David Hess had about as tough a day today for the Baltimore Orioles as any pitcher is going to have. Regular season game, exhibition game – ultimately it doesn’t matter. Going into today’s game it appeared that Hess was looking at a rotation slot. I have to assume that’s still in play, however Hess didn’t do himself any favors today. Hess’ line: 2.2 IP, 9 H, 9 R, 0 BB, 3 K.
Before you could blink, Hess had given up nine runs. They came on a plethora of homers, singles, and doubles. All in all, not a good day for David Hess. For Hess’ sake, he has to attempt to shake it off. If he does, he’s probably still in line for a rotation spot. However for the crew who says Hess is washed up, keep in mind that pitchers are going to have days like this. Over the course of a season a pitcher’s going to have ten good starts, ten bad starts, and ten in between. The season hasn’t started yet, but this would go in the bad category (if the regular season had already started).
But all wasn’t lost for the Orioles. They battled back, and that’s been a staple of this Oriole team this spring. Regardless of home or away, or who’s in the game, these guys have battled and have never given up.
Rio Ruiz‘s RBI-single in the fourth got the Birds on the board. Later in the inning Joey Rickard‘s two-RBI double cut the Minnesota lead to 9-3. As I said, these guys flat out haven’t ever given up. That’s the type of character you want as part of your team and organization.
Trey Mancini would score from third in the fifth on a wild pitch, and Rickard would later smack another RBI-single, cutting the Minnesota lead to 9-5. Joey Rickard had three RBI on the day, once again making his own case to be a part of the big league roster. However that aside, the Birds found themselves to within 9-7 in the sixth after Drew Jackson‘s two-run homer.
However unfortunately for the Orioles, one inning later Minnesota extended it’s lead to 12-7. This following back-to-back homers, the first of which was a two-run shot. The Orioles would tack on two runs late, however while they battled and valiantly forced themselves back into the game, it wasn’t their day. And they fell 12-9 to Minnesota.
The Orioles will head to Dunedin Stadium tomorrow to take on Toronto. Alex Cobb gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Sam Gaviglio . Game time is set for just after 1 PM.
Birdland Crush 