Tyler Wells turned in another stellar outing for the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon against Cleveland on Memorial Day Monday. And yes, he deserved a better fate than what he received. Wells’ line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K.
Wells was outstanding today. Plain and simple. His lone mishap was a balk in the fifth inning, allowing a runner to get to third. That runner would later score on Gallagher’s sac fly-RBI. That’s the lone run that Wells surrendered, and the Birds trailed, 1-0.
Cleveland got a lot of favorable bounces in this game. This in the sense that they got on base by dumping fly balls in front of Oriole outfielder’s, and by way of Baltimore chops. Simplistic for sure. But effective. They also seemed to get to just about everything that came off of Oriole bats, making some amazing plays in the field.
Gallagher’s RBI-single in the seventh would extend their lead to 2-0. Kwan would later smack an RBI-double, and Ryan Mountcastle would commit a two-run throwing error trying to gun out a runner at home plate. This all amounted to a 5-0 Cleveland victory.
That error was charged to Ryan Mountcastle, and I’ll be honest I’m not sure why. The throw home to James McCann was slightly high. But McCann bobbled the ball – this on a play that should have been made.
McCann was also at the center of a slight controversy in this game before it even started mainly by virtue of the fact that he was in the lineup at all instead of Adley Rutschman, The same for Ryan McKenna being in right field.
I would say this; Adley Rutschman isn’t Cal Ripken Jr. He can’t play everyday, especially as a catcher. However it is somewhat interesting as to why Brandon Hyde seemed to put the “B Lineup” out there today. It’s fair however to say that again…nobody’s playing every game.
Personally I don’t think that Hyde’s “punting” games with lineups such as what we saw today, and what we’ve seen in the past (often on the final day of a series). He’s just ensuring that guys remain rested and fresh. It’s part of the job as manager.
Regarding Rutschman, you also have to look down the schedule. The O’s have a night game tomorrow, so he’ll have some additional time off. Then a mid-afternoon game on Wednesday to close out the series. Following that game, the O’s head out to San Francisco.
Point being, the pending road trip to the west coast may have had something to do with why McCann and McKenna played that day. You have to take all of that into account. It’s also worth mentioning that James McCann smacked a double which pushed another runner to third in this game. So what little the Orioles did offensively, he was a participant.
One other thing to watch; Cedric Mullins limped off the field after running out a ground ball in the eighth inning. His status is unclear going forward. He appeared to pull up “lame” running out the ball. Certainly something to keep an eye on.
The series continues tomorrow night at Camden Yards. Kyle Gibson gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Cal Quantrill. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 