Crab cakes and football might be what Maryland does, but home runs and winning streaks are what the Orioles have been all about this season.
The combination has propelled them into first place in the American League East with their best start after 77 games since 1997. And despite many forecasting the Orioles to finish in last place and very few giving them even a decent chance to win the division, 47 wins in the bank mean they only need to play one game over .500 the rest of the way to reach the 90-win plateau.
Of course, that’s not the ultimate goal, but it does illustrate the good shape the Orioles are in mathematically despite the well-documented concerns regarding the starting pitching.
We knew they’d hit home runs this year as that’s been one of their calling cards under manager Buck Showalter, but the power surge in June has taken them to another level. After hitting a robust 69 homers in their first 50 games in April and May combined, the Orioles have tied the 1996 Oakland Athletics for the major league record with 55 in the month of June.
They would tie the major league mark for long balls in any month — currently shared by the 1987 Orioles and the 1999 Seattle Mariners — with three in the series opener against Seattle on Thursday night. Even playing at the spacious Safeco Field, that would hardly be a rare feat for these Orioles, who have already clubbed three or more homers in a game 18 times this season.
Leading the majors with 124 home runs in 77 games, Baltimore is currently on a pace just shy of 261 homers, which puts them within striking distance of the 1997 Mariners’ single-season record of 264.
Whether it’s merely an extended hot streak, the arrival of warm weather, or a combination of both, the Orioles are concluding a historic month in which they’ve also gone 19-8 to open up a 5 1/2 game division lead entering the final day of June.
Five Orioles hitters — Mark Trumbo, Chris Davis, Manny Machado, Adam Jones, and Jonathan Schoop — each have 13 or more home runs before the midway point of the season. Matt Wieters and Pedro Alvarez are both only one blast shy of the pace for a 20-homer season.
To be clear, the prosperity isn’t only because of the long ball as the Orioles have shown improved plate discipline by ranking second in the AL in on-base percentage as well as ranking second in the league in runs score and doubles entering Wednesday. That offense has been complemented nicely by one of the best bullpens in baseball as well as a strong infield defense.
What might be even more encouraging about the Orioles has been their ability to extend the good times and minimize their rough patches. After failing to record a single seven-game winning streak from 2006-2015, Baltimore now has three of them in 2016 alone, including the 7-0 start to the season and the current seven-game stretch.
The Orioles have also posted a five-game winning streak as well as two other three-game streaks.
In contrast, their longest losing streak is just four games and they’ve only lost three in a row two other times. We know tough stretches are inevitable over the course of 162 games, but the best teams are able to minimize the damage.
On their way to a 96-win season and a division title, the 2014 Orioles lost a season-worst four games in a row three times and had only two other three-game losing streaks. In contrast, last year’s 81-81 club had two different six game losing streaks in a 13-game period, three five-game losing streaks, and two four-game losing streaks.
Consistently winning series and extending the good times while climbing out of those valleys quickly will put you in prime position to contend.
Just like most of us never saw this kind of start coming, we don’t know how the next three months will go for the Orioles, especially if their starting pitching doesn’t improve.
But home runs and winning streaks have them sitting pretty with the All-Star break right around the corner.
