The Baltimore Orioles this weekend won a huge series against the Oakland Athletics, taking two out of three games. On Friday and Sunday, the offense was on fire; meanwhile, on Saturday, the two teams engaged in a tight game, but Coco Crisp’s home run off Darren O’Day in the ninth inning made the difference.
The pitching was so-so this week as Bud Norris and Scott Feldman (threw 102 pitches in five innings, although only gave up a run) struggled in their starts on Friday and Sunday, respectively; meanwhile, Chris Tillman pitched insanely well on Saturday, but got the no-decision and was denied his 15th win.
At the plate, Adam Jones and Matt Wieters (who has come around this month) came through with two homers over the weekend; Chris Davis and J.J. Hardy homer and Brian Roberts – who smacked a grand slam on Friday – went deep as well.
Unlike what we have seen most of the season, the Birds in their two wins over the weekend did all of these: used the home runs, drove in runners with sacrifice flies, and made the most of with men in scoring position.
They are now two-and-a-half games out of the final wild card spot and these nine games coming up will tell us where the Orioles stand.
If the Orioles had been swept this weekend, their chances of making the playoffs would have been a mountain to climb.
They trail the American League leading Boston Red Sox by 5 ½ games as of tonight.
We all know that the series against Oakland was a must win; however, their nine game road trip is even more critical as they play the American League leading Boston Red Sox, followed by the Yankees, and Cleveland Indians who are a ½ game ahead of Baltimore in the wild card hunt.
The date we all need to have set in stone is September 5th – incidentally, the start of the football season for the Super Bowl Champions, the Baltimore Ravens.
If they are more than 5 or more games out by then in the wild hunt, then it will be difficult to play in October. Everyone will be betting on the team to play then and if you want to check on their odds – or any team in baseball – check out this page on bettingsites.us.
Baltimore needs to win as many series as they can in the final thirty-plus games. Their fortunes will improve more in the playoff if they can put together an extended win streak. However, they will need some help, as the teams in front of the Orioles will need to falter or tank as well.
According to ESPN, the Orioles have a 29.4% chance of making the playoffs.
These Orioles are good; however, unlike last year, they have more teams in the hunt and their record in one-run games is far worse in 2013. A lot of flukish things that took place in 2012, but in the end, the 2013 rendition of this team can win.
