The O’s Cleared The Pirates’ Deck
Thursday’s game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Pittsburgh Pirates (69-77) was another one run affair as the Birds swept the three-game series with a 3-2 win in front of 13,957 fans at Camden Yards.
The game was more of the routine variety as there were no extra innings and there was no walk-off winning run. The Orioles should be able to make there travel accomodations to Canada on time.
Both teams combined hits to score a run in the first inning; a Nick Gonzales single plated Pittsburgh’s run and an Emmanuel Rivera single plated Baltimore’s.
Colton Cowser walked, stole second base and scored on a Coby Mayo single in the second inning.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Alexander Canario homered to lead off the third inning.
Both teams traded scoreless innings until the bottom of the seventh opened with a Jackson Holliday single. Holliday stole second base before Gunnar Henderson was intentionally walked with one out. Rivera struck out swinging setting the stage for Wednesday’s hero, Dylan Beavers. Beavers welcomed Pirates’ reliever Evan Sisk into the game by hitting a 80.9 mph sweeper up the middle past Gonzales for a RBI single.
That makes back-to-back game winning hits for Beavers as Kade Strowd pitched out of a two-on, two-out jam in the eighth and Keegan Akin stymied the Pirates in the ninth to earn his fifth save. The game ended when Alex Jackson threw out Oneil Cruz attempting to steal second.
The win would not have been possible were it not for the start put forth by Cade Povich who allowed 2 runs on 5 hits with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts over 5.2 innings. Povich did pitch with traffic on the bases in the third and fifth innings before leaving with one on and two outs in the sixth having thrown 93 pitches (62 K’s).
Yennier Cano struck out Joey Bart to end the sixth and Grant Wolfram (3-0), the eventual winning pitcher, allowed a hit and struck out one in the seventh.
With essentially nothing to play for but themselves, the excitement around the team is building as Povich elaborated post-game, “Obviously, we love when we’re able to go out and put up seven, eight, nine runs and blow teams out, but I think you really see the heart and the effort these guys put in in these close games. Obviously with the walk-offs and even today, Beavs having the go-ahead hit, as well. It just shows kind of the fight of this team, and I think it shows a lot for the future.”
2025 Record: 69-77
Next Game: Fri. 9/12 @ 7:07 pm vs. Blue Jays in Toronto