With today’s 6-5 loss, the Baltimore Orioles concluded the 2019 season series against New York by losing the final 16 games between the two teams. Starter Dylan Bundy pitched into the sixth, but couldn’t get the job done in full. However as has been the case in other games, the Orioles battled in this series. And if not for an unfortunate moment in the sixth inning, might have won it. Bundy’s line: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 4 K.
Jonathan Villar‘s RBI-single in the first inning gave the O’s a 1-0 lead early. However Gregorius followed suit in the last of the first for NY, and later in the inning Urshela’s three-run homer put them ahead 4-1. Now on the flip side, that was the lone homer surrendered by an Oriole team who’s made it a habit of allowing multiple homers in games. Baby steps.
The O’s did battle in this game however, as I previously said. Pedro Severino smacked an RBI-single in the third to bring the Birds to within 4-2. Bundy exited in the sixth with two outs, two runners in scoring position, and Tauchman coming to the plate. The Orioles opted to bring Richard Bleier into the game to pitch to him – and it almost worked.
Bleier had Tauchman with a two-strike count, meaning one more and the inning would have been over. Bleier threw what he thought was a perfect pitch – right down broadway, as they say. And it was called a ball. Tauchman would end up walking, and a moment later Ford smacked a two-RBI double to give New York a 6-2 lead.
Television replays seemed to back up Bleier’s opinion of the pitch. The Orioles’ dugout was yelling out at home plate umpire Mark Carlson, as did Bleier. He yelled a couple sentences of protest, earning a glare from Carlson. However he wasn’t ejected.
Renato Nunez would bring the O’s to within two an inning later with a two-RBI double. Later in that seventh inning Jonathan Villar would score Nunez with an RBI-double of his own. The O’s would put the tying run on base in the ninth, but they could never quite make it over the hump and fell 6-5 this afternoon in the Bronx.
That wasn’t the only pitch that went against the Orioles this afternoon. Carlson didn’t have a consistent day behind the plate. However it was certainly the most poignant pitch to go against them. And moments as such in games can often represent the fine line between winning and losing. The Orioles did what they could to shrug it off, however it was ultimately something they were unable to overcome.
The folks who say never blame the umpires for the most part are correct. There’s always something else in a game that could have occurred which would have helped the team win or overcome a questionable call. However while that’s fair to point out, it’s also fair to mention that if that’s a called strike three, all things remaining the same the Birds would have won this game 6-4.
Birdland Crush 