Notes on the AL East, Britton's bounceback and Markakis' consistency
Well, no one said it would be easy.
Toronto blew out Boston last night and moved to within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Orioles, even though they are four games out in the loss column. Tampa Bay beat Milwaukee 2-1 and is 28-12 since falling 18 games under the .500 mark on June 10. Texas beat the New York Yankees 4-2 and New York is 4 1/2 games out.
So I thought the American League East was down this year? AL East teams are now 23-7 in non-division games since the second half started. Toronto is 2-1, New York is 6-2, Tampa Bay is 6-0 and Boston is 3-0. So, the Orioles are 6-4 and the rest of the division is 17-3.
Yep, this will not be easy.
Meanwhile, when Zach Britton suffered a blown save on June 20 at New York, he responded by pitching 10 consecutive scoreless innings.
Once again he has bounced back from a blown save in impressive fashion. This one took place July 18, on the first day of the Orioles' West Coast trip.
Since then, Britton has pitched five times and is 5-for-5 in save chances. Not only has he gotten those saves, he has not even allowed one baserunner in those games, spanning 4 1/3 innings.
Opposing hitters are 0-for-13 with eight strikeouts against him in that time. Britton struck out the side Sunday at Seattle and has fanned six of the last nine batters he's faced. His last four full-inning saves have lasted just seven, 12, 11 and 12 pitches.
On another front, during the last O's homestand, manager Buck Showalter said of Nick Markakis, "He seems to be in the middle of every rally."
Markakis continues to be reliable, dependable and solid for the Orioles even if he's never made an All-Star Game and is seldom in the headlines.
While he is often in the middle of those rallies, it is also true that someone often upstages him. Go back to the second game of the road trip at Oakland. The Orioles were coming off a game they lost in the ninth the night before. Markakis went 4-for-5, but Adam Jones hit two homers to grab the headlines. Markakis scored on both Jones homers.
Last Thursday, Delmon Young hit a three-run homer and Wei-Yin Chen pitched eight scoreless innings to co-star in a win over the Mariners. But Markakis drove in the the run that gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead off Hisashi Iwakuma. One pitch later, Young made the headlines.
Markakis seems to be a player you need to see play every day to appreciate his pretty much nightly contributions to wins, whether it's another multi-hit game, a nice running catch in the field, another outfield assist or a clutch hit.
A week ago yesterday, Markakis hit his 20th double of the season to give him nine straight years of 20 or more doubles. He is the sixth player in franchise history to have nine or more 20-plus double seasons, joining Cal Ripken Jr. (17), Brooks Robinson (14), Eddie Murray (12), Brady Anderson and Paul Blair (nine each).
Markakis has played 278 consecutive games in the outfield without committing an error. He last made an error on Aug. 10, 2012. His stretch of 278 games is the longest by an Orioles outfielder in franchise history, surpassing B.J. Surhoff's 234-game streak (1998-2000). It is the longest active streak by an outfielder in the majors.
Meanwhile, when Zach Britton suffered a blown save on June 20 at New York, he responded by pitching 10 consecutive scoreless innings.
Once again he has bounced back from a blown save in impressive fashion. This one took place July 18, on the first day of the Orioles' West Coast trip.
Since then, Britton has pitched five times and is 5-for-5 in save chances. Not only has he gotten those saves, he has not even allowed one baserunner in those games, spanning 4 1/3 innings.
Opposing hitters are 0-for-13 with eight strikeouts against him in that time. Britton struck out the side Sunday at Seattle and has fanned six of the last nine batters he's faced. His last four full-inning saves have lasted just seven, 12, 11 and 12 pitches.
On another front, during the last O's homestand, manager Buck Showalter said of Nick Markakis, "He seems to be in the middle of every rally."
Markakis continues to be reliable, dependable and solid for the Orioles even if he's never made an All-Star Game and is seldom in the headlines.
While he is often in the middle of those rallies, it is also true that someone often upstages him. Go back to the second game of the road trip at Oakland. The Orioles were coming off a game they lost in the ninth the night before. Markakis went 4-for-5, but Adam Jones hit two homers to grab the headlines. Markakis scored on both Jones homers.
Last Thursday, Delmon Young hit a three-run homer and Wei-Yin Chen pitched eight scoreless innings to co-star in a win over the Mariners. But Markakis drove in the the run that gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead off Hisashi Iwakuma. One pitch later, Young made the headlines.
Markakis seems to be a player you need to see play every day to appreciate his pretty much nightly contributions to wins, whether it's another multi-hit game, a nice running catch in the field, another outfield assist or a clutch hit.
A week ago yesterday, Markakis hit his 20th double of the season to give him nine straight years of 20 or more doubles. He is the sixth player in franchise history to have nine or more 20-plus double seasons, joining Cal Ripken Jr. (17), Brooks Robinson (14), Eddie Murray (12), Brady Anderson and Paul Blair (nine each).
Markakis has played 278 consecutive games in the outfield without committing an error. He last made an error on Aug. 10, 2012. His stretch of 278 games is the longest by an Orioles outfielder in franchise history, surpassing B.J. Surhoff's 234-game streak (1998-2000). It is the longest active streak by an outfielder in the majors.
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