The funny thing is that the Baltimore Orioles played well enough to win in all three games against Atlanta this weekend at Camden Yards. But they couldn’t make it over the hump. This isn’t to say that they aren’t trying or are purposely throwing games. They just can’t put it all together in games right now. John Means put them in a spot to win today, which is all you can ask. Means’ line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K.
Make no mistake that Means was good today. Remember that a minimum of six innings of three-runs or less ball goes down as a quality start. As I said in the title, Means is very much a hard-luck loser today.
Means gave up a solo homer to Soler in the fourth inning. And that will happen with him on occasion. He will give up a home run ball here and there. But a lot of them are solo shots, and odds are those won’t hurt you.
What hurt more than the home run was DuVall’s two-RBI double later in the inning. Ramon Urias would get the Orioles on board in the bottom of that fourth inning with an RBI-double. But that closed out the scoring for the day, and the Birds fell, 3-1.
One might draw a silver lining on the fact that the Birds were competitive against one of the best teams in baseball this weekend. But there are no moral victories in baseball. Or any sport for that matter.
The Birds will enjoy a much-needed day off tomorrow at home. The Anaheim Angels come in for three start long Tuesday.
Birdland Crush 