Asher Wojciechowski got the start for the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon at Ed Smith Stadium against Tampa, and with some good results. Wojciechowski pitched three innings, and looked strong in doing so. He’s had a great spring thus far in limited action. Wojciechowski’s line: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K.
After his outing Wjociechowski commented that he was impressed with how solid Oriole pitching as a whole has been thus far in the spring:
I think we’re all throwing the ball really well. It is spring training though. It’s good to build confidence here, but it’s different when the lights come on during the season. But it’s great we’re throwing the ball well and all learning from each other. And we are going to take this into the season, be a confident group and go out there and compete and give it our all.
Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports
Tampa took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on a Perez home run. However the O’s were able to immediately get back in the bottom of the inning. Chris Davis drew a walk with one down; as I tweeted on Saturday, each Davis walk is worth almost as much as a homer. Because teams will pitch to him differently, opening up more of an opportunity to hit his way on base.
With Davis on first, Renato Nunez smacked a two-run home run. That gave the O’s a 2-1 lead. However Choi’s sixth inning two-run homer put Tampa back in the lead at 3-2. Choi, as you may remember, torched the Orioles last year. As in nothing that Oriole pitching threw was let go. He’s just one of those guys.
But Chris Davis’ sac fly-RBI in the last of the sixth re-tied the game back up at three. And that’s where the score remained, as the Orioles’ five-game winning streak ended. But the good news is that they didn’t start a losing streak – in theory. Both teams were content with what they saw, and the game ended in a tie.
This almost feels like the end of a home stand, as the Orioles will head to the East Coast of Florida tomorrow. They’ll have a stop in West Palm Beach to play Washington, and then Jupiter on Wednesday to play Miami. Kind of like a mini-road trip during the spring season.
The Orioles will take on the aforementioned Washington Nationals at Ballpark of the Palm Beaches tomorrow. Tommy Milone gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Washington’s Max Scherzer. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.
UPDATE: Ty Blach will start tomorrow in West Palm Beach against Washington. Tommy Milone will be staying back in Sarasota.
Birdland Crush 