America’s Major League Baseball opened the 2016 season with an explosive week of high-scoring games across the American and National Leagues. West Coast sides raced ahead early on in the week, with the Los Angeles Dodgers giving their fans something to shout about early on with a 15-0 victory over San Diego in the National League, with the San Francisco Giants taking a 12-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Perhaps the strongest opening start to the baseball season came from the Baltimore Orioles, winning all five of their games so far with notable performances against the Minnesota Twins and the Tampa Bay Rays, establishing a lead in the early innings and, crucially, holding out until the game’s end. The Orioles’ Manny Machado and new-comer to the Major’s Joey Rickard provided the key to their opening games with several run-scoring hits, including game-winning home runs which served to give the Orioles’ their unrivalled start to the 2016 season. With two series victories already under their belts, the O’s remain the only undefeated side in the Majors. With games happening every day, it is hard to say when or where the Orioles’ winning streak will end; by the time this article is read, seven days’ worth of games will have passed, meaning that it is highly likely that the Baltimore Orioles will not remain undefeated for long. This being said, their powerful offense is sure to stand them in good stead throughout the season, perhaps even through to the World Series in November.
With a long season ahead, and games being played every day, there is no way of knowing which team will come out on top. However, it is highly likely that with strong starts and impressive performances, even accounting for losses, that the Baltimore Orioles are the main competition in the East League. The 2015 East League Champions, the Toronto Blue Jays, also show promise despite their series loss against the Boston Red Sox, with the Major’s MVP Josh Donaldson still showing powerful offensive hits when it matters most. The Red Sox, with a disappointing end result to the 2015 season, coming bottom of the East League, will be hoping to improve greatly; from their results and performances so far, it seems highly probable that an improvement in the upcoming season is not a long-lost hope. Fans of the Sox, me included, will be hoping for a repeat of the 2013 season with a World Series win. As the Red Sox head into their final season with the legendary David Ortiz, they will be hoping to end his career on a high note, with help from golden-glove winner Dustin Pedroia and pitcher David Price.
It is hard to predict where this season will take its worldwide fan base with almost six months of the season remaining. However, the last time the Baltimore Orioles started with a 5-0 winning streak was in 1970, where they went on to win the World Series title. Maybe history will repeat itself, or in the upcoming months there may be new surprises in store for America’s Major League Baseball fans; after all, the competition has only just begun.
Polly Devereux
Image: Wikipedia commons
