Mike Wright Jr. got the start for the Baltimore Orioles this evening in Dunedin against Toronto. While he only pitched four innings in his penultimate spring outing, he was able to atone for himself fairly well. Wright’s line: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K.
Wright exited after four innings but continued his work in the bullpen. He allowed a solo homer in the second inning to Smoak, and Pillar would ground into a run-scoring double-play in the fourth. As I’ve said many times this spring, solo home runs in theory won’t beat you. The Orioles in 2018 found ways to allow solo homers to defeat them, but also keep in mind that 2019 is a new season.
Toronto would add two more in the fifth on a two-run homer by Drury. The concerning thing there isn’t so much that it happened, but that it happened on a full count. First off the O’s made a living last year allowing hits and homers on two-strike counts. However if you groove a pitch on a full count, big league hitters are going to hit it – and a long way at that.
However it.’a tough to score runs when you only muster four hits. And it’s tough to win when you don’t score runs. And the O’s got blanked by Toronto on this night, 4-0.
The Orioles return home to Ed Smith Stadium tomorrow night as Minnesota comes into Sarasota one more time this spring. The Birds will send Alex Cobb to the mound for his final spring start, and he’ll be opposed by Minnesota’s Jose Berrios. Game time is set for just after 6 PM.
Birdland Crush 