Things started well enough for the Baltimore Orioles this evening against Colorado. Dean Kremer was dealing, and Oriole bats were hot. But things change often change quickly. Kremer’s line: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 5 K.
Jordan Westburg and Tyler O’Neill each smacked solo homers in the fourth inning to give the O’s a 2-0 lead. Coby Mayo followed with a solo shot of his own in the third, as did Alex Jackson. Almost before the crowd had settled in, the O’s led 4-0.
I’ve written and said a lot thus far this season about the O’s potentially tipping pitches. Quite frankly, at times I STILL think it’s possibly happening (inadvertently, of course). Either that or the analytics the Orioles are using are so strong and so definable, other teams know what they’re going to do, and the adjustments they’re incapable of making.
Nevertheless it almost felt like Colorado might have been tipping their pitches at the beginning. If they were, they themselves were able to pick up on it, and they remedied it. Their starter (Freeland) calmed down after those four home runs. And he started mowing Oriole hitters down.
It was almost like the sides switched circumstances – similar to the game in Tampa earlier this year when the O’s surrendered a 7-0 lead. Colorado found themselves, while the Orioles muddled around in their reporting. Moniak’s solo homer in the fourth cut the lead to 4-1. One inning later Estrada’s two-run home run cut the Oriole lead to 4-3.
An RBI-double by Goodman and an RBI-single by Beck in the fifth gave Colorado a 5-4 lead. That rally came with two outs – another motif regarding the 2025 O’s. Kremer recorded the first two outs of the inning quickly, but struggled after having two outs. Again, another two-out rally.
The O’s would tie the game at five on an RBI-single by Jackson Holliday in the seventh. That got Kremer off the hook, but Tovar’s solo homer in the eighth would end up being the winning run for Colorado. Never allow a team like this to hang around, or you’ll regret it.
The O’s were hitting early. Granted that stopped, but it was happening early. We all know that they say solo home runs don’t hurt you. But if you relinquish several of them, they SHOULD hurt you. Colorado overcame that. And to the victors of the spoils.
The series continues tomorrow night at Camden Yards. Trevor Rogers gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Colorado’s Antonio Senzatela. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.
Birdland Crush 