The Baltimore Orioles put runners on base today in Cleveland from the get go. You almost expected Trevor Rogers to come into the game with a lead. But that wasn’t to be the case. Rogers’ line: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R (5 earned), 2 BB, 5 K.
Rogers committed a fielding error in the third, failing to tag first base on what should have been a routine put out. The runner would later score in Kwan’s sacrifice fly. That’s always been what AL Central teams do – you give them a slight amount of daylight and they find a way to make you pay.
Ramirez would continue his dominance of the Orioles with a fourth inning solo homer. Later in the inning Brito’s two-RBI double would double the lead to 4-0. Rocchio would add an RBI-single, and the Orioles trailed 5-0.
But the Orioles battled back. They would put two on in the fifth and Taylor Ward would smack a three-run home run to cut the lead to 5-3. The Birds would proceed to load the bases later in the inning. Dylan Beavers would ground into a fielder’s choice, which should have been an inning-ending play. However Jeremiah Jackson slid in safely at second instead of recording an out, allowing the O’s to cut the lead to 5-4.
But Cleveland was too much. They did the small things, and the big ones. Ramirez would hit a second solo home run in the last of the fifth, abd Rocchio’s two-RBI single in the eighth gave Cleveland some insurance. And they went home 8-4 winners over the Birds.
The Orioles swing for the fences every pitch – this in a figurative manner. Teams like Cleveland try to do the small things. That makes it all the more difficult to accept when extra-base hits get taken away by fielders making diving and outstanding plays – which happened several times today.
The two solo homers by Ramirez – they were on pitches that were either on the fringes of the plate, or off the plate entirely. And that was true of almost every pitch in the game. It’s been true most of the season, and it was true last year.
Obviously you don’t want pitches to be right down broadway. But what whichever computer program the Orioles are using to chart pitches can’t quite seem to grasp is that you have to attack the strike zone. Sometimes you have to overpower hitters. Obviously if you throw pitches off the plate, you’re going to eventually have runners on base. And eventually (as we’ve been seeing), opponents are going to actually know to look for pitches off the plate – and they’re going to go out or down to get them.
Offensively, if you prove you’re going to swing at balls, they’re going to throw you balls. The Orioles don’t want to work counts – they want to sit on a fastball and hit it a long way. To be clear, home runs do win you games. But that can’t be the only way in perpetuity.
The Orioles now head to Kansas City to open up a three-game set at Kauffman Stadium. Kyle Bradish gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Kansas City’s Seth Lugo. Game time is set for just after 7:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 