Our contention has been, for weeks, that the Orioles could sell at the trade deadline in a robust manner - even more extensive than what failed baseball exec Mike Elias actually executed - and basically remain as they were.
Their faults Couldn't get that much more pronounced, some youngsters would pop up from the margins to surprise and a team always on the fringes of the final Wild Card spot would remain there. They might even show a little more verse and pulse to spite Elias for bailing on them. And in their first game since 2019 that didn't include Adley Rutschman , Elias's first ever draft pick, in the organization, things went largely along those lines in a 3-1 win over the lowly Angels at Camden Yards.
"We're going to go out there and give everything we have, regardless of the circumstances," first baseman Pete Alonso told the MASN broadcast after the game. " ... Moving forward we want to win, and we know this organization wants to win and this fans and the city wants us to win."
Lefty Cade Povich , back from a long injury absence and recovery and spell in AAA, was nearly flawless through six innings - with starting pitching, oddly, the strength of this team. And we can only hope, as Elias loves to do in these circumstances, he isn't immediately demoted (so old and broken - but expensive! - Chris Bassitt gets the rotation spot off the IL). Povich showed better command than has often the case in these circumstances, and never got rattled.
And as the Orioles finally, mercifully played without Taylor Ward on their roster this season ( a salary dump to Seattle ), the once-elite pitching prospect who they dealt for him, Grayson Rodriguez , became the latest terrible MLB starter to absolutely befuddle this lost lineup.
Rodriguez, who has barely managed to throw strikes in MLB since getting hurt as an Oriole years ago, entered this game with a 7.98 ERA. Yet he pitched seven full innings yielding just two runs in what one could argue was the best start of his career, striking out six and walking just one. He had his way with his old teammates - from the minors and Baltimore - including him dominating Gunnar Henderson (0-for-3 with a strikeout), now sporting a .682 OPS and probably no more than a year from leaving Baltimore, too), but of course batting third in a lineup that has twice recently gone 15 straight innings or more without scoring in the last week.
(If the Orioles bring back this skipper and this sophomoric coaching staff next season, rest assured, all this rot will continue).
They finally snapped a rut in the third inning Tuesday, pushing across two runs; the Orioles aren't not just hitting homers, they are striking out a ton and not even putting the ball in play (four hits in this one against a terrible Angels staff). Newcomer Christian Franklin , in his MLB debut, walked to open the third, Colton Cowser singled, new addition Carlos Narvaez was hit by a pitch and Alonso drove in two with the bases loaded.
"I was just looking for any good pitch to hit," Alonso said on the post-game show.
Tyler O'Neill (yeah he's still here, somehow, too) added a pinch hit solo homer in the 8th.
There's your highlights folks. Good news is catcher Samuel Basallo and third-baseman Blaze Alexander should be back soon.
Reliever Andrew Kittredge , who should have been dumped at the deadline and is an injury risk lookingn shaky again lately, lost the shutout in the 8th. Yennier Cano , who the Orioles signed to an extension, closed it out.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/orioles/onsi as Orioles Win First Game After Selling At The Trade Deadline In Familiar Fashion .
