Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde mentioned multiple times recently about the potential fatigue that his team might be encountering.
Even with that, the Orioles are wearing out opponents.
Baltimore rides a five-game winning streak into a Wednesday night contest against the visiting Atlanta Braves. The Orioles, winners of 15 of their past 19 games, are maintaining high expectations.
“Our guys take care of themselves,” Baltimore left fielder Austin Hays said. “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.”
The Orioles returned from an eight-game road trip to defeat Atlanta 4-0 on Tuesday in the series opener.
Now the Braves will try to avoid what would be their first five-game losing streak of the season.
“If we keep pitching, eventually we’re going to score,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said.
The offense has been a trouble spot for the Braves, who managed 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 with the lineup (Tuesday) hoping maybe to get some guys back in familiar spots. Maybe do the same thing (Wednesday), I don’t know.”
It looked encouraging when Michael Harris II led off the game with a triple. Harris was stranded, though, and Atlanta managed just four singles the rest of the way.
“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 in time this thing turns around.”
Baltimore’s Jorge Mateo had been out since a freak injury June 2, but he belted a three-run home run on Tuesday in his first game back. He had been in the 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 juggled their pitching rotations in recent weeks because of injuries, so the Wednesday starting matchup features two rookies who have thrown a total of three games in the major leagues.
That makes Atlanta right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach the most 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.
–Field Level Media
