Perhaps all it took was the flip of a web page, when the calendar flipped from April to May. During that first month of the season, Rougned Odor was a near-liability on the plate, batting .180. But when that web page flipped, so did his season, as he grew to become a sparkplug and energizer for a group that’s out of the blue aggressive.
Take May 1, as an illustration, when Odor stepped in in opposition to the Boston Red Sox and launched his first house run of the season. There have been his two walk-off hits, one a blast May 20 and one other a dribbler two days later in opposition to the Tampa Bay Rays. And now on Saturday, at Fenway Park in opposition to the Red Sox as soon as extra, Odor continued what has been a resurgent month.
The veteran second baseman strode in with two runners on within the third inning and despatched a ball crusing off his bat to deep proper subject, a three-run homer that was the principle contribution in Baltimore’s 4-2 win to separate the doubleheader.
“He’s up there to do some damage,” supervisor Brandon Hyde stated. “These last couples weeks, he’s turned it up big time offensively.”
With right-hander Denyi Reyes on the mound — serving because the twenty seventh man in opposition to his former group — Boston was held in examine, scoring as soon as throughout 3 2/3 innings. Odor supplied sufficient firepower to again up Reyes in his spot begin, and the bullpen continued a powerful run that features 5 runs allowed in 17 innings this sequence.
The Orioles (20-28) began out a lot the identical manner they did within the first sport, lacking a possibility within the first inning to publish a crooked quantity on the Green Monster’s handbook scoreboard. They loaded the bases and stranded all three, however the third inning proved to be sufficient run manufacturing to hold Baltimore.
Third baseman Ramón Urías drove in Austin Hays — who, with two hits, rose his batting common to a team-best .297 — earlier than Odor stepped in and introduced house three runs with one swing. This month, Odor has clobbered 4 homers with 17 RBIs. The 28-year-old’s slugging proportion has jumped from .260 in April to .506 in May.
After shortstop Jorge Mateo’s two-out double within the third, Baltimore didn’t supervisor one other hit. But the Orioles didn’t want one, not after Odor’s blast and the work the bullpen did to close the door.
“The bullpen guys … covered us there and put up zeros until that ninth inning,” Hyde stated. “One walk on the day. I’m just really happy with how we threw the ball.”
Reyes guidelines
For a lot of Reyes’ younger profession, he had envisioned nights comparable to these — pitching at Fenway Park. He may’ve imagined it carrying white, returning to the house dugout on the primary bottom line.
Instead, Reyes wore orange and stepped off the mound to his proper, again to the customer’s dugout between innings throughout his first look at Fenway Park as a member of the Orioles. Reyes obtained a spot begin Saturday, overlaying for a membership that has a shortened rotation due to an damage to right-hander Spenser Watkins and a stretch of 5 video games in 4 days in opposition to the Red Sox.
As rain fell earlier than the sport, Reyes poked his head out of the dugout. He gave a glance across the stadium, and it sunk in.
“Dang, I’m here,” Reyes recounted considering. “Let’s do it.”
Reyes, who joined Boston’s group as a 17-year-old out of the Dominican Republic, by no means rose above the Double-A degree. But as soon as he joined Baltimore this offseason, Reyes made a fast leap to Triple-A — after which to the majors earlier this month, placing out two batters in two scoreless innings in opposition to the Detroit Tigers.
As the twenty seventh man for the doubleheader, Reyes will return to the taxi squad Sunday. But to have Saturday, pitching within the ballpark he used to examine himself in, made one night time price it.
“I always dreamed of this time,” Reyes stated. “It was wonderful.”
Missing the mark
In Ryan Mountcastle’s first full season within the majors, strikeouts have been a problem. He was wrung up 161 occasions — a price of 27.5% — in contrast with 41 walks. But he nonetheless held an on-base proportion of .309, resulting in an OPS of .796.
Those points haven’t been resolved in 2022. He’s placing out 27% of the time, together with 15 punchouts in his previous 11 video games and 41 total this season. It has led to his on-base proportion dropping to.283, a downturn that coincides together with his total manufacturing. He clubbed 33 homers final yr, with one in 5.6% of his plate appearances. That’s dropped to 5 so far in 2022 — an extended ball in simply 3.3% of his journeys to the dish.
It’s a worrisome pattern for Mountcastle, who struck out 4 occasions mixed between the 2 video games Saturday.
ORIOLES@RED SOX
Sunday, 1:35 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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Source: www.bostonherald.com