Trevor Rogers got the start for the Baltimore Orioles this evening on the opener against Tampa at Tropicana Field. Needless to say, it wasn’t what anyone wanted to see. To Rogers’ credit, he stabilized himself very late in the outing. But the damage was done. Rogers’ line: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 8 R (7 earned), 2 BB, 3 K.
Rogers was greeted coldly from the beginning as he gave up a leadoff double. That runner went to third on an error, and later scored on Vilade’s sacrifice fly. Tampa continued their barrage on a two-RBI single by Diaz in the second. Caminero wouls add an RBI-single, and DeLuca a two-RBI single before the inning ended, extending the lead to 6-0.
Adler Rutschman would get the Orioles on the board in the third with an RBI-single. Yet Tampa didn’t let that bother them. And maybe that’s part of their secret; they just play and keep playing no matter what. Vilade’s RBI-triple in the fourth gave them a 7-1 lead. It would run to 8-1 on an infield RBI-single by DeLuca.
The fifth inning is what should give fans some sort of hope – at the plate at least. Weston Wilson smacked a solo home run, and Pete Alonso’s two-RBI double almost went out. But it did plate two, cutting the lead in half at 8-4.
I say that should give Orioles fans some hope because of the fact that they have put out some runs the last two games. Going back to the Yankee series last week, that’s doubly true. However that’s a small consolation with how the games end up.
You also have to do all the intangibles to win games. To be clear, none of this directly equaled a loss tonight, but every little bit counts. The O’s led off the last of the fifth with a 3-1 count to Tampa’s Walls. What was clearly strike three was called ball four…with no ABS challenge from pitcher Cameron Foster or Adley Rutschman.
It was strike three. It would have been the first out. But it was inexplicably called ball four. What’s more inexplicable is that the Orioles almost infernally refused to challenge the call. Worse yet, the next hitter (Palacios) got a gift ball three call on a 2-0 count, again with no ABS challenge.
Whether that would have yielded two outs is another story. The Walls pitch most certainly would have been an out. The Palacios call needless to say wouldn’t have been a four-pitch walk. Instead, Tampa plugged on, not willing to be limited. Aranda’s RBI-groundout extended the lead to 9-4. Caminero followed that up with a three-run homer.
By this point, Rogers was long gone. But his pitch track shows him with a lot of balls either on the fringes, or well off the plate. And with those balls getting down for hits. Which makes you wonder if he isn’t tipping his pitches. Others may be as well.
Tampa refused to give up no matter what. Adley Rutschman would smack a solo home run in the seventh, and Blaze Alexander an RBI-double in the eighth. But Tampa didn’t stop until they had 16 runs, and a 16-6 win over the Orioles.
The lack of challenges didn’t lead to this loss. Not in any way, shape, or form. However it does show a glaring lack of attention to detail in how the Orioles operate. Or perhaps, it’s the opposite. They may be SO detailed and SO tuned in, that they can’t see simple facts. There were countless other pitches that could have been challenged. But the two aforementioned led to a barrage of runs that blew the game wide open.
Are the players being told flat out to NEVER challenge? I don’t know. And I hope not. I do think you need to be conservative in how you challenge – especially in the first few innings. But you have to challenge when necessary. The Orioles limited themselves tonight by refusing to challenge calls.
It also shows that the O’s may not be as good as they want people to believe in terms of judging the strike zone. The Orioles, right or wrong, refuse almost infernally to NOT pitch on the fringes of the plate. And the fact is they can’t always hit the corners. Which furthers the point that someone might be tipping pitches.
However on the flip side, when a pitch is borderline they don’t challenge. They’re thus telling the umpire that they can call anything and everything a strike with no protest. It also tells opponents that they can command the fringes of the plate – which is EXACTLY what the Orioles want to do themselves.
Jackson Holliday was activated just prior to this evening’s game, and is now on the active roster. It would stand to reason that we’ll see him tomorrow. Adley Rutschman was also caught by a backswing…late in the game on a pitch from Weston Wilson – a position player. Rutschman didn’t appear to be injured, but it does show how you aren’t running from risk by bringing in a position player. Will the next analytical aspect of the game be to just forfeit at a certain point so nobody gets hurt?
The series continues tomorrow at Tropicana Field. Kyle Bradish gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Griffin Jax. Game time is set for just after 6:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 