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Results and Standings
The Orioles went 3-3 against the Yankees and Blue Jays this past week. That's not surprising seeing as how the team scored 25 runs and allowed 26. Overall the team is 15-17, tied with Toronto for last place in the AL East. Their predicted record hasn't budged: it's 81-81, same as it was last week.
Best Hitter / Worst Hitter
The team's best hitter this week was Jimmy Paredes, as he continued his unlikely and perhaps unsustainable start to the season with an impressive 216 wRC+, .423/.444/.692 with a home run. Delmon Young got a lot of playing time this week but didn't do much with it, notching just a 45 wRC+ (.200/.238/.300 with zero home runs) in 21 PA.
Best Start / Worst Start
Ubaldo Jimenez had last week's worst start but this week he had a very good one. In seven innings against Toronto he struck out nine and walked two without giving up a home run. That just slightly edges Wei-Yin Chen's very good start where he also went seven innings. Bud Norris was as bad as these two were good. In his 3.1 IP against Toronto he put the Orioles in a hole by striking out two, walking three, and giving up a dinger that led to four earned runs.
Have a Game, Why Don't Ya?
Chris Davis contributed heavily to the Orioles' 5-2 win against Toronto on Monday. Manny Machado had already homered against Marco Estrada to put the Orioles up 1-0. Then with Delmon Young on first bast, Chris Davis blasted the first pitch he saw into the right-field seats, putting the Orioles up 3-0 early and improving their chances of winning the game by 17%. He also singled in the 6th inning and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Caleb Joseph.
Clutch Relief Appearance of the Week
T.J. McFarland was recalled to the big league club to replace the injured Kevin Gausman and immediately contributed. In Friday's game against the Yankees, he replaced Miguel Gonzalez with the Orioles down 5-2 and worked around an Alex Rodriguez triple to retire the side.
After Jimmy Paredes hit a two-run single in the top of the 6th, McFarland was kept the 5-4 score right where it was, retiring Carlos Beltran, Chase Headley, and Jose Pirela in order. He continued mowing Yankees down in the bottom of the 7th, retiring the side in order again. All in all his contributions were worth about a 10% chance to win the game, even though the Orioles lost 5-4.
Upcoming
For the first time all year the team will not face an AL East opponent this week. They remain at home for three games against the Los Angeles Angels and three against the Seattle Mariners. Thank goodness, because I'm a little bored of seeing the same AL East players.