If you went to sleep early last night, or if you were watching the end of the Capitals season - sorry - you may have missed a potentially important monster Orioles home run.
Adam Jones, he of the mysterious "rib area soreness" and .200 batting average, crushed an absolutely massive home run in the fifth inning off of Twins pitcher Jose Berrios. It had immediate importance in the game because he followed Manny Machado's home run with one of his own to give the O's a 3-1 lead at that point in the game.
What may be even more important going forward is that Jones is now capable of hitting a home run so majestic. The guy just hasn't looked right. There's a reason he went into Tuesday's game leading the league in double plays grounded into. He hasn't been hitting the ball with authority and hasn't looked like a guy swinging at full strength.
And then he stepped into the box last night and laid into one that went an estimated 453 feet:
Following the game, Jones said on MASN that he's been healthy for a couple of weeks now and the results just haven't been there yet. That's the dang truth - his last 14 days split before last night was a .186/.255/.233 batting line.
Berrios made a mistake and Jones made him pay. He has a tendency to do that, just not lately. It was just one home run in one game, but what if it means Jones is getting back into form? A 453 foot home run doesn't happen by accident... does it?
Before getting too carried away, it's worth pointing out that Jones' lone other home run this season was also a monster shot, one that came on April 16 against Texas and went an estimated 460 feet. That home run looks a whole lot like the one that Jones hit tonight: An elevated pitch that gets obliterated to left-center field. It did not mean he was "back."
If Jones goes on from this home run to perform about the same as he's been doing all year up until now, it'll end up being pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of thing. If the Orioles and their fans are lucky, this is the beginning of the return to Jones looking something like the player we remember from recent years.