Baltimore Orioles’ and former Tampa starter Zach Eflin had a chance to win his sixth straight start this afternoon. But after the game started in a nearly half hour rain delay. It wasn’t meant to be. Eflin had a laborious game, but he pitched well enough to win. Eflin’s line: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K.
Tampa’s given the Orioles fits for years with their zaney tactics, which always seemed to work. Today they weren’t necessary – offensively, that is. Eflin surrendered a solo homer in the first at-bat of the game to Diaz, and a second one to Walls on the third.
They say solo homers don’t hurt you, but when you can’t score, they will. The O’s threatened in the second, but couldn’t push anything across. They also put two on in the fourth. And for all intents and purposes they did take the lead. They did – on a Gunnar Henderson three-run homer. That is until…
…they didn’t. Tampa centerfielder Siri climbed the wall in center, and crassly brought the ball back into the park. Instead of a three-run homer for Gunnar Henderson and a 3-2 Orioles’ lead, it remained 2-0 Tampa and the inning was over.
Again, it’s things like that at which Tampa seems to excel. But that’s part of baseball. Sometimes you have to tip your cap. The same was true an inning later when Adley Rutschman popped out to Driscoll – his counterpart behind the plate. Driscoll caught the ball while tumbling into his dugout. You applaud the effort.
Tampa would further extend the lead on Walls’ RBI-single in the sixth. But that inning also saw the Birds get on the board. Cedric Mullins’ solo homer in the bottom of the inning cut the Tampa lead to 3-1.
Tampa would also tack two on in the seventh. They led the inning off with a walk and a double, and with one out they intentionally loaded the bases – followed by an immediate out. That brought Driscoll to the plate, who sent a hot grounder to Ryan O’Hearn at first. O’Hearn misplayed the ball, and then made an errant throw to first, scoring two runs. (Ruled a base hit and a throwing error.)
Tampa would tack on an additional run on an RBI-single by Diaz in the eighth. But it wasn’t without controversy. The runner (Walls) was in scoring position because he stole second. I honestly was shocked that he was called safe to begin with, because it appeared that James McCann clearly threw him out. It was when the call was upheld on instant replay after the Orioles’ challenge that was even more stunning.
Would it have mattered? Obviously not. However if we’re going to expect the Birds to not go 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, we should also expect the umpires to not blow obvious calls. And we’re seeing to much of it across the league.
Craig Kimbrell was within one strike of getting out of the ninth. But he gave up a triple, and that runner scored on a wild pitch. End of the day, Tampa took advantage of 100% of the opportunities they had in this game, and they added on – again when opportunities were presented. The Orioles didn’t. And that includes the run that shouldn’t have scored due to the stolen base in the eighth. Maybe the Orioles get a pass for that one given the bad call, but an opportunity presented itself and Tampa took advantage.
The key play of course was Siri robbing Gunnar Henderson. That sort of play can turn a game big time. Needless to say, it did today.
The series concludes tomorrow at Camden Yards. Corbin Burnes gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Zach Littell. Game time is set for just after 12 PM.
Birdland Crush 