The Baltimore Orioles struggled to get anything going tonight against Detroit at Comerica Park. They sent Alexander Wells to the mound, but similar to the bats, he couldn’t get any momentum going. Wells’ line: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 4 K.
Detroit got on the board early with an RBI-single by Schoop (a former Oriole), giving them a 1-0 lead. Schoop would score later in the inning on Hasse’s sac fly-RBI. One thing Detroit did early and often in this game was get ‘em on and get ‘em in. And that’s to their credit.
Hasse would strike again in the third inning with an RBI-single. And Detroit would get two solo homers from Cabrera. One in the fifth and one in the seventh. It looked as if Cabrera had drank from the fountain of youth. He looked like he did ten years ago slugging homers. An RBI-double would also net Detroit a sixth run later in that seventh inning.
Ryan McKenna was the Birds’ line bright spot offensively tonight. He was able to get the O’s on the board in the seventh thanks to an errant throw. Leyba sent a shallow fly ball into left that was caught, which in theory would have kept McKenna at third. However the throw was way off line and ended up in no man’s land. That allowed McKenna to score. Cedric Mullins would also score on a wild pitch in the eighth.
That McKenna scoring play is important. Not for the sake of this game, which the Birds dropped 6-2. But teams are starting to take note of McKenna’s speed. The guy’s lightning quick, and we see that on the base paths and in the field everyday. Those diving catches in the outfield? McKenna doesn’t make those if not for his speed.
So opponents know that he can cause problems on the base paths. And that caused an errant throw this evening, which netted the Orioles a run. Again, it didn’t mean much tonight. But it does bode well for the future. Play that same scenario back in a one-run game. Speed counts. (And I say that as one of the slowest human beings on the planet!)
The series continues tomorrow night at Comerica Park. Matt Harvey gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Detroit’s Tarik Skubal. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 