By Jake McDonnell
Before the regular season got underway, Trey Mancini said that the Orioles would carry a competitive mindset into every game, playing with the intention of winning every time they step on the field.
Mancini wasn't kidding. No one would have thought this a week ago, but through the first five games of the season the Orioles sit at 4-1.They're two games ahead of the Yankees and three games in front of the Red Sox in the American League East division standings.
Baltimore's 2-1 win over the Blue Jays on Tuesday night marks the team's fourth win in a row since dropping their Opening Day contest to the Yankees. An interesting note from this win streak is that four pitchers - Miguel Castro, Richard Bleier, Mike Wright and Paul Fry - have all recorded saves. Per MASN's Roch Kubatko, it marks the first time since the 1989 season that four Oriole pitchers logged saves in a five-day span.
Per STATS: This is the second time in #Orioles history that four different pitchers have picked up a save in a five-game span. The other was from May 31 to June 4, 1989 – Gregg Olson (two saves), Kevin Hickey, Mark Thurmond, and Mark Williamson got the saves.
— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) April 3, 2019Castro became the latest bullpen arm to add a save to his stat line during Tuesday's action. The Orioles took a 2-0 lead to the bottom of the ninth inning that got slashed in half by the bat of Rowdy Tellez. With one out, Tellez smacked Castro's 94-MPH slider to the second level of the center-field seating at the Rogers Centre. Castro didn't allow the bomb to get in his head, forcing Randal Grichuk to ground out to third base and Freddy Galvis to fly out to left field, ending the threat.
Castro was the second of two Oriole relievers that followed Andrew Cashner's first scoreless outing since June 20 of last year against the Nationals. Over six innings, Cashner allowed just four hits and three walks, fanning three Toronto batters. He threw 89 pitches, 57 for strikes.
Preceding Castro out of the bullpen was Paul Fry, making his third relief appearance of the season. He worked the seventh and eighth innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Only using two arms in relief of Cashner bodes well for the Orioles before Nate Karns serves as the "opener" for tomorrow's season finale with Toronto. In the opening series against the Yankees, both Dylan Bundy and Cashner failed to stretch their starts past four innings. David Hess and Cashner combining for 12.1 scoreless innings over these first two games in Toronto aides a Baltimore bullpen that carried a heavy workload during opening weekend.
"I thought that I got into some counts where I could have put some guys away, and I just didn't make the pitch," Cashner said after the game. "Still can get better, need to work on command a little bit, but I thought that my velocity was a lot better today."
The Orioles broke open the scoring in the sixth inning when Jonathan Villar hit a triple that scored Dwight Smith Jr, who had singled to lead off the inning. Villar took Marcus Stroman's 91-MPH cutter to the very far corner of right field. By the time Billy McKinney got to the ball, Villar was well past second base. Seven pitches later, Trey Mancini singled to Teoscar Hernandez in left field to bring Villar home.
Mancini joined Smith Jr. as the two Orioles to notch a hit in all five games. So far in the young season Mancini owns a .450 average with nine hits and two home runs in 20 at-bats. Villar, Joey Rickard, and Hanser Alberto (making his first start with the Orioles) each tallied two hits.
First pitch for the series finale at the Rogers Centre takes place at 4:07 pm Wednesday afternoon. Karns, who threw the first two innings against the Yankees on Saturday, will face Matt Shoemaker. The Toronto right-hander threw seven scoreless innings in a 6-0 win over the Tigers on Friday, allowing just two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
Follow Jake on Twitter @JMcDonnell95
