Kyle Gibson got the start for the Baltimore Orioles in Milwaukee last night. And in effect he did his job. He put the Birds in a position to win. The O’s however need to get more mileage out of their starters so as to not overtax the bullpen. Gibson’s line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K.
This isn’t to say that Gibson pitched poorly. We’ve seen better, but we most certainly also seen worse. And there are a lot of things in games (such as run production) that’s beyond the control of a starting pitcher.
Milwaukee took an early 2-0 lead in the last of the first on two separate RBI-singles. One by Anderson and another by Toro. And those were the only runs Gibson surrendered.
It was a game where neither side seemed to be ready to put it all together in a sense. The O’s tied it up in the second on a two-run homer by Aaron Hicks. The signing of Hicks was semi-unpopular amongst a lot of fans. But he’s produced in the short time he’s been an Oriole. Rightfully he should have had several other RBI last night as well. In fact, the Orioles probably would have won the game outright had he not been robbed.
But they made a valiant stab at winning. Ryan O’Hearn’s solo homer in the seventh gave them the lead. However an RBI-single by Turang in the eighth tied it up. And Wiemer’s RBI-single in the tenth won it for Milwaukee.
Again, there are a lot of things that needed to come together and didn’t – not just Kyle Gibson. The tying and winning runs got into scoring position by the runners stealing second base. In both instances, Adley Rutschman’s throw came to the third base side of the bag – short-hopping in one case. Those are things that must and will be tightened up going along.
The series continues this evening at American Family Field. Dean Kremer gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes. Game time is set for just after 7:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 