Orioles pursue wild card, series sweep
BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles took back the second wild-card spot in the American League with their 6-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night. That's their second straight victory, and they want to keep rolling.
The Orioles will get that chance in the series finale with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. Baltimore will try to wrap up a three-game sweep and keep pushing for the wild card.
Baltimore (84-71) comes into Sunday a half game ahead of Detroit (83-71). The Tigers suffered a 7-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Saturday, giving up five runs in the ninth inning.
The Orioles won thanks to a sparkling outing from starter Wade Miley, who was one out short of a complete game against his former team.
The Orioles will send Dylan Bundy to the mound Sunday after having given him some extra rest. He has been a big help to a struggling starting rotation in the second half, and even though Bundy has stumbled a bit lately, the right-hander has given a good look as to why the Orioles thought so highly of him.
Bundy (9-6, 4.13) will try and help a tired Baltimore bullpen get a break like Miley did on Saturday night.
Arizona will start right-hander Braden Shipley (4-4, 5.49). He has gone 2-1 with a 5.55 ERA in his last five games -- three of which were starts, and this is his first career start against the Orioles.
Manager Buck Showalter said even though the Orioles have slipped on this homestand -- going just 4-6 so far -- he's glad they've still got a shot.
"(It's good) to have this opportunity to be doing this," Showalter said. "There's a lot of people in this world that would love to do it. We've got seven games left? We'll see. It's there for us."
The power that was missing when the Red Sox swept a four-game series in Baltimore this week has returned in the first two games of this series. The Orioles have belted five homers in the two games, a big reason they are 2-0 so far in this series.
Trey Mancini hit his third homer in his first week in the major leagues, just the third player ever to homer in each of his first three starts, and Mark Trumbo also homered with him in Saturday's win.
Trumbo hit the game-winning homer in Friday's victory.
This will be Baltimore's last home game of the season. The Orioles will be off Monday before heading to Toronto for three games and then ending the season with three more at Yankee Stadium.
Arizona's offense has had problems in the usually hitter-friendly Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Diamondbacks scored runs in the first two innings of Friday's series opener and then nothing in the final 10 innings of a 3-2 loss in 12 innings.
Then, Arizona didn't score until Brandon Drury's RBI double in the ninth inning of Saturday's loss.
Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale also said before the game that it doesn't look like Zack Greinke will start any more this shoulder because of shoulder soreness. Greinke did not travel with the team to Baltimore and was in line to start Tuesday in Washington.
But Hale doesn't seem to think that could happen -- or if the pitcher could go again. The team just might want to remain cautious in this situation.
"It's just hard to believe he's going to be able to start on (next) Sunday after this," Hale said. "Is it worth it?"