The Baltimore Orioles sent former Detroit farmhand Spenser Watkins to the mound this afternoon as they attempted to take the series at Comerica Park. Watkins was strong, but not strong enough. Watkins’ line: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K.
Watkins of course was drafted by Detroit in 2014 with the 910th pick overall. He never made it to the big leagues in that organization, but he has with the Orioles. And albeit in a losing effort today, he’s made an impact.
The Orioles started off strong, with three of the first four hitters squaring balls up. Both Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander smacked RBI-doubles, and the Al’s had an early 2-0 lead. This before Watkins even got on the mound.
However Detroit welcomed trinket former farmhand in a fairly rude manner. Candelario’s RBI-single in the last of the first cut the Birds’ lead to 2-1. Haase’s two-RBI double later in the inning tied the game at three.
Watkins would keep Detroit at bay until the sixth inning, however in fairness the O’s couldn’t really get anything going. Cabrera’s sac fly-RBI gave Detroit a 4-2 lead. Detroit would put two additional runs across, taking the game 6-2. And the teams split the two-game series.
I would hope that both O’s fans and Detroit fans took hope in this series. There was a lot of good young talent on display at Comerica Park all weekend. And the same will be true in just over a week when Detroit comes to Camden Yards. These two teams of course faced off in the 2014 ALDS; maybe we’ll see that again at some point in the future.
The O’s now head to the Bronx to take on the New York Yankees. Jorge Lopez gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Andrew Heaney. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 