Takeaways from Royals-Orioles Game 1: K.C. star is clutch, Baltimore bats go quiet in loss

That is why Witt Jr. got the big-money contract. For moments like that and hits like that. 

2. Adley Rutschman’s bad second half continued

On the other side of the field, Rutschman is one of the Orioles’ core players, and after looking like a potential MVP candidate at the start of the season, his second half has been a constant struggle.

He never had an OPS higher than .625 in July, August or September, and he opened the playoffs on Tuesday by going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

The second of those strikeouts came in the bottom of the ninth inning with the potential tying run on first base. 

Rutschman is a great player with a huge career ahead of him, but this season ended up being a big disappointment individually and now he has two games to help change that. 

3. The Orioles missed a big opportunity

This was the game the Orioles really needed in this series. Desperately. It seems weird to say that about a team that had one of the best records in the league, has home-field advantage and is the favorite, but the matchups on a game-by-game basis are not quite in their favor after this. 

Their ace — Burnes — was on the mound, and it was the one pitching matchup in the series where they have a clear advantage. 

Burnes, to his credit, was sensational. 

He pitched into the ninth inning on just 84 pitches, allowed only one run and did everything you want an ace to do to give your team a chance in a playoff game.

The only problem for the Orioles is they were unable to provide him any run support. It was a wasted opportunity for this game, and now they might be asking themselves if this whole season might be a wasted opportunity.

The second they acquired Burnes in February, it was clear this was an all-in season. Despite that, the Orioles did not really do much to bolster a starting pitching rotation that was the clear weakness on the roster as the season progressed.

Now they burned through their ace, did not get a win and have to go into Games 2 and 3 needing to win both and facing a massive pitching disadvantage with their season on the line. 

4. The Royals have to feel good about their situation

The Royals made a big investment in their starting rotation this offseason, signing free-agent starters Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. They were a huge part of the team’s turnaround this season and their two best pitchers. 

Now they have both of them going with a chance to upset and knock out an Orioles team that spent most of the season as one of the top favorites in the American League.

They beat Baltimore’s ace in Game 1, and now have a massive starting pitching edge for Games 2 and 3. 

It is hard to imagine a better situation for a team in the wild-card round.