Matt Harvey’s numbers make his start look worse than it was for the Baltimore Orioles last night in Tampa. He put the O’s in a position to win, save for a couple of errant pitches. Overall he was good. Harvey’s line: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 6 K.
The O’s put runners at the corners in the first, and took a 1-0 lead on Cedric Mullins’ sac bunt-RBI. However that lead only lasted until the fourth. Meadows’ two-RBI triple gave Tampa a 2-1 lead. One inning later Kiermaier’s solo homer ran it to 3-1.
Lowe would smack a solo shot of his own in the fifth, and Wendle an RBI-double. And in typical Tampa fashion, they find ways to score against the Orioles that you just wouldn’t expect. Phillips’ inside-the-park homer counts as that sort of thing. Tampa has a lot of speed, and sometimes the ball does funny things when it rattles around in the outfield after hitting the wall.
Tampa would net three more runs on two homers in the sixth and seventh. Trey Mancini would get one back for the O’s on an RBI-double in the eighth. Brandon Hyde said after the game that the team was still fighting and trying to stay upbeat:
I think we’re handling it the best we possibility can, to be honest with you. I thought the energy in our dugout tonight was unbelievable for a team that’s winning as many games as we have, just our record. I think our clubhouse is still positive, I think our coaching staff has done a great job of trying to stay positive through these rough stretches that we’ve gone through. I think the effort is there, I do. I think we’re playing hard. We’re not executing and we make bad pitches during bad times and we’re trying too hard at the plate in big moments and that isn’t how it works in this game. Our strike zone discipline at the plate is an issue and when guys are over-aggressive it doesn’t lead to big innings.
Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports
The series continues tonight at Tropicana Field. John Means gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Drew Rasmussen. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 