Alonso goes 4-for-4, drives in 4 as Orioles rout Cardinals 13-1
Pete Alonso went 4-for-4 with a homer and 4 RBI and Chris Bassitt worked 6.2 strong innings as the Orioles routed the Cardinals 13-1 in St. Louis, a night StoolBaseball says has Alonso chasing AL Player of the Month.
Alonso's four-hit night, Bassitt's six strong innings sink the Cardinals
Cardinals13-1The Orioles blew the doors off St. Louis on August 25, winning 13-1 behind Chris Bassitt's 6.2 innings of one-run ball (6 H, 0 BB, 5 K) and Anthony Nunez's two hitless-adjacent innings of relief (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 5 K). Pete Alonso went 4-for-4 with a double, a home run and 4 RBI; TalkinBaseball_ had him driving in his 12th run of the night to push Baltimore's lead to 12-1 in the fifth, and FoulTerritoryTV noted the homer capped a perfect night at the plate. Jackson Holliday added a 3-for-6 night with an RBI, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand chipped in a homer and 3 RBI of his own on a 2-for-5 night.
It's the club's second win in its last three games and the third in its last five, with Baltimore now 64-68 and 3-2 over its last five: a 1-6 loss to the Yankees on August 20, back-to-back wins over Tampa Bay (5-3, then 3-2) on August 21 and 22, a 1-3 loss to the Rays on August 23, and Tuesday's 13-1 blowout of the Cardinals. In the AL Wild Card race, that leaves the Orioles 2.5 games back of the final spot with an elimination number of 17.
StoolBaseball has Alonso chasing player of the month
@StoolBaseball flagged Alonso's night in real time, writing that he's "coming for that player of the month" as the four-hit, four-RBI performance piled up against St. Louis. It's the kind of night that turns a good week into a headline: Alonso has carried the middle of Baltimore's order through this stretch, and Tuesday was the loudest version of it yet.
@StoolBaseball has also been on Christian Encarnacion-Strand, tagging him "Mr. Beavers" and noting he'd homered in three straight games during the Rays series. With Encarnacion-Strand going deep again Tuesday, the power surge the network started tracking last week hasn't let up.
Upcoming
The Orioles are in St. Louis tonight, with Kyle Bradish (7-12, 3.70 ERA) starting against Michael McGreevy (5-9, 3.54 ERA). Bradish took the loss in his last start against the Yankees on August 20, allowing 3 earned runs on 8 hits over 5.2 innings with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks; McGreevy went 5.1 innings with 3 earned runs, 4 strikeouts and 2 walks in a no-decision at Cincinnati the same day. Baltimore's lineup could be without Tyler O'Neill, who manager Craig Albernaz said is dealing with right shoulder soreness and was set for an MRI Tuesday evening, per Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun.
The market has the Orioles as favorites tonight, with the total reading middling. Bradish and McGreevy have posted close to identical ERAs this season, and neither dominated in his last time out, so a middling total tracks; for Baltimore to be the right side, the bats that produced 13 runs Tuesday need to show up again against a Cardinals club that's been vulnerable in this series.