Baltimore Orioles’ starter Al Suarez labored tonight at Yankee Stadium. He didn’t give up any poignantly loud knocks, which almost makes losing worse. At least if they bludgeon the ball it looks like they’re working hard to beat you. That wasn’t the case tonight. Suarez’s line: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 5 BB, 3 K.
Fact is you don’t expect to be defeated by New York by way of small ball. Yet that’s what best the Orioles tonight. Volpe’s RBI-single in the second gave them a 1-0 lead. One inning later Stanton would follow suit with one of his own, doubling the lead.
Neither but was particularly hard. Again, small ball beat the O’s tonight. Torres would add a sac fly-RBI later in that third inning, and LeMahieu one of his own in the fifth. The Birds would rally late with a two-run homer by Anthony Santander, but end of the day it was too little too late. And New York took the series opener, 4-2.
The more concerning aspect of this game was the injuries. Jordan Westburg collided with New York’s Juan Soto in the first inning. Soto was called out for interference, the second time in a week that’s happened. Soto clearly ran into Westburg, although certainly not intentionally. And the umpiring crew called it correctly, ruling Soto out.
Westburg would later come out of the game, with what the Orioles are calling hip discomfort. As Westburg was being removed from the game, Connor Norby was being removed from triple-A Norfolk’s game tonight. Obviously the idea is to get him to New York in time for tomorrow night’s game if Westburg has to go to the IL.
For the record, New York also lost Aaron Judge on a HBP later in the game. So injuries happened tonight. The concerning thing is what happens going forward. Jordan Westburg has been a huge part of what the Orioles have done to this point. However they have to have a next man up mentality.
To be clear, what happened with Juan Soto was an accident. Nobody’s going in trying to interfere with a play. Nor are they trying to injure someone. Soto may well push the envelope on too many things across the board. But he certainly wasn’t trying to injure Jordan Westburg.
The series continues tomorrow night at Yankee Stadium. Cade Povich gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Gerrit Cole (making his season debut). Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 