Strange things always seem to happen when the Baltimore Orioles go to Toronto. Heck, yesterday the Birds embarrassed Toronto – but until late in the game it somehow felt like it was still within reach for the home team. Charlie Morton had a rough first start, but needless to say he was one of a couple of pitchers who struggled. Morton’s line: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 3 K.
The O’s did have the lead in this game – early on. Jackson Holliday smacked a solo homer in the third, and Tyler O’Neil tacked on a sac fly-RBI in the fourth. Despite the fact that this was a tough game, O’Neil has been a great acquisition thus far. He homered yesterday and drove in a run tonight.
Morton flirted with danger the first three innings. However he always pitched out of it. He wasn’t so lucky in the fourth. He loaded the bases with nobody out – which is tough to pitch out of. He then walked in a run, and surrendered a sacrifice fly. At least the latter of those two yielded an out.
The Orioles proceeded to lift Morton in favor of Albert Suarez…who promptly uncorked a wild pitch, giving Toronto a 3-2 lead. He didn’t only uncork a wild pitch, but it was the first pitch he threw. That certainly wasn’t the intention, but it happened.
Guerrero would extend the lead with a sac fly-RBI, Toronto would get an additional run on a Santander single. That isn’t an RBI, as the run scored on a Jorge Mateo throwing error. Which was unfortunate, but again…if it could go wrong, it did,
And before the dust settled, the O’s suddenly trailed 5-2. Keep in mind, the AL East is the best division IN SPORTS. Sometimes you’re going to have games like this. Bichette would tack on an RBI-single in the sixth, and Clement a two-RBI double in the seventh. The Birds couldn’t muster much more offense, save for the bitter end…
…that being the ninth inning. And by that I mean that they put a couple of runners on base. They got the Toronto bullpen working. That means they’ll be a little bit more taxed tomorrow and Sunday. It’s something.
Again, games like this happen. So do games like yesterday. So you go on as the season turns. You put this behind you, and try to learn from it.
Toronto had just about everything to their way in this game. They also press the issue. NIG TIME. There’s nothing that’s too petty for that team to question or press. And sometimes that causes good things to happen, despite the fact that it makes them look somewhat petty.
The series continues tomorrow at Rogers Centre. Dean Kremer gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Max Scherzer. Game time is set for just after 3 PM.
Birdland Crush 