Baltimore Orioles: Eighth inning does in the Birds

The Baltimore Orioles sent Bruce Zimmerman to the mound this afternoon in the series finale in Oakland. Zimmerman delivered one of those “in between” starts, which was consistent with the rest of the game. It was back-and-forth all day. Zimmerman’s line: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R (3 earned), 2 BB, 4 K.

Oakland took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. However the Birds came right back, cutting that to 2-1 on Freddy Galvis’ RBI-single in the second. And an inning later, the game would be tied. Austin Hays smacked a solo home run in the third, tying things up at two.

But then Oakland came back. Olson’s two-run homer in the bottom of that third inning gave them the lead back at 4-2. This was a game and a series of two teams with a lot of heart. And even in a losing effort, the Orioles showed that today. Trey Mancini’s two-RBI single in the fifth tied the game back up at four.

And it was Mancini who would also give the Orioles the lead in the seventh. His RBI-single gave them a one-run lead at 5-4. This appeared to put the Birds in the driver’s seat. But in the bottom of the inning Lowrie would appear to ground out to Franco at third, with Chapman on second. However Franco’s throw to first was off line. To further compound things, Mancini had trouble getting the ball out of his glove…

…all this while Chapman rounded third base. Whether or not Mancini would have been able to throw Chapman out at the plate had he gotten the ball cleanly out of his glove, I don’t know. But ultimately Chapman came around to score, tying the game at five.

DJ Stewart appeared to have a go-ahead RBI-double in the eighth. He drove the ball deep with a runner on second, only to have Laureano catch the ball in dramatic fashion at the wall. To add insult to injury, Laureano came up in the last of the eighth with a runner on, and smacked a two-run homer, which won the game for Oakland.

You never want to lose, but the O’s battled in this game. And in this series. I always say that if you’re going to take two-of-three in a series (which the Orioles did this weekend), you want the loss to come in games one or two. If you win the first two games and lose the finale it almost feels like you dropped the series.

The Orioles now head to Seattle for three games at Safeco Field starting tomorrow night. Dean Kremer gets the start for the O’s, and Seattle has yet to announce a starter. Game time is set for just after 10 PM.