All three games this weekend between the Orioles and Indians at Camden Yards resulted in shutouts. Baltimore took the first two contests with back-to-back 13-0 wins (setting MLB records in the process) but fell to Cleveland in Sunday's series finale 2-0.
According to STATS, the last time that the #Orioles were shut out after blanking a team in back-to-back games was June 16-18, 2012. They defeated the Braves 5-0 and 2-0 and lost to the Mets 5-0 and 5-0.
— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) June 30, 2019Indians starting pitcher Shane Bieber seems to have the Orioles number. On May 19 at Progressive field he tossed a five-hit complete game shutout against Baltimore. Today, Bieber went one inning short of recording his second complete game against the O's, racking up 11 strikeouts with just three hits allowed. The 24-year-old right-hander from California reached a season-high 15 strikeouts in that May start against the Birds, giving Bieber 26 total strikeouts over 17 innings pitched against the O's.
Indians closer Brad Hand, who's now tied with the Yankees' Aroldis Chapman for the American League lead in saves with 23, did allow the Orioles to load the bases in the ninth inning. With two outs, he struck out Anthony Santander on a full count to prevent Baltimore from possibly earning the series sweep. Even without a sweep, the Orioles still won their first series since they swept the Chicago White Sox April 22-24 at Camden Yards.
Orioles starter Gabriel Ynoa put together one of his best outings of 2019, allowing one earned run over 5.1 innings on six hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. The lone run came in the third inning when Carlos Santana drove in Oscar Mercado on a single. Paul Fry, Shawn Armstrong, and Richard Bleier took care of the final 3.2 innings out of the bullpen, with Santana again scoring Mercado on a single off Armstrong in the seventh inning.
"Obviously, the last few days we've thrown the ball very well," manager Brandon Hyde said after the game. "We did a nice job out of the 'pen too. Kept them to two runs, gave ourselves a chance to win. Just faced a really good pitcher that kind of carved us up."
After scoring 26 runs over the first two games of this weekend's series, the Baltimore offense was limited to five hits and one walk on Sunday.
The 24-59 Orioles now embark on their final road trip before the All-Star break begins on July 8 and rolls through the 11th. Monday through Wednesday the Orioles will play three games in Tampa against the 48-36 Rays, who are now seven games behind the 54-28 Yankees in the AL East. After an off day on Thursday, the Birds head to Toronto for a three-game weekend set with the 31-53 Blue Jays.
Mussina returns to Baltimore: A special moment took place before Sunday's game got underway. Former Orioles starting pitcher and soon-to-be Major League Baseball Hall-Of-Famer Mike Mussina threw out the first pitch, which was caught by Hyde. Mussina will be enshired into baseball immortality on July 21 in Cooperstown, New York. He also spoke with the media during Sunday's festivities and explained why he will not choose between the Orioles and Yankees logo on his HOF cap.
Mike Mussina on hat debate going into the HOF-"I only thought about it for about 15 minutes. I can't decide between the two organizations. One got my career started, one put me on a huge stage for a lot of years and I wouldn't be going to Cooperstown without either one of them."
— Craig Heist (@cheistsports) June 30, 2019See you in Cooperstown, Moose. pic.twitter.com/mcIbd6rxvx
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) June 30, 2019Mike Mussina on coming back today: "The Orioles will always be the first team that gave me a chance. And I stayed out there for 10 years, did the job the best I could....I hope the organization appreciates everything I was able to do as much as I appreciate them."
— Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) June 30, 2019Down on the Farm
- Both Ryan Mountcastle and Austin Wynns hit home runs in the Norfolk Tides 6-1 win over the Charlotte Knights. Mountcastle, who's hitting .309 this season, hit his third long ball in five games in the third inning along with Wynns. Wynns finished the game with two RBI, adding a double in the seventh inning that scored Jack Reinheimer. Jesus Sucre and Jace Peterson added RBI singles in the effort, while Norfolk starter Keegan Akin earned his fourth win of the year (5.0 IP, 1 ER: 2 H, 5 BB, 6 K).
RHP Hunter Harvey's first career Triple-A inning at Norfolk: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 13 pitches, 10 strikes. Touched 99 mph. #Orioles
— David Hall (@DavidHallVP) June 30, 2019- Outfielder Tyler Craport hit a third inning grand slam as the Frederick Keys took down the Wilmington Blue Rocks 5-3 at Nymeo Field. First basemen J.C. Escarra added a solo shot in the fifth inning. On the bump, 2016 first round pick Cody Sedlock struck out four over four shutout innings, allowing just three hits and three walks.
