– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — Not only is St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Richie Palacios making himself at home again, he may not ever want to leave the Baltimore area again.
Palacios hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, the only run in the game as the Cardinals shut out the Orioles 1-0 to win the series inside Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Wednesday evening. Rookie left-handed pitcher Drew Rom pitched 5 1/3 innings to earn his first career Major League win, and four relievers combined to make Palacios’ long ball hold up, with Ryan Helsley earning the save on a second consecutive night.
Palacios, who was born in Brooklyn and attended college 20 minutes north of Camden Yards at Towson University, came into last night’s game in the second inning as a defensive replacement and proceeded to hit his second and third career home runs later in the evening. His fourth came off of Orioles starter Kyle Gibson with two outs in the fourth inning tonight, jumping on the first pitch of the at-bat and launching the ball over the high right-field wall. The power surge was made extra special by the fact that Palacios’ parents were in the stands, witnessing the big league breakout of their son.
“I always have to show out for my parents,” Palacios said. “My mom says it makes her a lot happier when I Have a good game because my dad’s not, you know, a little sassy about it.”
Rom was a 2018 draft pick of the Orioles, and was first called up by Baltimore this season but never got the call to take the ball in any of the two games he appeared on the roster. Soon after, Rom was traded to the Cardinals in the deadline deal that brought Jack Flaherty to the Orioles Against the team with the best record in the American League, and facing many players he came up through the Orioles system with, Rom allowed just two hits while walking three and striking out seven Baltimore hitters.
“This one feels a little bit sweeter,” Rom said. “Pitching well against some of your best friends, and getting your first win against them, especially when they’ve been such a high-powered offense all season … couldn’t have asked for any better.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday evening’s contest, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Yusuf Abdullah. 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 XX pictures in total.
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