Another tough night for the Baltimore Orioles, beginning with starter Dean Kremer. Perhaps it was the solo homer by Yastrzemski that set the tone – on the first pitch of the game. Perhaps it was the mindset of the entire team. But something was amiss. Kremer’s line: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R (4 earned), 0 BB, 7 K.
I said yesterday that Oriole pitchers are in effect throwing too many strikes. That might be a bit of a play on words, but look at Kremer’s pitching line; zero walks. Kremer was throwing strikes. And that might be why the first pitch was deposited into the seats. Hitters are aware.
But the O’s got the first two runners on in the third, and James McCann’s RBI-double tied the score. Later in the inning Cedric Mullins’ RBI-groundout gave the Orioles the lead at 2-1 Look everything else aside, you have to start small. Scoring runs and getting a lead is just that.
However San Francisco immediately put runners at first and second in the fourth. Fitzgerald then reached on a swinging bunt to third. It was an “excuse me” check swing…and it worked. It shouldn’t have, but it did. And that’s been the trend of late…if an Oriole opponent does it, that means it must be right.
But it didn’t end there. McCray hit into a fielder’s choice – another “excuse me” sort of swing. Dean Kremer fielded the ball along the third base line; bases loaded and nobody out, he correctly threw home. And the runner from third was dead in the water…
…if not for one thing. Minor thing, but yet not so minor. Catcher James McCann knew he had a force out at the plate. All he had to do was catch the ball. And he did. But he didn’t have his foot on home plate. It lodged smack in front of the plate, and the runner was correctly ruled safe.
I can’t say I’ve ever seen that. I feel like a kicker in the NFL is more likely to miss an extra point (before the distance changed to what it is now) than a catcher not having his foot on the plate like that. It happens I suppose, but it happened in a bad spot there for the Birds.
Schmidt’s subsequent two-RBI single put San Francisco back in the lead at 4-2. All things being the same, that still would have happened had McCann made the out at home plate. But we know all things wouldn’t have necessarily been the same. They could have turned two and been out of the inning with the lead. Or Schmidt could have hit a grand slam. You just never know.
San Francisco would tack on a fifth run on a solo shot by Conforto in the sixth, and the Birds would net one on an RBI-double by Ryan O’Hearn in the bottom of the inning. The O’s put runners at the corners in the seventh, and in my view were cheated out of a run – and a potential rally. Heston Kjerstad was ruled to have been hit by a pitch. But it was a wild pitch, that got away from the catcher…
…the Orioles challenged. Replays seemed to emphatically show that the ball didn’t hit Kjerstad. It showed a wild pitch that almost hit him, which then should have resulted in a run scored from third (on the WP). But the umpire declared that the call was confirmed, and it went as a HBP. Colton Cowser lined out to end the inning.
We can’t say that the outcome of the game would have changed. But that seems like a call that got away, and went against the Orioles unfairly. But when you aren’t covering your own bases, calls like that go against you.
The series concludes tomorrow at Camden Yards. Zach Eflin gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by San Francisco’s Logan Webb. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.
Birdland Crush 