Many people will look at the headline and say that the Baltimore Orioles shouldn’t be willing to live with any loss. And sure, that’s true in a perfect world. Dean Kremer wasn’t great tonight, but he wasn’t awful. And he probably worked a little extra into the game, saving a bullpen reliever. Kremer’s line: 5.1 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 6 K.
Going back to the point above, it’s not a perfect world. You can live with dropping a game like this where you fought and things didn’t break your way in the end. This as opposed to losing games perhaps because a computer program told you to do this or that in game.
The Orioles appeared to come untracked as a team today. That meaning that perhaps they didn’t have the reliance on analytics and only analytics. And it almost worked. It certainly did at first when Ramon Laureano smacked a solo homer in the second inning.
However Milwaukee put up three in their half of the frame, and took a 3-1 lead. Contreras would add an RBI-double in the last of the fifth, and the Birds trailed 4-1. But maybe you’ve noticed and maybe you haven’t – in each game of the newly-minted Tony Mansolino era the Birds have put up late runs. In this case tonight, they weren’t already too far behind for it to make a difference.
The O’s put two runners in scoring position in the seventh, bringing Cedric Mullins to the plate. And Mullins ambushed a pitch over the right field wall, tying the game at four. And that’s part of why I reference the computer program above. The Orioles have made it clear that analytics are their game – right or wrong. When’s the last time you’ve seen an Oriole player ambush a pitch like that early in a count? Maybe they put the iPad away for a moment and allowed themselves to play in the moment.
But end of the day, it’s chalked up as the Orioles’ seventh loss in a row. Yennier Cano issued a two-out walk in the ninth, and Turang promptly stole second. He scored on Contreras’ RBI-single, lifting Milwaukee to victory.
Again, you can live with dropping a game like this. It’s games when your use of analytics are used against you and where you can’t get out of your own way that stick in your mind. Also worth mentioning that the Orioles again made lots of hard contact in this game. Big time. And Milwaukee fielders made amazing plays. Par for the course for this year.
The series continues tomorrow night at American Family Field. The Orioles are yet to announce a starter, but whomever he ends up being will be opposed by Milwaukee’s Logan Henderson. Game time is set for just after 7:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 