Perhaps it was all a turn of a page when the calendar flipped from April to May. During that first month of the season, Roughnad Odor was a near-liability, batting .180 at the plate. But when that page flipped, so did his season, as he became a sparkplug and energizer for a team that’s suddenly competitive.
Take May 1, for example, when Odor made a move against the Boston Red Sox and began his first home run of the season. He had two walk-off hits, a blast on May 20 and a dribbler two days later against the Tampa Bay Rays. And now on Saturday, once again against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, the smell continues what has been a resurgent month.
The veteran second baseman entered the third inning with two runners and sent a ball into deep right field with his bat, a three-run homer that split the doubleheader was the main contributor to Baltimore’s 4-2 victory.
“He’s there to do some damage,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “These past few weeks, he’s aggressively given it big time.”
With right-hander Denny Reyes on the mound – serving as the 27th man against his former team – Boston were kept in check, scoring once in 3 2/3 innings. The smell provided enough firepower to support Reyes on his debut, and the bullpen continued an impressive run that included five runs in 17 innings this series.
The Orioles (20–28) started as in the first game, missing an opportunity in the first inning to post a crooked number on the Green Monster’s manual scoreboard. He loaded the bases and trapped all three, but the third innings proved to be enough run production to take Baltimore.
Third baseman Ramon Ureas drove into Austin Hays – who, with two hits, raised his batting average to a team-best .297 – before Odor stepped in and brought up three runs with a swing. This month, Gandha has surrounded four homers with 17 RBIs. The 28-year-old’s slugging percentage has increased from .260 in April to .506 in May.
After a two-out double in the third from shortstop Jorge Matteo, Baltimore did not manage to make another hit. But the Orioles didn’t need one, not after the explosion of smell and the work the bullpen did to shut the door.
Hyde said, “The bullpen guys … covered us there and made a void by that ninth inning.” “A walk a day. I’m really happy with the way we bowled.”
reyes law
For most of Reyes’ youth career, he had envisioned nights like this – pitching at Fenway Park. He must have imagined that he was dressed in white, returning home to the dugout at the first base line.
Instead, Reyes wore orange and stepped off the mound to his right, returning to the visitor’s dugout between innings during his first appearance at Fenway Park as a member of the Orioles. Reyes started a spot on Saturday, covering for a club that has short rotation due to an injury to right-armer Spencer Watkins and a five-game stretch over four days against the Red Sox.
As it rained before the game, Reyes stuck his head out of the dugout. He took a look around the stadium, and he frowned.
“Dang, here I am,” thought Reyes. “Lets do it.”
Reyes, who joined Boston’s outfit as a 17-year-old out of the Dominican Republic, never rose above Double-A level. But once he joined Baltimore this season, Reyes made a quick jump to Triple-A — and then earlier this month, dismissed two batsmen in two scoreless innings against the Detroit Tigers.
Reyes will return to the taxi squad on Sunday as the 27th player for a doubleheader. But on Saturdays, pitching at the ballpark he imagined himself to have made a night worth it.
“I always dreamed of this time,” Reyes said. “It was wonderful.”
mark missing
In Ryan Mountcastle’s first full season in the majors, strikeouts were an issue. He was wrong 161 times – at a rate of 27.5%, compared to running 41 times. But he still had a base percentage of .309, making the OPS .796.
Those issues are not resolved in 2022. He is taking out 27% of the time, including 15 punchouts in his last 11 games and 41 overall this season. Due to this his base percentage has come down to 283, which coincides with his overall production. He clubbed 33 homers last year, accounting for 5.6% of his plate attendance. This has fallen to five so far in 2022 – a long ball in only 3.3% of their visits to the dish.
It’s a worrying trend for Mountcastle, who won a combined four times between the two matches on Saturday.
Orioles @ Red Sox
Sunday, 1:35 p.m.
TV: Masan
radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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