Baltimore Orioles: Frustrating day and weekend in Buffalo

Jorge Lopez did what he could to put the Baltimore Orioles in a position to win this after noon at Sahlen Field in Buffalo. He didn’t go five, but he battled both himself, and an inconsistent strike zone throughout his outing. Lopez’s line: 4.2 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 2 K.

Lopez had the lead before he even got on the field. Ryan Mountcastle smacked a solo homer in the first inning to give the Orioles a 1-0. And that right there might be something to consider. We’ve seen a lot of solo homers off Oriole bats; teams know that solo home runs don’t hurt you. So they’ll throw pitches in the middle of the plate with nobody on base, because they know that if worst comes to worst, they can overcome it. And they’re generally right.

Toronto would tie the game in the second on a run that scored on a GIDP. They would later take the lead in the third on Guererro’s two-RBI double. Later in the inning Toronto thought they had a fourth run. DJ Stewart appeared to mail a runner at the plate for the final out of the inning. However the runner was ruled safe, but later called out after the Orioles challenged the play and it was overturned.

Ramon Urias attempted to get the O’s back into the game in the fifth with an RBI-double. That cut the lead to 3-2, however Biggio’s two-RBI double in the bottom of the inning ran it to 5-2. Toronto shut down the Orioles’ lineup for the rest of the game, and took the game and the series.

Players on multiple sides took issue with the strike zone this afternoon. However the O’s didn’t seem to handle it as well as Toronto. Whereas the Orioles kept wanting to say this was a strike or that was a ball, Toronto pitchers pitched to the umpire’s zone.

Toronto frustrates the heck out of the Orioles in general. Save for Friday night’s game, every bounce seems to go their way. And they aren’t shy in celebrating even a standard base hit. They had a shot at winning this game, but couldn’t come up with a clutch hit, especially with runners in scoring position.

The O’s now head to Houston to open up at three-game set at Minute Maid Park tomorrow night. Thomas Eshelman gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Houston’s Zack Greinke. Game time is set for just after 8 PM.