BALTIMORE — The 2022 Orioles have been a team defined by resiliency. With the pressure of a playoff race building, their oldest and most experienced player remains confident.
"It’s not how many times you go down. It’s how many times we get up and this team is telling everybody they can get up and we will. I think we will tonight and going forward," said veteran Orioles catcher Robinson Chirinos.
Tuesday night brings game three of four against the team directly ahead of the O's in the wild card playoff chase, the Blue Jays. Toronto defeated the Orioles twice on Monday.
Chirinos wants his teammates to keep defying the doubters.
"We proved it so many times. We came back many games where people don’t expect us to come back. We win series people don’t expect us to win. We just have to keep being us, keep believing in each other here," he said prior to Tuesday's contest.
Following the doubleheader sweep the O’s enter Tuesday losers of three straight and 4.5 games behind Toronto for the final wild card spot.
What should give the Orioles a significantly better chance at getting back in the win column is the quality of their starting pitching.
Righty Kyle Bradish takes the mound a day after the O’s threw triple-A righty Mike Baumann in game one. Then they tossed a trio of bullpen arms in game two when scheduled starter Jordan Lyles fell ill. Bradish has tossed a combined 15 shutout innings over his last two starts.
"You really see the command just improving, the confidence improving, the delivery different. He moved to the other side of the rubber, go from the stretch, simplify the delivery because the stuff is there," said manager Brandon Hyde. "Now it’s about being more competitive in the strike zone. He is pitching with a lot of confidence."
A confidence Hyde hopes continues when first pitch arrives at 7:05 p.m.
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