Monthly Archives: July 2019

Baltimore Orioles back in the series WIN COLUMN!

The Baltimore Orioles got a quality start from a starting pitcher for the second time in as many games in Toronto. This time it was Andrew Cashner, who turned in a superb effort in his final outing before the all-star break. Cashner’s line: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K.

Renato Nunez got the Orioles on the board in the fourth inning with a two-run homer. The ironic thing is that of late (even during the Showalter era), Rogers Centre has been a house of horrors for the Orioles. No matter what happened, it seemed that Toronto would hammer them there, but there were times where the O’s has trouble mustering even one hit. The first two games of this series stand in stark contrast to that tradition.

That fourth inning was the key time period for the Birds. Later in the inning they got an RBI-single and double from Anthony Santander and Keon Broxton respectively. Richie Martin would also ground into a fielder’s choice-RBI. When the smoke cleared, the O’s held a 5-0 lead.

Toronto would get one back in the bottom of the fourth on a solo homer by Biggio. However while they didn’t need it, they added runs on. And that’s also something we saw earlier this week in Tampa (while as opposed to today in that case they actually needed the add-on runs). In the past we’ve seen the Orioles cling to one or two-run leads, only to see the opposition strike late and win the game. That hasn’t been happening – for this week, at least.

Stevie Wilkerson and Anthony Santander would drive in a runs with RBI-singles in the sixth and eighth respectively. Wilkerson would also add on an additional solo homer in the ninth, to give the Orioles an 8-1 victory. And with that, the Orioles have won their second series out of three. While winning multiple series’ are baby steps, that’s where you have to start.

Winning the final series of the first half will hopefully give the O’s some confidence moving forward. They hit the deck immediately in the second half next weekend when Tampa comes to town. Not only that, but they have a doubleheader on Saturday due to an earlier rainout. Again, this series victory and the fact that the team seems to be playing better will hopefully give them some confidence.

The O’s will go for the series sweep tomorrow afternoon as they close the first half at Rogers Center. Asher Wojeckowski gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Trent Thornton. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Chris Davis’ bat leads the Birds to victory

Dylan Bundy pitched a quality start, and Chris Davis‘ bat led the Baltimore Orioles to victory. No folks, it’s not 2013 or 2014. It’s 2019; and behind two superior performances on the part of Bundy and Davis, the O’s took game one of three in Toronto. Bundy’s line: 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K.

Bundy commanded the strike zone all night. And that was the key to keeping Toronto off the board for the most part. However for once, the O’s were able to put together a quality start/good pitching performance and decent enough offense to win a game.

It was Davis who got the scoring going in the second inning. In his first at-bat of the game, Davis smoked a homer over the fence, giving the Birds a 1-0 lead. A lead that they would never surrender.

Later in the inning Jonathan Villlar‘s RBI-single would extend the lead to 2-0. And when you have a pitcher like Bundy tonight, one who’s on his game, that’a all you really need. This game was very much old school baseball in a sense. One team puts some runs on the board, and then it comes down to pitching.

Bundy did start to tire however in the seventh. Drury’s solo homer in the last of the seventh cut the Orioles’ lead to 2-1. However the Birds lifted Bundy immediately, in hopes that the Orioles’ bullpen could hold the lead. They would do just that – but they had some help.

The O’s put two runners on base in the ninth, and they were hunted into scoring position by Anthony Santander. That brought Davis back to the plate, who smacked a two-RBI single. THAT folks, is how baseball was meant to work. In this case, it preserved the win for the Birds. The O’s would send Toronto down 1-2-3 in the last of the ninth, and they ultimately won the game.

Who’s to say that the last of the ninth would have gone as smoothly and as anti-climatically as it did without those insurance runs? Ultimately the O’s once again reversed the script of how things have gone most of this season. Whereas other teams have often tacked on against them, this time around they did it to an opponent.

The series continues tomorrow at Rogers Centre. Andrew Cashner gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Clayton Richard. Game time is set for just after 3 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Idle on the Fourth of July

As the rest of the league settles in for a healthy slate of afternoon games, the Baltimore Orioles are idle. It’s the first time in my lifetime that I remember them being off on the Fourth of July. But they aren’t the only team who isn’t playing today. There are others.

I suppose that since this year it falls on a Thursday it shouldn’t totally come as a surprise that some teams are idle. However the Orioles are currently in Canada where they’ll open a three-game series tomorrow night at Toronto. Incidentally, Toronto got the luxury of playing a home game today – on the Fourth of July, in Canada. How does that work out?!

However the day off hopefully gives the Orioles, and Orioles fans, the opportunity to reflect on why we celebrate today as a holiday. It’s not just a day off to watch baseball, eat hot dogs, and watch fireworks. It means something.

Americans are some of the folks who fought back against tyranny. The likes of the colonists said no, not on our watch to tyranny. And every generation of Americans since then has reaffirmed that premise. We stand for our country, and against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Well over 200 years after 1776, here we are celebrating yet another Fourth of July. This experiment called America is still going strong. It’s still kind of a thing. And baseball’s just another personification of that, as it.’a our national pastime. May that always be the case.

Baltimore Orioles turn tables on Tampa and create a donnybrook win

John Means showed the world why he was the Baltimore Orioles’ All-Star representative this evening. Means pitched the Birds to a quality start, and quite frankly should have been the winner. Means’ line: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 earned), 0 BB, 5 K.

Tampa took a 1-0 lead as they netted a run in the third on a Rio Ruiz error. If you’re an Orioles fan you had to be thinking here we go. However the O’s came back and immediately got the lead. None other than Rio Ruiz smacked a fourth inning three-run homer, and the Birds led 3-1.

But the bottom of the fourth brought Tampa a bit closer on a Brosseau home run. Two innings later they tied the game at three on Garcia’s RBI-single. That’s generally how Tampa does the Orioles; they sit back and look for the smallest glint of daylight whereby they can get a run across, and they go for it.

And it usually works. As an example, after Means had exited and Mychal Givens had entered the game in the eighth, Diaz hit what could have been a fielder’s choice-RBI on a swinging bunt (with a runner on third). Generally that would net a run for Tampa – especially against the Orioles. But Givens was able to tag the runner out from third, preserving the tie. That was one indication that perhaps the tides were turning.

Pedro Severino came up in a similar situation in the top of the ninth. (For the record, the runner was in scoring position due to a Rio Ruiz sac bunt. Ruiz was a huge player in tonight’s game.) However on his swinging bunt (to short) the runner was able to slide in under the tag. Things don’t normally work out that way for the Orioles against Tampa. But there they were, leading 4-3.

Jonathan Villar would extend that lead to 5-3 on an RBI-triple that made it all the way to the wall. Again, usually it’s a Tampa hit just making it under the fielder’s mitt and going all the way to the wall. But tonight it was an Oriole who did it against Tampa.

Trey Mancini would later hit you into what would have been an fielder’s choice and an out. However another run was able to score on an errant throw home, giving the O’s a 6-3 lead. But they weren’t done.

Renato Nunez would come to bat with two runners on, and smack a three-run homer, giving the O’s a 9-3 lead. Now Tampa would come to bat in the last of the ninth and put three runs across, and bring the tying run to the plate. But the O’s escaped with a 9-6 victory. And it happened in a fairly savage manner as well.

Usually it’s Tampa who gets every little bounce, or finds small manners by which to score runs. But tonight that was accomplished by the Orioles. Still however, there was a moment in the end where you almost expected Tampa to walk the Orioles off. The Birds were able to record the final out before things got any closer, however where Tampa would even get the confidence to think they could come from six down in the ninth to win is beyond me. However end of the day, it was the O’s who were victorious on this night at the Trop.

Baltimore Orioles: Did Brandon Hyde out-manage himself?

One day after trading for him, the Baltimore Orioles promoted Asher Wojchiekowski to the big leagues to make the start tonight against Tampa. And aside from the very tail end of his outing, he didn’t faire poorly. He kept the O’s in the game for sure Wojchiekowski’s line: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 6 K.

Wojchiekowski have up a first inning home run to Lowe, however the Orioles evened the score in the third at one on a solo homer by Chris Davis. For what it’s worth, Davis had gone 86 consecutive plate appearances without a homer. However Lowe put Tampa ahead once again in the bottom of that third inning with an RBI-single.

But the sixth inning is where Wojchiekowski started to tire. Manager Brandon Hyde would leave him in to pitch to Diaz (keeping a righty-righty match up), who proceeded to smack a two-RBI double. One inning later Hyde would bring in Jimmy Yacabonis to match up righty-righty against Pham – who proceeded to smack a two-RBI double. The O’s would close to within 6-3 in the ninth on Chance Sisco‘s two-run homer, but that was as close as they got.

Granted all other things being the same, the O’s would have won that game 3-2 if not for those Hyde moves at the end. I think it’s easy to say based squarely on the results that Hyde erred in judgement by playing the match ups there. It’s also easy to say that he’s a rookie manager and he’s going to make mistakes.

However matching up is the right thing to do on paper in that situation. “The book” says to do exactly what Brandon Hyde did. But is the book being re-written?

Baseball’s evolving more and more every year. As an example, I used to call pitches during games, taking into account what the hitter’s track record is in the game, the situation on the base paths, the count, etc. And I used to be pretty good at it. Notice I said used to be; I certainly haven’t forgotten how the game works. But the fact is that the game’s passed me by in a sense.

There’s no such thing as a fastball count anymore. Or an off-speed count, etc. You can’t anticipate that anymore because now it’s about doing the opposite of what your opponent thinks you’re going to do.

What does this have to do with Brandon Hyde? It’s meant to show how the game is changing. Old school people such as myself don’t have to like it but that’s how the game is evolving. Another way is that perhaps matching up isn’t the advantage it used to be. Nowadays hitters are simply preparing themselves to hit whomever and whatever comes at them.

That aside, keep in mind that matching up was also about commanding the inside corner. However hitters are seemingly more patient now than they were in other eras. If you can’t hit the black, teams are just going to take a walk.

These are things of which Brandon Hyde needs to be aware. Again, I personally think that he did the right thing in these situations. But conventional wisdom seems to have a way of backfiring of late.

The series closes tomorrow night at Tropicana Field. John Means gets the start for the O’s, and Tampa hasn’t yet announced a pitcher. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Nothing good happens after a walk

The Baltimore Orioles called up pitcher Tom Eshelman from the minor leagues this evening to make tonight’s start against Tampa. Eshelman was drafted by Houston while current Orioles’ GM Mike Elias was the Asst. GM there – and migrated into the Orioles’ system. While not perfect, his big league debut will go down as a fairly positive one. Eshelman’s line: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K.

Eshelman only went five innings, but left the game in a spot to be the winner. Eshelman gave up two RBI-singles in the first inning. But he was able to limit the damage otherwise, and left the game with the Orioles in a spot to win. And that’s what you want out of a starters is Eshelman the next Palmer or Cuellar? Tough to say right now. But he looked like a keeper for tonight.

Hanser Alberto would get the Orioles on the board in the fourth with an RBI-single. That cut the Tampa lead to 2-1. Two innings later in the top of the sixth Renato Nunez and Rio Ruiz would add RBI-singles, and the O’s held the lead at 3-2. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Tampa led off the last of the sixth with a walk. And following a hit, Kiermaier cleared the baes with a three-run homer. One inning later in the seventh, Choi’s RBI-single extended the Tampa lead to 6-3. That also came on the heels of a walk

Walks kill you. And they seem to happen more often than that as a precursor to runs being scored. They immediately put a pitcher on notice that he’s having control problems. Future hitters see that, and are looser as games progress.

End of the day, nothing good ever happens after a walk. This much we know, and we understand. It’s preventing the walks which are above my pay grade. But as has been the case for all opponents, Tampa took advantage of the opportunities that were presented to them.

The series continues tomorrow night at Tropicana Field. The Oriokes has yet to announce a starter, but whomever they choose will be opposed by Charlie Morton. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.