The Orioles waited almost a week to put the finishing touches on their 6-2 win over the Nationals on Friday, completing the final three-plus innings of the game that was suspended Sunday due to a tarp malfunction at Nationals Park.
Fast forward to Friday, and the Beltway rivals reconvened at Oriole Park at Camden Yards for the beginning of a three-game set -- plus the home stretch of their series finale from five days prior. Picking things up with a 5-2 lead and two runners on in the top of the sixth inning, the Orioles immediately added a run on Bryan Holaday’s RBI infield single off Kyle Finnegan. Their bullpen then proved novelty does not necessarily equal drama, recording the final 12 outs without much issue.
“It was definitely strange having to wait five days for that one, but that was kind of comical watching the grounds crew fail,” Holaday said. “You don’t want to laugh at other people’s mistakes and stuff like that, but that was pretty funny to watch. I’m glad we were able to get it in.”
Brandon Hyde said Friday afternoon he planned to manage the game like any other in which he had a late-inning lead; he then went to his ‘pen aggressively, summoning Tanner Scott to wiggle out of a two-on jam in the seventh and Mychal Givens with a four-run lead in the ninth.
Their efforts made a winner of Travis Lakins Sr., who recorded one out in the fourth inning in relief of Asher Wojciechowski on Sunday and didn’t pitch Friday. Paul Fry resumed the suspended game on the mound for the Orioles, then enjoyed a four-up four-down outing of the oddest variety. Fry had been Baltimore's last pitcher to appear Sunday, entering after the O’s rallied for five runs in the fifth off loser Stephen Strasburg, who is slated to start the nightcap.
“I would’ve liked to add a few more runs to not have to use some of those guys I used at the end,” Hyde said. “But we’re happy with the win. Will never complain about getting a win.”
The victory extended the O’s winning streak to six games, their longest since August 2017. It also completed the Orioles' first back-to-back road series sweeps since April 22-26, 2005, when they won five straight against the Blue Jays and Red Sox, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Their last sweep of at least six road games came all the way back in July 1987.