Tony Mansolino’s signature appeared on the Baltimore Orioles’ lineup card for the first time in this afternoon’s game against Washington. And it didn’t appear to be much different from the Brandon Hyde era which came to an untimely end earlier in the day. The game may have been over before starter Kyle Gibson recorded an out, and he didn’t make it out of the first inning. Gibson’s line: .2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 1 K.
The first six Washington hitters reached base. And they had put six runs on the board before there were two outs. Gibson’s outing was striking for multiple reasons. Most of his pitches were down. Sometimes away, sometimes inside. He barely even tried to throw a fastball over the plate.
That tells me he didn’t trust his stuff from the beginning. That’s one problem. The second problem is that Washington hitters were going down to get those pitches. As if they knew precisely where they were going to be.
Earlier in the season I wrote about people tipping pitches. I find it hard to believe that Gibson could be that far outside the strike zone, and hitters were going down to get them with that sort of precision. They knew where Gibson was pitching.
They also consistently took extra bases on Oriole outfielders. At times on routine singles. Mind you, that’s a huge risk. But they didn’t seem to care.
Mansolino brought in Charlie Morton to record the last out of the first, which he did. Morton was the MVP of the game. As many struggles as he had in the rotation, he seems to have found a home in the bullpen. This wasn’t the first time he had done this – come in early in relief and bridged the gap. He gave up an RBI-double to Garcia in the second, and that was the only run charged to him.
Morton stabilized the game in a sense. The Birds still couldn’t really score, but that’s certainly not reflective on Charlie Morton. Aside from that lone run, he shut Washington down. And that could also add credence to the idea that pitches are being tipped,
The Orioles did finally get on the board in the last of the seventh with Ramon Urias’ RBI-single. Ramon Laureano’s run-scoring double would cut the lead to 7-2. However a ninth inning double and subsequent single would extend the lead back to 10-2.
However the Birds would put runners on base in the ninth as well. Jorge Mateo’s RBI-single cut the lead to 10-3. That left two runners on base for Jackson Holliday, who smacked a three-run homer to run the final to 10-6.
The bright spots in this game were Charlie Morton, and the late rally. It wasn’t really a rally, as it was more just padding stats. But maybe it’s a start to take the O’s into tomorrow. It’s something.
Mansolino made it clear after the game that he wasn’t thrilled with the manner by which he became a major league manager (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):
Not excited. This isn’t a good thing for us. We’re going to miss Brandon in a lot of ways. To me, he did a great job here. It’s the most wins in baseball the last couple of years. It’s a Manager of the Year. So to get to this point where a change is made, it’s not something that any of us wanted, by any means.
I would mention that the Orioles released a statement about Brandon Hyde’s dismissal circa noon. The game was at four. Maybe that little blast at the end was a collective exhale after the fact.
The series with Washington concludes tomorrow at Camden Yards. Zach Eflin gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Washington’s Michael Soroka. Game time is set for just after 1:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 