Weekly Wrap: May 1st - May 7th

Results

The Orioles went 2-4 this week against Tampa Bay, the New York Mets, and the New York Yankees. The team scored just 14 runs and allowed 16.

Standings

The Orioles are in last place in the AL East with a 12-14 record. They're 4.5 games behind the Yankees with a predicted final record of 81-81. Their run differential stands at +6, fourth-best in the AL East.

Best Hitter / Worst Hitter

Manny Machado has been on fire recently, and this past week he led the team with a 123 wRC+ (.263/.364/.421 with a dinger and a 13% walk rate). Unfortunately Adam Jones, who had a scorching start to the year, hit just .261/.292/.261 with no jacks for a 55 wRC+. A .261 average is useful but when it's accompanied by zero extra-base hits, it forms the worst batting line of the week.

Best Start / Worst Start

Chris Tillman's start against the "visiting" Tampa Bay Rays on May 1st was pretty good. In seven innings he struck out seven and walked just two while giving up three hits. He did not surrender a dinger but did get tagged with two earned runs.

After a good start to the year, it's a bit sad to see Ubaldo Jimenez get slapped with the "worst start" tag but that's what happened in his start against the Mets on May 6th. He lasted just four innings and struck out only one batter while walking two and giving up a home run.

Clutch PA of the Week

Steve Pearce hasn't had much to celebrate this year, but on May 2nd against the Rays he did. The game was muddling along in the third inning, tied 0-0 with one out against Chris Archer, when Manny Machado walked. Jimmy Paredes singled him to second, and Machado tagged up to third on a deep flyout by Adam Jones. Chris Davis singled home Machado, and Pearce cleared the bases with not only a double, but an opposite-field double, which is a rarity for him. Pearce himself was thrown out at 3rd trying for a triple, but his hit pushed the score to 3-0 Orioles. The team would go on to win, 4-0.

The game was also notable for being the second trial in the "Steve Pearce, Second Baseman" experiment that's currently underway.

Clutch Relief Appearance of the Week

Tommy Hunter gets the award with his 1.1 IP performance against the Yankees on May 7th. Trailing 4-3 with two outs in the bottom of the 6th and runners on first and second, Hunter relieved Chris Tillman and got a groundout to end the inning. He came back in the 7th and gave up only a single to Alex Rodriguez before retiring Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann, and Carlos Beltran, all of whom batted left-handed against him. The Orioles lost the game 4-3 but Hunter did his job to keep the score close.

Upcoming

The Orioles finish up with the Yankees and then return home to face the Blue Jays and Angels. I for one am extremely bored of seeing AL East opponents, so I'm looking forward to seeing the Angels, Mariners, Marlins, Astros, and White Sox play in the following weeks.