Kyle Bradish and John Means are back and their impact on the Baltimore Orioles was immediate.
Bradish allowed one run over 4 2/3 innings in a win over the New York Yankees on Thursday, then Means pitched seven scoreless frames in a win at Cincinnati on Saturday night. Both pitchers were making their season debuts after entering spring training with arm injuries. The Orioles are off to a good start even without them, but if Bradish and Means are healthy and effective, it would give Baltimore another boost as they try to repeat as AL East champions.
Bradish, in particular, was an important part of Baltimore’s 2023 rotation — and ultimately the Game 1 starter in the playoffs. Means returned from Tommy John surgery late last season, but before that long absence he was the starter on a much less talented Orioles team.
Baltimore recently lost second-year right-hander Grayson Rodriguez to the injured list, but the Orioles — who already have an imposing lineup led by Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman — are on a strong run. They allowed two total runs in a three-game sweep of Cincinnati and held opponents to two runs or less in seven straight games.
The Orioles won the AL East last year thanks to a 32-20 record against the rest of the division — they won the season series against each of the other four teams. This year they have already won a three-game series in Boston and have won three of four games against the Yankees at home. Baltimore is 12-0-4 in their last 16 series against AL East opponents.
CLASH OF THE TITANS
The Atlanta Braves finished with the best record in baseball last year, and the Los Angeles Dodgers did the same the season before. They are currently the top two favorites to win the World Series. Last weekend, they met for the first time in 2024, with the Dodgers winning three consecutive home games.
Rookie Andy Pages had four hits Friday night, including the game-winner in the 11th inning, and then the Dodgers won the next two games by a combined 16-3.
TIME FOR CURIOSITIES
Who was the last team to finish with the best regular season record in baseball in consecutive seasons?
LINE OF THE WEEK
Max Muncy hit three home runs — the first time in his career he has done so — to lead the Dodgers to an 11-2 rout of Atlanta on Saturday night.
RETURN OF THE WEEK
The Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins have the two worst records in the National League, so perhaps no advantage is safe when they face each other. On Tuesday night, Colorado scored five runs in the top of the first, and there were no more runs until the bottom of the ninth when the Marlins tied it with five runs of their own. Miami’s first seven batters in the ninth reached base.
After the Rockies went back ahead with one run in the 10th, Bryan De La Cruz tied it with a double for Miami, then scored on a single by Dane Myers for a 7-6 victory. After eight innings, Colorado had a 99.5% win probability according to Baseball Savant.
The lost lead also meant that the Rockies set an ignominious record that night, becoming the first team since 1900 to lose in each of their first 29 games. That streak reached 31 before Colorado finally ended it with a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh on Friday night.
TRIVIA ANSWER
The Philadelphia Phillies, who went 97-65 in 2010 and 102-60 in 2011.
The best records from each season since then:
2012: Washington (98-64)
2013: Boston and St. Louis (97-65)
2014: Los Angeles Angels (98-64)
2015: São Luís (100-62)
2016: Chicago Cubs (103-58)
2017: Los Angeles Dodgers (104-58)
2018: Boston (108-54)
2019: Houston (107-55)
2020: Los Angeles Dodgers (43-17)
2021: San Francisco (107-55)
2022: Los Angeles Dodgers (111-51)
2023: Atlanta (104-58)
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