The Baltimore Orioles got a good start this afternoon out of Dean Kremer. You have to figure that it’s been tough for the kid; his first two big league starts have come agains the Bronx Bombers. But he won the first start last week, and held his own this afternoon. Kremer’s line: 5.0 IP, 4 H 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K.
The lone run that Kremer gave up was on a sac fly-RBI by Frazier in the last of the first. Other than that, Kremer and subsequent pitchers were stingy. Not much seemed to shake Kremer. And that’s a good sign.
The O’s tied the game at one in the top of the sixth when Ryan Mountcastle dropped a bloop RBI-single behind second base. This was a classic pitcher’s duel, and both teams struggled at times to put runners on base. Something had to give as we went to extra innings.
And unfortunately, it was the new extra innings rules that forced something to give. And for the O’s at that. Hunter Harvey was brought on to pitch the tenth, and of course New York got to start with a runner on second base.
Harvey uncorked a wild pitch, and the runner went to third. He would later score on Voit’s sac fly-RBI. It’s really a shame; this was a game the O’s had a golden opportunity to win. And that one slight mistake cost them the game.
As I said after last night’s loss, defensive mishaps like that can cost you games. And in this case it did. Now granted would a wild pitch setting up a run be such a problem in the third inning? Maybe, maybe not. In a 2-1 game it would still stick out. However the O’s would have had time to overcome it. In extra innings it’s a different story.
The series concludes tomorrow at Yankee Stadium. John Means gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s J.A. Happ. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.
Birdland Crush 