Braves Aim to Rebound Against Red-Hot Orioles
Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has recently spoken about the potential fatigue facing his team. Despite this, the Orioles continue to dominate their opponents.
Riding a five-game winning streak, the Orioles host the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night. Baltimore has won 15 of their last 19 games, maintaining high expectations.
“Our guys take care of themselves,” said Baltimore left fielder Austin Hays. “They do the right things, take care of their bodies so we can come out and still have a lot of energy. Even though there’s tough travel, we don’t make excuses for ourselves and we’re always ready to go, no matter what the day before looked like.”
Returning from an eight-game road trip, the Orioles defeated Atlanta 4-0 in Tuesday’s series opener.
The Braves are now trying to avoid their first five-game losing streak of the season.
“If we keep pitching, eventually we’re going to score,” said Atlanta manager Brian Snitker.
The Braves’ offense has been struggling, managing only five hits on Tuesday.
“It hurts them a lot when they don’t come through because they’re used to coming through,” Snitker said of his hitters. “I maneuvered the lineup [Tuesday] hoping to get some guys back in familiar spots. Maybe I’ll do the same thing [Wednesday], I don’t know.”
It looked promising when Michael Harris II led off the game with a triple, but Harris was stranded, and Atlanta managed just four singles the rest of the game.
“We’re not bunching anything together,” said Snitker, whose team drew five walks and stranded 11 by going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. “Other than that, I don’t know what else to say. Just keep working and hope at some point this thing turns around.”
Baltimore’s Jorge Mateo had been out since a freak injury on June 2, but he belted a three-run home run on Tuesday in his first game back. He had been in concussion protocol after teammate Cedric Mullins’ bat clipped his helmet in the on-deck area.
Mateo’s fourth home run of the season came on an 0-2 curveball from Braves starter Max Fried in the second inning.
“I was really trying to put the ball in play in that count,” Mateo said. “Early in the count I was sitting on certain pitches, but in that spot with an 0-2 count, I was just trying to put the ball in play.”
Both teams have had to juggle their pitching rotations due to injuries, so Wednesday’s starting matchup features two rookies who have combined for only three games in the major leagues.
Atlanta right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach is the more experienced, though he’s 0-2 with an 8.38 ERA, with losses to the Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox.
Left-hander Cade Povich, who made his major league debut Thursday in a loss at Toronto, is the Orioles’ scheduled starter. He gave up six runs on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings against the Blue Jays.
The Braves are 2-5 on a nine-game road trip that ends Thursday.
Leave a Reply