A festival of hits and home runs that left the Orioles in “when did everything get out of control?” mode
BALTIMORE — If the Orioles thought this would be a quiet Saturday, the A’s came with an alarm clock in the shape of bats to remind them that baseball is not forgiving. Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers decided that the ballpark was their backyard and hit home runs, while Jack Perkins, in his second start of the season, scored his first victory with a pitch that left the locals scratching their heads. The result: a resounding 11-3 that probably made Baltimore fans check if they had anything better to do.
First entry: Langeliers sends the first message (and it wasn’t a “hello, how are you?”)
Lest there be any doubt that the A’s came to play, Langeliers hit a two-run home run in the first inning, his twenty-third of the season. As if that were not enough, Puerto Rican Darell Hernaiz added another sacrifice fly to leave the score 6-3. The Orioles, at that point, must have already been wondering if someone had put the game on hard mode without warning.
Fifth inning: When the party turns into a tragedy (for Baltimore)
But the A’s were not satisfied with a comfortable lead. No, gentlemen. In the fifth inning, they decided it was time to make this an episode of How many runs is too many runs?Rooker hit an RBI double, Mexico’s Luis Urías contributed a single that added another run, Colombia’s Gio Urshela added a two-run double and, just in case something was missing, Langeliers came back with a double that left the score 11-3. The Orioles, at that point, probably just wanted the referee to yell “game!” out of compassion.
Perkins works his magic (and Baltimore hitters disappear)
As the A’s offense wreaked havoc, Jack Perkins (1-2) made sure the Orioles had no hope. In six innings, he allowed only three runs on three hits, struck out five and walked just one. Come on, if this were a video game, his “mastery” stat would be at expert level. On the other hand, Brandon Young (0-6) had a day to forget: three innings, six earned runs and six hits. And if that were not enough, Dominican reliever Yaramil Hiraldo could not contain the avalanche either, allowing three hits and four runs in just 2/3 of an inning. Someone in Baltimore’s bullpen should consider lighting some candles.
Moral? The A’s came, they saw and they won. And the Orioles… well, at least they have the consolation that baseball has many games in the season. But this was definitely not one of his best days.
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