Baltimore Orioles: You have to keep grinding until the end – no matter what

Kyle Gibson made his first start of the season for the Baltimore Orioles tonight against New York. And it ended up a game that resembled Easter Sunday against Cincinnati more than last night’s thrilling win. Gibson’s line: 3.2 IP, 11 H, 9 R, 2 BB, 2 K.

In short, the first four hitters homered for New York. Volpe would add an RBI-single, and the Birds trailed 5-0 after one. Needless to say, there are better ways to spend an inning.

The onslaught continued. When the smoke cleared…well, it never really cleared. New York was either putting balls over the fence or manufacturing hits no matter where you looked. The Orioles didn’t get their first hit of the night until the sixth inning.

It’s easy to say that Kyle Gibson and the pitching was at fault. But it’s always a team effort. I mentioned the hitting woes above; the Orioles also made three errors in the game, including one by Gunnar Henderson late which gave New York an additional run. He literally just dropped a line drive out of his mitt.

The O’s got on the board finally in the sixth on an RBI-groundout by Dylan Carlson. Gunnar Henderson would add a solo homer one inning later. End of the day, it was a forgettable game, that the O’s dropped it 15-3 – after Ryan Mountcastle added a sac fly-RBI in the ninth.

Many people will say that Brandon Hyde should be fired. Heck, many of you reading this have been saying that for some time. It isn’t incumbent on me to call for a man’s job. Now, can I say what the issue is? Unfortunately, I cannot.

But end of the day, in baseball you have to keep grinding. That’s really the only way out of something like this. A lot of you are reading this and saying that’s a cop out and you’re weak. People like you are part of the problem. I get it. But ask yourselves, is changing the manager going to alleviate a 15-3 loss? Or is it just going to alleviate your thirst for…something?

Now I will say this; I question if there’s not something more going on with the Orioles. By that, I question if they aren’t too predictable at times, or perhaps if someone or something isn’t tipping pitches. Tomoyuki Sugano attacked the strike zone last night. It wasn’t a perfect start, but it was effective – he qualified for the win.

New York almost anticipated Kyle Gibson being tentative in the strike zone tonight. It was his first start of the season, and he was pitching against a formidable lineup. He went protectionalist. And it stood to reason. But they anticipated that.

On top of that point, are opposing teams seeing something that the Orioles as a team are doing that’s tipping off pitches? Make no mistake, that still falls on the coaches if so. And they need to figure it out quick.

End of the day, you still have to keep grinding. That was Buck Showalter’s line, and it’s very true. Incidentally, this game had a bright point. Of all people, it was Charlie Morton. He ate up some middle innings, surrendering only one run. That sounds bad and it sounds like a reach, but it’s a veteran acting like a veteran should act. I can’t tell you what the issue is with the team right now, but Charlie Morton did his job tonight.

The series concludes tomorrow at Camden Yards. Cade Povich gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Carlos Carrasco. Game time is set for just after 6:30 PM.