Rico Garcia was slipped in as the opener for the Baltimore Orioles tonight. Cade Povich was still the pitcher of record, but Garcia started out of the gate. Garcia’s line: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
I’m not a fan of openers. It’s too zaney, and personally I’m one who thinks starters should be going deep into games. But the Orioles did it, and the fact is that Houston still got to Povich. Dubon’s RBI-single in the second gave them a 1-0 lead. Two fourth inning RBI-singles ran it to 3-0.
But the O’s weren’t out of it. Dylan Carlson got them on the board in the fifth with a two-run home run. Houston would extend the lead with an Altuve solo homer in the seventh, but Jackson Holliday came through with a two-run shot in the ninth to tie the game at four. The runner in base when the home run was hit? Dylan Beavers, who got aboard in with a double for his first major league hit – in his first game in the bigs.
The game went to extra innings, which is where things got weird. Detrich Enns intentionally walked the first hitter with a ghost runner on second. But Enns pitched out of it. In the eleventh Ryan Mountcastle flied out to right, advancing Luis Vasquez (the ghost runner) to third with one out.
The next pitch was lined to Urias at second by Beavers. The contact play apparently was on, and Vasquez was picked off of third. I would question why the contact play was on, as a medium-depth fly ball was going to score a run with one out. But the contact play was on, and Vasquez was out.
I wouldn’t have had the contact play on. Tony Mansolino said after the game that when the contact play is on, a runner will be picked off on any line drive in the infield. That’s very true – so why put it on? That sort of over-aggression played the Orioles out of a run.
However Houston immediately made the same mistake with regard to over-aggression. Urias (the ghost runner) advanced to third on a wild pitch, and Enns immediately walked Pena on purpose. Runners at the corners with nobody out. If you get a base hit before they can record three outs, or a fly ball to the outfield before they can record two, you win the game.
Instead, Houston put a squeeze play on. Trammell laid down a bunt, which was fielded by Coby Mayo at first. He brilliantly flipped the ball towards home plate with his glove, nailing the runner. Again, why be that aggressive when you have the momentum behind you?
With the bases loaded and one out in the 12th, Urias (who of course was an Oriole a few weeks ago) grounded into a force out at second. However Jordan Westburg’s throwing error allowed the winning run to score, and the O’s fell 5-4. Entertaining game, but a loss.
Urias did that with a soft dribbler to third. End of the day despite all of the over-aggressiveness on both sides, it was a softly-hit roller in the infield that won the game. That’s the sort of thing that’s happened to the Orioles all year. Heck, it probably goes back to last year’s postseason. Interesting quirk, needless to say.
The series concludes tomorrow afternoon at Daikin Park. Dean Kremer gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Houston’s Christian Javier. Game time is set for just after 2 PM.
Birdland Crush 