A bit of a shorter outing for John Means this afternoon for the Baltimore Orioles. Shorter than anyone would have thought, at least. But perhaps this game was always destined to be decided by the bullpens. That at times seems to be where the game is going. Means’ line: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 3 K.
This game began and ended with Jordan Westburg. His RBI-double in the second inning gave the Birds a 1-0 lead. However one inning later Arizona’s Marte sent a two-run homer around the foul pole in left field. And suddenly the Birds trailed 2-1.
But they didn’t trail for long. In the last of the third Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI-single tied the game at two. However Arizona would put two across in the fifth. That left the Orioles trailing, 4-2. Which at the time seemed like a large lead.
But is two runs a decent lead against this lineup? Not so much, if you think about it. Gunnar Henderson cut the lead to one in the last of the fifth with a solo homer. The crowd had to wait a couple of innings later, but Anthony Santander would eventually tie it with a solo shot of his own in the last of the eighth. And tied it remained through the ninth.
The Birds loaded the bases in the tenth before going down, and Brandon Hyde summoned Craig Kimbrel from the bullpen for the eleventh – yes, in a high leverage situation. Keep in mind that Arizona had a ghost runner, so Kimbrel started out with a ghost runner on second (through no fault of his own). He did hit a batter, but masterfully retired the side after that.
But that also means that the Orioles get a ghost runner. And Jordan Westburg led off the last of the eleventh, and promptly sent a soft liner tightly down the right field line, which bounced fair. That scored the ghost runner, giving the O’s a 5-4 victory. It also clinched a series win.
Odd game in a sense. It was a slow slog to some degree, and under threatening skies at that. Jordan Westburg was outstanding, and the Orioles have to continually be thanking themselves for breaking camp with him on the roster.
However as the season goes on it’ll be interesting to look back on this point in the schedule and whether or not it’ll be a story of this series helping Craig Kimbrel get right. Granted he was the winning pitcher by default. Almost by chance. But he earned the win. Is he “right” now? We’ll find out.
The series concludes tomorrow at Camden Yards. Dean Kremer gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Arizona’s Zac Gallen. Game time is set for just after 1:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 