Weekly Wrap: June 24th - June 30th

Results

The Orioles went 3-4 against Chicago, Tampa Bay, and Texas. They scored 31 runs while allowing 32.

Standings

The Orioles are 43-39, one game back of the Blue Jays for the AL East Lead and 2.5 games ahead of the third-place Yankees. Their predicted finish is 84-76.

Best Hitter / Worst Hitter

Manny Machado caught fire this week, hitting to the tune of a 209 wRC+ (.318/.400/.727 with three homers). That was 13th-best in the majors. Chris Davis slid into ugly territory though, putting up just a 30 wRC+ for the week (.095/.321/.095 with zero homers). The OBP is nice and is probably what is keeping Chris afloat right now. Say what you will about his power; at least he can still take a walk. But I think we all wish he would go back to being Crush Davis.

Best Pitcher / Worst Pitcher

I'm kind of shocked typing this, but Ubaldo Jimenez turned in this week's best pitching performance. In two starts he pitched 14.1 innings, struck out 13, walked three, and surrendered just one home run. Nearly 50% of the balls in play against him were grounders. That's what you like to see.

Miguel Gonzalez was this week's worst starter. He also started twice, but he went only 9.2 innings because he walked seven while striking out just three and giving up three home runs. And yet he was still extraordinarily lucky, because he stranded over 90% of his baserunners.

Clutch PA of the Week

In last Wednesday's 5-4 win against the White Sox, Nick Markakis came up big for the Orioles. With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the 12th, the Orioles were facing Daniel Webb (Ryan's evil twin brother, I assume). Nick Hundley walked to lead off the inning and David Lough pinch-ran for him. With a speedster on first, Nick Markakis delivered a single that moved Lough to third base. Runners at the corners with no outs is a great place to be when you're tied in extras. Sure enough, on the very next pitch, Webb threw wildly and Lough scored the walkoff run.

Clutch Relief Appearance of the Week

Extra innings provide a lot of opportunities for clutch relief, and in that same White Sox game Ryan Webb kept things close in the late innings (before his evil twin brother handed the Orioles the win). Tied at 4 in the top of the 10th, he came in to face the White Sox's 3-4-5 hitters. Conor Gillaspie singled to start things off but was quickly erased when slugger Jose Abreu hit into a double play. Webb then hit Adam Dunn with a pitch. Pinch runner Leury Garcia stole second base, but Webb struck out Alexei Ramirez to keep things tied. He started the 11th by striking out Moises Sierra before giving way to Brian Matusz.

Upcoming Week

The Orioles finish up against Texas, then play in Boston before heading to DC to start a split home/away series with the Nationals.

Your Moment of Zen

After all the grief I've given Ubaldo, I figured it's only fair I give him his due here, thanks to his fantastic performance last night.