Shane Baz deserved to be the winning pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles today. For all intents and purposes, he was. Until he wasn’t. And until the Birds weren’t winners. Baz’s line: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R (1 earned), 1 BB, 3 K.
Baz was strong for most of his outing. He was able to get a decent lead in the fifth. Colton Cowser smacked a solo homer to give the Birds a 1-0 lead. After a Jackson Holliday triple, Blaze Alexander’s RBI-double doubled the lead, and eventually Taylor Ward would score him with a two-run homer. Things were moving along nicely.
Baz surrendered a solo homer to Pinango in the sixth. Shouldn’t have been a problem. Solo home runs don’t beat you. Especially when you have four already on the board. But remember that you always see something new in baseball everyday.
With one out and a runner on after a double, Clement reached on a Gunnar Henderson error. Which is a problem in and of itself. That put runners on first and second with one out and one in. This before all hell broke loose.
To their credit, Toronto always takes advantage of opportunities they’re presented. This whether they deserve them or not. Valenzuela grounded out to short; Gunnar Henderson moved to tag Clement for the first out at second before throwing back to complete the double-play at first. However…
…the base runner Clement veered WAY off the base path. By that, I mean he was almost on the outfield grass. Gunnar Henderson all but abandoned his attempt to tag so he could make the play at first. And…Clement was ruled safe at second base by second base umpire Derek Kelley. As opposed to a double-play, it was a fielder’s choice and a run scored, cutting the Orioles’ lead to 4-2.
Multiple players, including Baz and Henderson protested vehemently about Clement being out of the base lines. Craig Albernaz came out and argued as well, but to no avail. The run scored. Clement would later score on an RBI-single by Okamoto, who later scored on an RBI-double by Giminez.
To top it off, Lukes sent a liner deflected off of pitcher Yennier Cano to Jackson Holliday, scoring a fifth run and giving Toronto a 5-4 lead. Valenzuela would smack a solo homer in the eighth to extend it to 6-4. The Orioles did threaten a couple of other times, and to top it off Jackson Holliday was called out for…being out of the base line in the ninth. And he was out of the base lines; but the juxtaposition speaks for itself.
Craig Albernaz said after the game that he was told that the runner established himself in a lane from the beginning of the play. Fair enough, but as Henderson tried to tag him he took a hard turn towards the outfield. Hardly staying in his established lane. Furthermore the rules state that any player three feet off the base path is out.
Simply put, Clement should have been ruled out. Nobody who’s seen that replay would say otherwise. On top of that, Albernaz was also told that Henderson didn’t make a good enough attempt to tag the runner. Admittedly it was a weak lunge to make the tag. But Clement was so far out of the base path, that he had no choice unless he wanted to risk missing out on the out at first base. On top of that, he probably assumed the umpire would make the call.
The only thing that Shane Baz said after the game when asked about that play was that he didn’t want to speak about it because if he does he’ll get fined. That tells you all you need to know. Wins and losses are all the sum of the parts. Gunnar Henderson’s error played a role also. But obviously that play stands out. And it cost the Orioles the game – if the correct call is made there, the inning ends with the Birds leading, 4-1.
The Orioles now head home to open a three-game set against Seattle at Camden Yards. The O’s are yet to announce a starter, but Seattle is throwing Emerson Hancock. Game time is set for just after 6:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 