The Baltimore Orioles started Kohl Stewart this evening in D.C. for their exhibition finale. He struggled early, but seemed to regain some composure as time went on. This in what started out at least as a fairly lackluster game for both sides. Stewart’s line: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K.
The Orioles actually started this game in a good way. Hanser Alberto‘s RBI-double in the first inning gave them an early 1-0 lead. The Birds would extend that lead to 2-0 on a subsequent RBI-single by Jose Iglesias.
However Washington came right back against Stewart. Soto played a run on an RBI-groundout, and Kendrick’s RBI-double tied the game at two. But then both Kohl and Washington starter Corbin settled in a bit. And we played on at a 2-2 tie.
Washington would take the lead in the fourth on a fielder’s choice by Kendrick. Two innings later they’d take a 5-2 lead on Castro’s two-RBI single. It appeared that the Birds were probably going to be content playing out this game as a string and heading home. But they didn’t.
One thing I noticed last year was that in August (but much more poignantly in September), this team started to come together. That didn’t necessarily translate into more wins, but the team seemed to come just a bit closer together and want to play hard for each other. That trend seemed to continue into Florida Grapefruit League play earlier this year. And we saw it again tonight.
The Birds weren’t going to go down without a fight. Chris Davis, who’s had a great camp (both in Florida and in Baltimore) led off the seventh with a double to the deepest part of the ballpark. He would score on Dilson Herrera‘s subsequent RBI-triple. He would later score on Rio Ruiz‘s sac fly-RBI.
Washington would tack on another run in the last of the seventh, running the score to 6-4. And then in the eighth inning the skies opened. And that was the end of the game. What can be taken away from this game or from any of the three exhibition games during summer camp? Basically nothing. Onto the regular season.
Birdland Crush 