Baltimore Orioles let down by their pitching in Cleveland finale

The Baltimore Orioles and starter Yefry Ramirez were on the ropes early this afternoon. Literally from the first pitch onward. The Birds looked like a team that was looking forward to their flight home more so than they were playing the game that preceded it. And Cleveland looked like a team keen on winning this game before going onto tomorrow. Ramirez’s line: 3.1 IP, 6 H 5 R (4 earned), 4 BB, 3 K.

Ramirez came out of the bullpen to make this start, however what’s unclear is whether or not Orioles’ manager Brandon Hyde was inserting Ramirez into the rotation or if this was simply a bullpen game. My personal opinion is that it’a the latter. Either way, Ramirez set the tone for a tough day all-around for the team. Santana’s RBI-single in the first gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead, which ran to 2-0 on Gonzales’s sac fly-RBI.

The game could have ended right at that point and the end result would have been the same. You can’t win if you can’t score runs. And the O’s got nothing off of Cleveland’s starter Bieber – who was outstanding. Bieber struck out 15 Oriole batters overall in the game. But having said that, at a certain point blowout games like these make guys kind of go into auto-drive just to finish the game.

Cleveland would score on a pass ball in the second, and then a solo homer by Perez and an RBI-groundout in the third. At that point Cleveland was well on it’s way to a blowout victory over the Birds in this series finale.

Gabriel Ynoa was tapped to eat a few innings l, and in essence to take one for the team. With the game out of control, Hyde and his coaching staff have to look forward to tomorrow’s game (and the next series). However Ynoa was unable to finish the game, and the O’s had to turn to Miguel Castro to pitch the eighth. And given that he sent Cleveland down 1-2-3, that eighth inning might have been the highlight of the game for the Orioles.

Going back to Ynoa for a moment, he had an out and runners at first and second in the sixth. He induced a comebacker, giving the O’s a golden shot at nailing the lead runner at third base. However Ynoa air mailed the throw, netting Cleveland yet another run. That was the tale of this game for the Orioles.

The O’s will now head home for a short four-game home stand against New York at Camden Yards. Andrew Cashner gets the start tomorrow night for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s J.A. Happ. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.