Trey Gibson got the start this afternoon in the series finale in Anaheim. Also the finale of a long three-game west coast road trip. Perhaps a defining moment in a sense given the distance and time. And a win going into today would have given the Birds a winning record on the trip. Gibson’s line: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K.
Gibson nibbled here and there, and perhaps a little too much. But he also got his fastball over for strikes towards the end of his outing. I found it interesting that Gibson only lasted four innings. Granted, with the off day tomorrow, almost anyone was eligible to work out of the ‘pen today.
Gibson gave up a two-run home run to Soler in the first inning. Tough way to start, but he righted himself. As did the O’s overall; Pete Alonso led off the top of the second with a base hit. That brought Samuel Basallo to the plate.
Basallo wasn’t at the plate for long. Just like the ball wasn’t in the ballpark for long. Basallo sent a deep fly ball 434 feet from home plate, and over the wall for a game-tying home run. It’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish.
Leody Taveras walked one inning later, and we know what that means for the team in the field! That brought Pete Alonso to the plate, and his RBI-double gave the Birds a 3-2 lead. Which brought Basallo back to the plate.
Basallo didn’t hit it quite 434 feet this time. But he did take it 373 feet to right, which was far enough to clear the wall. And the O’s led, 5-2.
The Oriole bullpen took it from there. Again, I found it interesting that Gibson was lifted early. With the likes of Dean Kremer and Cade Povich potentially eyeing returns in the near future, might the O’s be looking at moving Gibson to the bullpen?
Grissom’s RBI-single in the eighth cut the lead to 5-3. With two on and Guzman coming to the plate, Craig Albernaz again went to the bullpen, this time to match up. He brought in righty Andrew Kittredge to face the righty Guzman.
However I suspect Anaheim expected that. They also expected Kittredge to try and command the fringes of the plate – which he did. Guzman drew a walk to load the bases. Meckler’s subsequent two-RBI single tied the game at five and we went to extras.
Craig Albernaz follows a certain script in games – both games trending towards a win, or towards a loss. It’s almost the same script that was followed by Brandon Hyde/Tony Mansolino the last couple of years. With almost the same players. And with similar results at times.
This is why opponents allow themselves to be loosely goosey at times, and evolve with the game. Which is why at times we see teams sitting on pitches (and ultimately getting them), AND we see the Orioles making curious mistakes in games. The Orioles play so rigid that they can’t allow themselves to evolve with the game. Opponents can.
The Orioles began the tenth with the ghost runner at second, which quickly became runners at the corners. Gunnar Henderson grounded into a fielder’s choice with the out being at home plate, but before the ball king ended Pete Alonso’s RBI-single gave the Orioles the lead back at 6-5.
Albernaz had to turn to Keegan Akin to close the game out in the tenth. He recorded two quick outs, putting the Birds on the precipice of a win and a winning road trip. With the ghost runner having moved to third, Schanuel rolled a ball over to Jeremiah Jackson at second. This appeared to be a routine play…until Keegan Akin decided to come off the mound to make the play. Jackson threw to first base, where Pete Alonso was waiting – but Akin inexplicably seemed to launch himself towards the bag to field the ball, which trickled up the first base line and allowed Schanuel to get to third.
It’s inexplicable why Akin did that. He came off the mound on a dead sprint, almost thinking that Alonso wasn’t at first base to field the ball. His misjudgment and the urgency thereof literally allowed what he thought was preventing – the tying run.
Granted with two outs, but that also allowed the winning run to get to third. O’Hoppe swung at the fourth pitch, and on an excuse me check swing, sent a swinging bunt down the third base line. Samuel Basallo quickly fielded the ball, but the runner squeezed by him and scored, sending the O’s down to a 7-6 defeat.
A lot had to happen for that to end up being the endgame. None of it was expected. None of it went according to the script. Schnauel ran hard down the line to first – just in case he had a shot to reach safely. And he did. His speed caused that play in a sense. Anaheim was ready for whatever happened. The Orioles got caught up in their script.
It’s worth at least mentioning that on the game-winning run, Schnauel may well have been out of the base path – similar to what we saw in Toronto a few weeks ago. Can we definitively say that the umpire blew the call? No. It’s a judgement call. But the runner clearly deviated out of the base path as the tag attempt was being initiated by Basallo.
Tough to say t definitely should have been called. But it was at least something Craig Albernaz should have addressed, and in a fairly spirited manner at that. I guess a potential ejection (after the would-be final out) wasn’t part of the script.
Birdland Crush 