Momentum has been hard to come by for the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies in the past week-and-a-half.
Their next chance to generate consistency comes Friday night when the teams begin a three-game series in Baltimore.
The Orioles might have an edge after an encouraging result.
“Our guys do a great job of turning the page,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. “Sometimes you have to ride that roller coaster a little bit.”
Philadelphia has won just one of its last eight games.
“I think the mood is fine,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. “Now is the time that we’re going to find out what we’re made of. We’ve struggled, and we’ve let everybody stay in the race. So we find out who we are this next couple of months.”
Comebacks were the themes for both teams in their most recent games.
The Orioles rallied from a 7-0 deficit through six innings to beat the host Detroit Tigers 10-9 in 12 innings Wednesday.
That was the largest comeback in 17 years for Baltimore.
“It feels like we got punched early,” Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser said. “But just overall, probably one of my favorite wins we’ve had this year (or) even just in my career. Everyone is involved there. A lot of guys coming up with big hits.”
It was quite a bounce-back result following Baltimore’s 14-0 loss to the Tigers on Tuesday.
“If our guys don’t have that mindset of focusing on today, that win doesn’t happen,” Albernaz said of Wednesday’s outcome.
The Orioles haven’t won back-to-back contests since capturing the first three games following the All-Star break.
There have been close games this week for the Phillies, who were swept in three games at Miami by a combined margin of four runs. That included Wednesday’s 8-6 setback when they were unable to protect a 6-0 lead that they had built by the top of the fifth inning.
“All the little things (went wrong),” Mattingly said.
The Phillies were without slugger Kyle Schwarber for most of the series in Miami as he was dealing with an illness. A gastrointestinal issue has kept him out of the lineup for the past two games.
Schwarber, whose 33 home runs this year rank second in the major leagues, hasn’t homered in the last eight games that he has played.
The Orioles will have to wait a little longer before the return of injured catchers Adley Rutschman (left wrist) and Samuel Basallo (right shoulder).
“This homestand, they’ll start to integrate with baseball activities,” Albernaz said, adding that “it’s going to look different for both” in terms of where they are in the process to return.
There had been solid work from the Phillies away from home until this week. Now, they’re 29-25 in road games.
Orioles right-hander Brandon Young (8-2, 3.13 ERA) will head to the mound on Friday looking to cap a strong recent stretch as he has allowed just two runs across 13 1/3 innings in his last two starts. He’s 3-0 in his last six starts. He has never faced the Phillies in his two seasons in the big leagues.
The Phillies haven’t announced a starting pitcher as of late Thursday afternoon.
–Field Level Media
