Thomas Eshelman became only the most recent Baltimore Orioles’ pitcher to have issues with two outs. In the first couple of innings tonight against Houston, he seemed to record two outs with relative ease. Then the problems began. Eshelman’s line: 4-0 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 1 K.
Houston put three runs on the board in the first inning. All with two outs. The same thing happened in the second inning, but the O’s held them to only one. And while there were walks sprinkled into that mix, the hits were all softly hit. As in, the outfielders were positioned way too far back in order to make the play.
Those are tough to stomach in my opinion. You aren’t expecting a big league team to get fat on balls that look like they were hit by T-Ball players. But they all count. And they sure as heck counted against Oriole pitching tonight.
Houston would put two up in the fourth, one in the sixth, four in the seventh, and two in the eighth. They seemed to know what was coming before the Orioles knew what they were going to throw. And no matter what, they seemed to put the ball in play.
So the O’s get swept at home by Houston. They aren’t the first to get beaten around, and they won’t be the last. One thing that was constant in the series was Orioles fans giving some pretty harsh treatment to the Houston players.
We all know why they were being mercilessly boo’d, and Camden Yards isn’t the first visiting ballpark in which it’s happened. However the Houston players have made all of those fan bases eat their words. Their attitude is sure, go ahead and boo us. But we’re going to not only beat your team, but make them look foolish in the process.
These players seem to resent the way that their franchise was handled in the wake of the cheating scandal in 2018. Now for the record, Inwould argue that they’re lucky. The players in effect snitched on their coaches and front office, all of those personnel were fired, suspended, etc. – “held accountable.” Not only did the players not face any discipline, but they got to keep their World Series trophy.
Yet in their mind the league’s done them wrong. I can’t imagine being shameless enough to where I’d get angry over the perception that I was a cheater, when in fact…I WAS a cheater! That’s been their story all season. The more viciously they’ve been boo’d, the more determined they’d become.
And you can almost see the players laughing at opposing fans in the dugout. Obviously the players don’t see it as shameless given that it’s being used as fodder. I think that playing the victim when in fact you were the aggressor is a really hard sell. But…it’s working for them. And the Orioles were only their most recent victim.
The Orioles now hit the road, starting with four games in Buffalo, NY against Toronto at Sahlen Field. Dean Kremer gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto‘s Anthony Kay. Game time is set for just after 7 PM tomorrow night.
Birdland Crush 