Charlie Morton diced up his former team, the Orioles bullpen was perfect, and a pair of home runs gave them all the offense they needed in a 3-2 series-opening win against the Braves on Friday night in Atlanta.
The first inning saw the Orioles waste a great scoring opportunity. Jordan Westburg singled, and then Gunnar Henderson doubled to put two runners in scoring position with one out. But neither would make it home as Ryan O’Hearn struck out, and Ramón Laureano was retired on a groundout right back to the pitcher.
With a pitcher as good as Spencer Strider on the mound, failing to score there felt like a fatal mistake.