Orioles Notebook: Ryan Mountcastle Enters Record Book, Bruce Zimmermann Sent Down

Ryan Mountcastle has already etched himself into the Orioles record book.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound first baseman has a team-leading 12 home runs on the season and became the fastest player in franchise history to reach 50 career homers.

He tweaked his batting stance this season. He doesn’t hold the bat as far back and stands more upright, and the results have been positive. Mountcastle is slashing .270/.307/.488 with 35 RBIs and 10 doubles in 52 games this year.

“I’m just hitting the ball hard,” Mountcastle said. “Seems like I’ve been doing that a decent amount this year and they’re finally starting to fall.”

In a 7-6 loss to the Blue Jays June 15, Mountcastle had a two-homer game for the second time this year and fifth of his three-year big league career. He has been especially good against Toronto. In 29 career games against the Blue Jays, he is batting .348 (40-for-115) with four doubles, 12 homers and 23 RBIs.

The Orioles split the four-game series with the Blue Jays after going 5-14 against them last season.

“I guess I just do a little bit better against them,” Mountcastle said. “All the other guys in our division are pretty good, too. So I guess I’ve got to hit good against one of them.”

Mountcastle finished the eight-game road trip going 11-for-31 (.355) with three doubles, four homers, seven RBIs and eight runs.

Overall, the Orioles hit nine homers in their last five games. Baltimore is tied with the Mariners for seventh in the American League with 67 home runs on the season. The Yankees lead all of MLB with 101 homers.

Zimmermann Sent Down To Norfolk

Left-handed starter Bruce Zimmermann, a Loyola Blakefield grad, was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after struggling in his last six appearances.

Zimmermann was sent down after allowing 11 hits, including three home runs, in 4.2 innings as part of a 7-6 loss to the Blue Jays May 15. The long ball has hampered Zimmermann all season. He has given up 17 home runs in his last seven starts and is tied with Miami’s Elieser Hernández for most in the majors at 18.

After an incredibly strong beginning to the season in which he threw 14.2 scoreless innings, Zimmermann is 2-5 with a 5.94 ERA in 13 starts.

“[Zimmermann] had a handful of tough starts, and we just feel like he needs to go down and kind of do a reset,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said before the series finale in Toronto. “He got off to a really good start this year. Just hasn’t translated here in the last few starts, and for me, the best thing for him is to go down and kind of pitch in some lower-pressure situations, face some Triple-A lineups, and hopefully, we’ll see him back here soon.”

Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox

Todd Karpovich

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