We’ve heard plenty about the young prospects the Baltimore Orioles have. Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Grayson Rodriguez, future stars in the making. But it’s the under-the-radar acquisitions the Orioles and GM Mike Elia made during the offseason that continue to make the impact.
Sunday, in Tropicana Field, it was Ryan O’Hearn that provided the big blow in the Orioles’ 5-3 win over Tampa Bay, giving the O’s a 3-1 series win.
O’Hearn didn’t even have a spot on the team out of spring training.
Now, it’s almost impossible to get him out of the lineup, even for one game.
O’Hearn, playing the best baseball of his career, was key for the Orioles in this pivotal series against the Rays.
Saturday, his pinch hit drove in the winning run in Baltimore’s 6-5 win, in a game in which the Orioles blew an early 5-0 lead.
Sunday, O’Hearn did it again. His homer in the sixth, a 331-foot squeaker that would have been a homer in only two other stadiums in the Majors, provided the go-ahead run.
It’s been that type of season for the Orioles: stars, or utility players, it makes no difference.
“I’m definitely enjoying the big hits and contributing,” O’Hearn said on WBAL’s postgame show. “Two really good teams going at it, it was just a grinder every game” added O’Heran.
The Orioles leave Florida having won three of four in the series against Tampa Bay, despite outscoring the Rays only 15-14 .
“Every pitch mattered, every inning mattered, every hit,” said O’Hearn.
Another unsung hero for first place Baltimore, Mike Bauman, shared center stage for the Orioles Sunday.
Bauman rescued the team, throwing 2 2/3 hitless innings as he followed starter Tyler Wells, who ran out of gas after 4 1/3 innings.
Bauman is now 7-0 on the season, walked two and fanned that helped the Orioles patchwork their way to Yennier Cano, who tossed a spotless eighth, and Felix Bautista, who recorded his 28th save .
Seems like every day there’s a different star for Baltimore, who now are 61-38 heading to Philadelphia and a three-game series starting Monday evening.
O’Hearn is no accident
The heroics of O’Hearn highlight the strategic way the Orioles have assembled what appears likely to be their first playoff team since 2016.
Sure, four years of stockpiling top draft picks have filled the cupboard for certain, but it’s been Elias’s eye for undervalued talent that has been equally important.
It’s the undervalued talent like O’Hearn and Bauman that’s provided the spark at critical times.
O’Hearn was traded from the Royals for cash, designated for assignment and reassigned to Triple-A to begin the season.
Recalled in mid-April, O’Hearn played a huge role with first baseman Ryan Mountcastle out with vertigo. How huge? The Orioles kept him on the MLB roster after Mountcastle’s return. Now, O’Hearan’s .881 OPS leads the team.
Big name trade may not be needed
At the All-Star break, adding a high-leverage reliever was viewed as the Orioles biggest need.
Baumann has recently pitched like one.
Relieving a wobbly Wells in the fifth inning of a tied game, Bauman pitched a scoreless 2 2/3 innings, allowing the offense to pull ahead, then handing the ball off to the one-two punch of Cano and Bautista.
“Player of the game for me,” manager Brandon Hyde said about Bauman on the Orioles postgame show. “That was two-plus innings right in the meat of the game there, just did a great job, keeping the game right there for us,” added Hyde.
The victory was Baumann’s seventh of the season, a high total for a middle reliever. Over his past 11 2/3 innings, Baumann has allowed just six hits and one run.
Orioles’ second-half gauntlet continues
Baltimore began play after the All-Star game with 20 games in 21 days.
It began with a three-game sweep against Miami, followed by losing two of three against the LA Dodgers. Winning three of four against the Rays gives Baltimore a 7-3 post-All-Star Game record, heading to a three-game series in Philadelphia with the Phillies.
Baltimore then returns home to Camden Yards on Friday to open a three-game weekend series with the Yankees.
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