially when the O’s are 1-20 in the last 21 games against Tampa Bay.
 
Lefty Keegan Akin had a terrible spring and then a terrific outing on Saturday afternoon. How to explain that? I have no idea, but it was nice to see.
 
Akin threw three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit on 31 pitches in Saturday's 5-3 loss. He was so good he threw 27 strikes and just four balls out of the strike zone to a combined 10 hitters. In 24 games last season for the Orioles, Akin got 10 or more swings and misses in just six of those outings. He did that yesterday in three innings, getting 10 whiffs on 21 swings by Rays batters. They swung and missed five times in eight swings versus his fastball and in three of seven swings off his changeup.
 
One impressive outing for a pitcher who gave up five runs and six walks in 5 1/3 innings in spring training.
 
Time for progress: In several recent interviews, O’s executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias has said he feels his team is making progress in its rebuilding and turning a bit of a corner this year, and that fans will continue to see progress from the club.
 
He said that again on opening day during an appearance on the MASN broadcast.
 
“This has been a very large rebuilding project from the position in which we started,” Elias said during the telecast. “Not just adding talent to the organization but updating and investing in the entire organization, top to bottom. We’ve been very careful about it. We haven’t rushed anything. We’ve kept players’ health and development in mind first and foremost.
 
“But we look up now and our two top prospects are in Triple-A. And a bunch of others are at Double-A. Coupled with some of the breakouts and players that have established themselves here with the Orioles, specifically last year, I can see things coming together a little bit. And I think the next five to seven years are going to be a terrific era of Orioles baseball. We will work hard, like the Rays do, to keep the organization very healthy year-to-year, so that we never have to plunge into the depths that we did during the 2018 season. I see us coming out of this very soon and we’re excited about that. I feel like we’re in a very healthy place with this organization right now, but it took some years and it took some work.”
 
Farm work: The high Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds outslugged Jersey Shore 11-10 on Friday night and won with solid pitching Saturday night 3-1. So Aberdeen is off to a 2-0 start for new skipper Robert Mercado, a first-year pro manager in the O's organization.
 
Righty Houston Roth allowed just one run over the first four innings for Aberdeen. Then winning pitcher Jensen Elliott went three scoreless and Clayton McGinness pitched the last two frames to record a save. The three hurlers combined for a five-hitter with 11 strikeouts.
 
Aberdeen's Connor Norby went 3-for-4 and Colton Cowser 1-for-3 with a run scored. TT Bowens had a two-run single and is 5-for-9 so far.
 
Triple-A Norfolk improved to 3-2 and held off Charlotte in the ninth to win 7-6. Starter Kyle Brnovich, in his Triple-A debut, allowed two runs over four innings. Johnny Rizer hit a two-run homer and Tyler Nevin drove in three runs. Richie Martin went 2-for-5 and scored three times, while Yusniel Diaz added a hit and is now batting .389.
 
Double-A Bowie fell to 0-2, losing 9-2 to Richmond as the Flying Squirrels scored seven runs in the top of the ninth. Jordan Westburg hit a solo homer for the Baysox. Bowie's starter today is lefty Antonio Velez, who was traded this week from Miami to Baltimore in the deal that sent relievers Tanner Scott and Cole Sulser south. Last year, between high Single-A and Double-A, he went 7-2 with a 2.55 ERA.  
 
Low Single-A Delmarva allowed 17 hits in an 18-5 loss to Fredericksburg to fall to 1-1. Shorebirds starter Conor Grady, an 18^th-round pick last year, allowed two runs over three innings with six strikeouts. Davis Tavárez and Noelberth Romero hit two-run homers for the Shorebirds. 
 
So the farm clubs went 2-2 Saturday night and are a combined 6-5 for the year.