– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles’ offense did most of their damage on Sunday before the first out was even recorded. On the mound, their starting pitcher had nary a problem in recording outs. The last out of the game, however, proved much more difficult to come by, but the Orioles did just enough at the end to start the second half of their season with an emphatic statement.
Kyle Bradish worked a scoreless outing into the eighth inning, his second consecutive start without a run allowed, while Baltimore’s three-run first inning was highlighted with a two-run home run from Anthony Santander as the Orioles completed a three-game weekend sweep of the Miami Marlins with a 5-4 victory. The win is the eighth consecutive victory for the Orioles, the longest active winning streak in Major League Baseball, and is the longest winning streak for the team since their 10-game stretch of wins in early July of last year that first truly announced the Orioles as a contender once again.
Bradish continued the amazing form shown by the Orioles’ starting rotation over the past two weeks, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out eight in his 7 1/3 innings of work. He also worked a scoreless outing in his last start, going six innings in a win over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium to salvage a split of that four-game set. During the eight-game winning streak, the Orioles starters have combined to go 6-0 with a 2.12 ERA.
The Orioles’ offense made sure Bradish had something to work with early, as three consecutive extra base bits from Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Santander greeted Steven Okert, a reliever by trade who was making his first career start as an opener. Henderson and Rutschman doubled to score the first run before Santander lifted a ball to center field that sailed into the bullpen for his 100th career home run.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s contest, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Clifford Ray Williams. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 19 pictures in total.
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