The Baltimore Orioles’ Kyle Bradish almost achieved a statistical anomaly this afternoon in Cincinnati. He almost pitched a complete game in a losing effort. Needless to say, Bradish goes down as a hard-luck loser this afternoon for the Orioles; he was outstanding. Bradish’s line: 7.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K.
Needless to say, it’s about commanding the zone. Bradish did that today. He retired the first twelve hitters Cincinnati sent up, before allowing a walk to lead off the fifth. That brought Steer to the plate, who smacked a two-run homer. The ball barely made it over the wall. But it was enough.
But Bradish rebounded. That was but a mere blip in the radar in a sense. Until the end, that is. The O’s would get on the board in the sixth on an RBI-single by Coby Mayo. The O’s would proceed to leave the bases loaded that inning, which never bodes well.
I want to give both Bradish and manager Craig Albernaz credit. Albernaz went to the mound with two outs in the eighth and a runner on second to lift Bradish – again after a great outing and a quality start. But Bradish talked him out of it. All of the analytics said to change pitchers there. But Albernaz relented.
That shoes feel for the game. Which is what the Orioles have lacked to this point in many cases. That doesn’t mean it always works out; in this case, Bradish surrendered an RBI-double to Stewart, the O’s trailed 3-1.
Many fans will say that’s why you should trust the analytics. I reject that sentiment. Feel for the game and standing behind your players means more. Sport often mimics life; nothing in life is set in stone. With each day we leave everything to chance.
This isn’t a video game; sometimes the other guy’s going to win. And you accept those moments with grace. But if the last two years’ of Orioles’ baseball tells us anything, it should be that you can’t use a computer to achieve a projected outcome in the real world. It doesn’t work that way.
And the O’s did make it interesting in the ninth. They loaded the bases and Gunnar Henderson’s sac fly-RBI cut the lead and the final to 3-2. End of the day, the elusive four-game winning streak still hasn’t happened. But overall the Birds took two-of-three in the Emerald City over the weekend. There are worse spots in which to be.
Birdland Crush 