The Baltimore Orioles hope they got off the schnide last night in Arizona. I say that figuratively in a sense. Zach Eflin turned in a great outing, and the bullpen functioned exactly as it was designed to do. Eflin’s line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K.
The O’s were on the board early when Ryan O’Hearn hit a solo homer in the first inning. Two innings later Adley Rutschman’s RBI-single extended the lead to 2-0. Rutschman especially, but really the entire team…the Orioles were patient last night. They worked the count, and they forced Arizona pitchers to throw the ball over the plate.
Gurriel got Arizona on the board in the fourth with a sac fly-RBI, however in the fifth Cedric Mullins would tick the Birds further along with an RBI-groundout. Later in the inning the O’s had two runners in scoring position, who were played by Ryan Mountcastl’s two-RBI single. And the O’s led 5-1.
Eflin and the bullpen were stout. So the result of the game was never in doubt. But Zach Eflin is now.
Eflin left the game after the sixth with shoulder fatigue. Eflin on his shoulder (quote courtesy of Brendan Mortenson, MASNsports :
Just fatigue. I think it was precautionary. Evaluate tomorrow and see how I feel after sleeping tonight.
Let me be blunt for once; the O’s are in a lot of trouble if Zach Eflin has to miss any substantial time. Luckily pitchers only pitch once every five games. But shoulder “situations” can be tough. All you can do is hope for the best.
There’s every chance that Eflin wakes up this morning and is fine. Or in time for his next start. Something else that works on his side is that the Orioles have an off day Thursday. So in theory they could skip him in the rotation and it wouldn’t make a huge difference.
The series continues tonight at Chase Field. Charlie Morton gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Arizona’s Merrill Kelly. Game time is set for just after 9:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 