The Baltimore Orioles put up a fight last night against New York. However starter John Means has a lackluster first outing. Means never pitches well against New York, however he certainly wanted to look better than he did. Means’ line: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 2 K.
Before you could blink, New York put five runs on the board in the first inning. This included a grand slam by Voit. Means stabilized, but he was lifted in the third.
However the O’s battled back. And almost immediately at that. Hanser Alberto‘s two-run homer in the last of the first brought the O’s to within 5-2. One inning later Rio Ruiz hit a two-run shot of his own, putting the Orioles right back into the game, and within one run at 5-4.
The skies opened up in the sixth inning, causing an hour-and-a-half rain delay. When the game resumed, the O’s took the lead in the eighth inning. Pedro Severino‘s two-run homer gave the Orioles a 6-5 lead. Unfortunately however, New York had a guy in Judge who was capable of a three-run shot. And he gave NY the lead back in the ninth. And the O’s fell 9-6.
I’ve written on the important of insurance runs several times thus far this season. And we saw it last night. Especially when playing against the likes of Judge, Stanton, et al. However the good news is that the O’s battled back after being down big early on. With a young team, that’s how you have to look at things.
Tomorrow the Orioles will welcome in the Tampa Rays to Camden Yards for a three-game weekend series. Alex Cobb gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Blake Snell. Game time is set for just after 7:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 