Asher Wojchiekowski was pitching a decent game last night for the Baltimore Orioles. However an hour and 45 minutes into last night’s games, the rains came. And in saying that I mean a torrential downpour. Two hours and 15 minutes later, the game resumed – with Wojchiekowski out of it. Starters usually don’t return after rain delays of that magnitude. Wojchiekowski’s line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 K.
The O’s took a 2-0 lead in the last of the first on Trey Mancini‘s RBI-double. However the double itself only attested for one of those runs. Mancini would come around to score on a two-base throwing error by Tampa.
However Tampa would chip away. Meadows smacked a solo homer in the third. Adames would follow suit in the fifth, tying the game. It’s important to note that the rain delay came during the last of the fifth with the game tied. If not for that second Tampa homer, the game would have been official. But since the game was tied, in essence it had to be completed. And it would be completed very late at night as a result.
Play resumed after 11 PM, and Tampa took the lead in the sixth on Adames’ two-RBI single. That seemed to break the game wide open in a sense. Oriole bats were seemingly quieted for the remainder of the night. Meadows would score in the ninth on a wild pitch, and the Birds dropped this one, 5-2.
Tampa’s in contention. The Orioles are not. So that’s one reason that they Birds were quiet offensively after the delay. However that’s compounded by the fact that they were sitting for almost three hours waiting to resume the game.
You can’t use that as an excuse, mind you. The conditions and the circumstance was the same for both teams. It’s unfortunate given that the rain knocked Wojchiekowski out of the game, and you just don’t know how it would have played out, but it can’t be an excuse. And given that Tampa’s in contention, this game could be important to them. Otherwise it probably would have been canceled and perhaps not made up.
The series continues this evening at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Ty Blach gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Trevor Richards. GMe time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 