That exhilarating feeling from last night? Maybe the burning sage fumes got to your head, or maybe you, too, were celebrating the end of the Orioles’ 19-game losing streak like it was a playoff win.
Exactly one minute and two pitches into Thursday’s afternoon game, it felt like that feeling would fade, as Shohei Ohtani teed off on a Keegan Akin curveball for a leadoff home run, his 41st of the season. But sometimes—sometimes—appearances can be deceiving, even for a pitching staff whose brewing disasters are often exactly what they appear to be.
Surprisingly, today Keegan Akin turned in his best start of 2021, and it wasn’t even close.