Kyle Bradish pitched well enough to win tonight for the Baltimore Orioles. He had a rough first inning in terms of pitch count, but he hung in there afterwards. And he was rewarded with a loss, with which he had very little to do. Bradish’s line: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K.
Bradish had the lead before even getting on the mound at Tropicana Field. Taylor Ward smacked a solo home run on the second pitch of the game to give the Birds a 1-0 lead. A lead that was short-lived.
Bradish quickly recorded two outs in the last of the first. He proceeded to throw approximately 36 total pitches in the inning to record the final out. He would walk Aranda, and then surrender a perfectly-placed RBI-double to Diaz to tie the score at one.
There are two points on this play. First and foremost, it’s another situation that starts innocently enough, but ends up a two-out rally. The Orioles absolutely CANNOT put people away with two outs and/or two strikes. There has to be something that’s being tipped to opposing teams. It’s almost impossible for that not to be the case, because we’re well past the point to where it could be coincidental. Yet two consecutive coaching staffs and an Ivy League Front Office have been unable to get that figured out.
The second point is the fact that the play in question split two outfielders and went all the way to the wall. We saw this a lot last year – not quite as much yet in 2026. The Orioles play their outfield deep and dramatically to pull. This opens up holes in bad places; holes that opponents always seem to find. No doubles defebse is good late; not so much with two outs and a runner on first in the first inning.
To Bradish’s credit, he stabilized. He had a few shut down innings, not surrendering a run. He made it through five innings with over 90 pitches – which was much less than his pace in the first inning. He was aided by Samuel Basallo seeming to buck the trend of not using ABS challenges on anything to record the final strike and out in the fifth. But he made it through five.
Inexplicably, he was sent back out for the sixth. He promptly surrendered a solo homer to Diaz. Is it fair to suggest that he should have been pulled? Maybe, maybe not. Needless to say unless he had a clean and quick inning he wasn’t going to last the entire sixth.
That’s where it’s important to have feel for the game in terms of coaching. Of course the player is always going to say he wants to go back out there. Obviously the Sabre Metrics were on that side as well. But do either of those points take into account where a pitcher is in terms of fatigue or anything else? Again, feel for the game has to take over at a certain point.
The Orioles’ offense was never going to be able to find a way to come back in this game. But similar to what we saw last night, Tampa was going to take a mile every time they were given an inch. Yennier Cano recorded two easy outs in the eight. But again the O’s found themselves at that dreaded two out spot.
Cano would hit Diaz with a pitch, giving Tampa a two-out base runner. Again, conventional wisdom says you move past that and quickly mop up the situation. Instead, Tampa and their intense joie de vivre won out. Rico Garcia replaced Cano, and promptly surrendered an RBI-double to Palacios off the wall in right. However Diaz didn’t get a good read on the ball, yet was sent to score anyways. Colton Cowser relayed the ball in, and Samuel Basallo was positioned in front of the plate to receive the relay throw. The runner was safe, and Palacios sensed up at third.
Palacios would immediately score on DeLuca’s RBI-single, giving Tampa a 4-1 lead – which was the eventual final. The DeLuca hit was dumped in – very softly, to left field. Again, the number of two-out rallies, and opponents’ ability to dump balls in precisely where Oriole fielders aren’t located is uncanny.
Again, Craig Albernaz needs to look closely at how he’s positioning his fielders – first off. Secondly, he needs to study hard and long at how his team gives up so many two-out rallies. It’s almost as if opponents are waiting for two outs to put their offense in motion. Again, this is something Albernaz can’t grasp for now; neither could Brandon Hyde. Neither seemingly can the Ivy League-educated front office. There is however a common denominator in that algorithm.
The series concludes tomorrow at Tropicana Field. Shane Baz gets the start for the Orioles, and Tampa is yet to announce a starter. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.
Birdland Crush 