Tyler Wellls took to the mound in the series finale at Yankee Stadium last night for the Baltimore Orioles. Wells did his job – he put the O’s in a position to win. But it’s tough to do that when the bats can’t even put forth a run. In fact, it’s impossible. Wells’ line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K.
Andujar’s RBI-single in the last of the fourth gave New York a 1-0 lead. Andujar would later try to steal second, and rookie catcher Adley Rutschman threw the ball into the outfield. Torres scored on the throwing error. And those were the only two runs of the game, as New York took it 2-0.
Surprisingly to me, that second run was scored as earned. This even given the fact that it came on the heels of an error. I suspect that it was ruled a double steal, and since the throw was to second base, the official scorer ruled that Torres would have scored anyways. That’s an assumption, for the record.
Adley Rutschman’s made good progress both at the plate and behind it thus far. However he hadn’t thrown through to second on a steal attempt – this at the big league level. New York tested him, and it worked. And make no mistake, it’s all part of learning at the major league level.
Birdland Crush 