Tomoyuki Sugano labored through five innings for the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon at Wrigley Field. In short, he set the table. But a laborious afternoon, and not a perfect one. But one where he was able to help the Orioles at least hang around. Sugano’s line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K.
Chicago put two runners in scoring position in the second, and Horner’s RBI-single gave them a 1-0 lead. McGuire’s sac fly-RBI would extend it to 2-0. Jordan Westburg led off the fourth with a single, and was promptly picked off of first. You can’t let that happen.
Chicago starter Boyd has a strange pickoff move that’s borderline to being a balk, quite frankly, it could go either way. The umpire didn’t rule it a balk, so it was an out. In the hole half of the inning Horner would tack on an RBI-single, and Chicago led 3-0.
However Oriole pitching buckled down in the wake of that fourth inning and mowed hitters down. Which was good, because the O’s couldn’t afford any more runs surrendered. Keep in mind, the O’s hadn’t scored a run since the trade deadline.
Colton Cowser walked to lead off the eighth inning. Jeremiah Jackson followed with a single. Later in the inning Jordan Westburg’s RBI-single got the O’s on the board and cut the Chicago lead to 3-1. At least they ended the mini-scoreless streak.
Backing up a second, with one out in the inning Jackson Holiday grounded into a force out. Chicago couldn’t turn two, and the inning continued. Which means that had they turned two, Gunnar Henderson wouldn’t have come up.
And if you watched the game you know what happened. Henderson smacked a three-run home run to right field, giving the Orioles an impromptu 4-3 lead. You don’t get more clutch than that.
Keegan Akin put the winning run on base in the ninth, but retired the side for the save. There are legitimate criticisms to be made of the Orioles this year, along with a lot of other things that were out of their realm of control. But in a year where nothing’s gone right, that’s as improbable a win as you’ll see.
The series concludes tomorrow at Wrigley Field – the Friendly Confines. Brandon Young gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Chicago’s Colin Rea. Game time is set for 2:20 PM.
Birdland Crush 