Bob Haynie: Starting Pitchers Finally Pitching For The Orioles
Just when things starting looking very bleak for the Baltimore Orioles, they regrouped and put together a five-game winning streak.
J.J. Hardy and Jim Thome have picked up the pace with the bat and that has helped the cause, for sure.
Let's not forget Ryan Flaherty either.
But the main reason the Orioles have been on a roll has been because of the starting pitching.
Since lefty Zach Britton struggled last Tuesday in Minnesota against the Twins, Baltimore starters have strung together five consecutive quality outings.
Tommy Hunter, who had been sent to the minors because of poor pitching, threw a gem at the Twins last Wednesday to get things going. Then Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez, Chris Tillman and Britton followed with strong perfomances.
Prior to this recent run of success, the starting pitching for the Birds had been terrible. Their top starter--Jason Hammel--is on the DL and Brian Matusz and Jake Arrieta not only pitched themselves out of the rotation, they pitched themselves off the team.
The Ravens start training camp this week and the Orioles are still very much in playoff contention.
If they want to stay in the hunt for the rest of the summer, Baltimore will need their starters to continue to produce.
BH
