The Baltimore Orioles had Dean Kremer on the mound, and a slew of lefty hitters in the lineup this afternoon at Chase Field in Arizona. After sending Zach Eflin to the IL earlier in the day, that setup should have been a pick me up for the O’s, facing a righty starter. But it wasn’t to be. Kremer’s line: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 4 K.
According to pitch track, Kremer was getting a lot of the plate. In short, too much of the plate. Arizona had their pick of pitches to hit.
Already leading 1-0 in the third, Carroll’s solo homer in the third doubled the lead to 2-0. In the fifth Arizona would put up two homers, a two-run shot by Smith followed by a solo shot by Naylor. Tawa would add a two-RBI double opening the game wide open, and the O’s trailed 7-0.
Arizona would tack two on in the eighth as well, sending the O’s back to Baltimore with a lopsided 9-0 loss. Not a good road trip at 2-4. However the O’s now go home for the longest road trip of the season. They also had a bit of an odd start to the season, heading to Toronto, back home for three games, and then back on the road. Perhaps an elongated home stand helps to even their mindset a bit.
As I said, Brandon Hyde loaded the lineup with lefties and switch hitters today. This against a righty starter, Arizona’s Pfaadt. You almost wonder if teams are ready for that sort of thing. Because it would stand to reason that the Orioles would have had a decent day at the plate today. But they didn’t,
End of the day remember, this is a team loaded with guys who were can’t miss prospects. They’ll figure it out in the end, especially when they start getting their pitching back.
Birdland Crush 