Author Archives: Domenic Vadala

Welcome to Birdland Crush! Yes folks, for the record it's a spin off of the popular summer beverage native to the Mid-Atlantic Region - "orange crush." Nevertheless, I've been covering Orioles' baseball since 2009 in some capacity, and it's basically the greatest gig of all time so far as I'm concerned! But for those who aren't familiar with my work or bio, I'm familiar with pretty much every sport out there. But baseball is king - we all know that. So my hope is that you come back and check in after every Orioles' game, and throughout the off-season. I'm always on duty!

Baltimore Orioles: Pitching rules the night

It begins and ends with starting pitching – for the Baltimore Orioles and all other teams. They got it last night from Trevor Rogers against Washington. As much as people try to say bullpens matter more now, they just don’t. There’s no substitute for solid starting pitching. Rogers’ line: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 7 K.

Rogers attacked the strike zone so much that he didn’t even issue a walk. He overpowered Washington hitters. Mind you, the Washington Nationals are baseball’s highest scoring team. Trevor Rogers shut them down.

The O’s ran themselves out of an inning in the second when Leody Taveras was caught stealing with two outs and runners on the corners. Rogers also got himself into a slight bit of a pickle in the fourth. Washington put two runners in scoring position after a softly hit double and a softly hit single. The sort of thing that’s plagued the Birds all year. But he pitched out of that, including an out recorded at home plate.

In their half of the frame the O’s also put two runners in scoring position. Jackson Holliday drew a walk, loading the bases. The Orioles would then take a 2-0 lead on Blaze Alexander’s two-RBI single. Alexander would later be thrown out at third on a Taylor Ward single, and the out was recorded before Jackson Holliday crossed home plate – negating a third run.

That’s the second time in a few weeks that’s happened. Both times it was Alexander being thrown out before Holliday could touch home plate. Whether it’s Holliday lallygagging around the bases or Alexander making poor decisions on the base paths – or both, you can’t give away runs. Especially in close ballgames.

Washington would cut the lead in half in the fifth on an RBI-single by Ruiz. Rogers was pulled in the seventh with one on and one out. Again, this after an outstanding outing, albeit after only 87 pitches. My personal opinion was that Craig Albernaz pulled him too early. However Tyler Wells picked up right where Rogers left off, ending the inning.

Coby Mayo’s RBI-double in the last of the seventh gave the Orioles the insurance run they needed. Grant Wolfram set up Ryan Helsley for the ninth, and he sent Washington down 1-2-3. With the win, the O’s got the taste of Wednesday’s game in Anaheim out of their mouths.

The series continues tonight at Camden Yards. Brandon Young gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Washington’s Foster Griffin. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Throw the script out if you want to win

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.

Baltimore Orioles: From feast to famine in Anaheim

After Monday’s win, the Baltimore Orioles had quite a different sort of game last night. Shane Baz struggled, but roughed his way through five innings. Baz’s line: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 5 K.

I mentioned yesterday that Kyle Bradish commanded the strike zone. Baz did his share of nibbling last night, and the result speaks for itself. You can’t live on the fringes or the plate or off the plate. Bradish mowed down hitters left and right. Baz had balls put in play and runners reaching base.

He surrendered a two-run homer in the first to Schanuel, giving Anaheim a 2-0 lead. Baz kept them off the board until the fifth after that, when Grissom’s two-RBI single extended the lead to 4-0. Soler racked on a sac fly-RBI in the end of the inning, and the O’s trailed 5-0.

The O’s didn’t get a hit against Anaheim’s Johnson until the sixth. They got on the board in the seventh on an RBI-single by Leody Taveras. In total in the game, they only had three hits.

So it’s feast or famine in Anaheim. The one bright spot for the Birds was Albert Suarez, who pitched three innings of relief for the O’s, surrendering only one hit. He also kept the bullpen fresh for the series finale today. A win in the finale would give the Orioles a winning west coast road trip.

The series and the roadtrip conclude the afternoon at Angel Stadium. Trey Gibson gets the start for the O’s, done he’ll be opposed by Anaheim’s Jose Soriano. Game time is set for just after 4 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: The Leody Taveras game

The Baltimore Orioles got another sparkling start out of Kyle Bradish last night at “The Big A” in Anaheim. Despite a rough start in Seattle, the Orioles really have a good shot to make this a great road trip. If they win tonight or tomorrow, it would be an above .500 west coast swing. Bradish’s line: 8.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K.

Pitchers who have commanded the strike zone have succeeded this year. Bradish struck out nine Anaheim hitters last night, and in doing so he avoided nibbling. He simply overpowered the hitters. That’s the goal. That wins games.

Taylor Ward smacked the fourth pitch of the ballgame out of the park to give the O’s a 1-0 lead. Gunnar Henderson later led off the fourth with a walk. And we all know what that means – nothing good happens after a walk (for the team in the field, that is). Pete Alonso followed with a single, bringing Coby Mayo to the plate. And Mayo hit a ball far out of “The Big A,” giving the O’s a 4-0 lead.

Pete Alonso added a sac fly-RBI in the fifth, and Gunnar Henderson an RBI-triple in the seventh. Rico Garcia would give up a solo home run to Soler in the ninth, but he quickly righted himself. He retired the side 1-2-3 after that, the O’s took game on in Anaheim, 6-1.

However the bigger story in the game was Leody Taveras. The outfielder entered the game at third base for the first time in his career in the last of the third, replacing Blaze Alexander. Curious move.

As it turned out, Alexander had fouled a ball off his knee in the second inning, and it later locked up on him. For one reason or the other, the Orioles opted to insert Taveras at a position he’s never played in lieu of simply surrendering their DH, and moving Coby Mayo (the starting DH) into the field. I’m not suggesting that Kyle Bradish having to hit would have been ideal. But for my money it would have been the lesser of two evils as opposed to Taveras playing third.

But Taveras was flawless at the hot corner. The first hitter grounded a ball right to him, and he easily made the play. It makes you wonder if in the moment perhaps he didn’t have time to think about it and it sort of came more naturally to him. But one way or the other that saved the game. Anaheim was presented with a huge advantage, and Taveras didn’t allow them to take it.

Alexander was said to have a muscle contusion in his knee after the game. Craig Albernaz said he’d be “fine.” Again my personal opinion is that surrendering your DH would have been a better option, but Taveras at third worked out. This time.

The series continues tonight at Angel Stadium. Shane Baz gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Anaheim’s Ryan Johnson. Game time is set for just after 9:30 PM,

Baltimore Orioles win until the “cows” come home in the City of Angels

While the City of Angels was on fire this morning due to a neighborhood fire raging out of control, the Baltimore Orioles sent Brandon Young to mound in Chavez Ravine. Young wasn’t at his best. But needless to say, he got the job done accordingly. And Oriole bats delivered – especially Colton Cowser. Young’s line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K.

The Oriole Way jumped over Dodger Blue from the very beginning. And for once, it wasn’t close in the ninth inning. Samuel Basallo and Colton Cowser each smacked RBI-singles in the last of the first to give the Birds a 2-0 lead. Muncy would get one back for LA in the home half of the frame with an RBI-single, but that was the home team’s lone highlight in the game.

Instead, the Orioles turned the colors of this game to orange & black – similar to the fire roaring in Los Angeles as the game wore on. Taylor Ward’s solo homer in the second extended the lead to 3-1. Colton Cowser hit a solo shot of his own one inning later, as well as a two-RBI single in the fourth. When the smoke cleared, the O’s led 6-1.

The bats took a couple of innings off, but picked back up in the seventh with an RBI-double by Jeremiah Jackson. If the game hadn’t already been blown wide open, Pete Alonso’s three-run homer later in the inning did just that. And to prove the O’s weren’t kidding, Blaze Alexander’s two-run homer in the eight acted as an exclamation point.

With the 12-1 blowout win, the O’s took two-of-three from the defending champions over the weekend series. It was hit-or-miss after Friday night’s loss. But the O’s certainly battled back against Dodger Blue in a great way. Everyone contributed. With three to go on the three-game west coast road swing, the Birds are .500 on the trip.

The O’s now head down the freeway to open up a three-game set against Anaheim at Angel Stadium. Kyle Bradish gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Anaheim’s Sam Aldegheri. Game time is set for just after 9:30 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: A career start for Trevor Rogers

The Baltimore Orioles got one of the best starts of Trevor Rogers’ career last night at Dodger Stadium. Anytime you only surrender one hit in the bulk of the game, you’re going to put your team in a spot to win. Rogers’ line: 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K.

Rogers mowed ‘em down from the beginning. Following Friday night’s debacle, this was a game the Orioles needed to win. Rogers did his part. Oriole bats did just enough.

The O’s put runners at the corners with nobody out in the second. Coby Mayo grounded into a force out at second, which scored Leody Taveras and gave the O’s a 1-0 lead. One thing I found fascinating is that Betts at short fielded the ball and took the force out at second, could he have not tried to nail the runner at home plate?

Maybe they thought the contact play wasn’t going to be on. Maybe the angle wasn’t ideal. Or maybe they figured it was only one run and they would get it back. Or that the Orioles would squander the lead. If it’s that last option, that’s a dangerous mentality.

With one out in the fourth the O’s loaded the bases. Keep in mind that this is a team that struggles with runners in scoring position. Jackson Holliday struck out, and you all but expected Blaze Alexander to do the same – or put the ball in play and record an out. But he didn’t – he smacked a two-RBI double down the third base line, giving the Birds a 3-0 lead.

The lead held up until the end. Los Angeles did threaten to spoil the party again, however. Ohtani’s solo homer in the last of the ninth cut the lead to 3-1. After putting a couple of additional runners on, Los Angeles got a second run when Edman reached on a fielding error by Leody Taveras in right field when he bobbled the ball. But the O’s closed out the final out, and took a 3-2 win at Dodger Stadium home – or back to their hotel.

That’s too close for comfort, however the Dodgers are the best team in the league. And the two-time defending champions. But a win is a win. And the Orioles will take it.

Before the game the O’s sent Adley Rutschman to the seven-day concussion IL after he showed concussion symptoms. Rutschman of course was hit in the head on a relay throw back to first base after he grounded into a force out on Thursday in Seattle. Not news the Orioles wanted to report. Not an injury that the training staff or anyone else could have prevented. Just something that’s about par for the course for this year’s Orioles’ season – and last year’s.

The series concludes today at Dodger Stadium.

Brandon Young gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Los Angeles’ Emmett Sheehan. Game time is set for just after 4 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: You can’t game the system

With last night’s start for the Baltimore Orioles, Trey Gibson has the distinction of starting games in his first year both at Yankee Stadium and Dodger Stadium. Last night he wasn’t great. Beginning and ending with the fact that the game plan seemed to be to stay out of the strike zone overall unless absolutely necessary. But he did pitch out of a major jam, which is telling. Gibson’s line: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 8 K.

Gibson seemed almost to have been told to not throw the ball in the strike zone. Granted, Los Angeles is probably the best team in the league. But you can’t surrender base runner after base runner and think that by putting the ball in play you’re going to record outs. With two on in the first inning Gibson felt compelled to throw a fastball to Muncy, who jumped on it for a two-RBI double.

Backing up just a bit, the Orioles also seemingly cause more headaches for themselves trying to game the system. Beginning with Taylor Ward trying to stretch a single into a double on the first at-bat of the game, and being thrown out at second. Ward led off the ballgame with a solid base hit which was quickly cut off. Odds are that made him think he could get to second, but was thrown out. That killed a rally before it started.

One inning later with one out and a runner on first, Pages lined an RBI-double to Jeremiah Jackson in left. First off, the pitch was out of the strike zone; when teams anticipate hittable pitches out of the zone, they know where to look. However that run (while ruled an RBI) came because Jackson slightly slipped and bobbled the ball, albeit briefly. It was a close play at the plate which was confirmed on review.

Again, you can’t game the system. The Orioles have been ravaged once again by injuries this year, such as Heston Kjerstad and Dylan Beavers. (Not to mention Chris Bassitt, Dean Kremer, et al.) But the answer isn’t playing infielders like Jeremiah Jackson in the outfield. In fact, they’re doing guys like Jackson no favors, as playing out of position makes them look inept as fielders. You have to put people in a position to succeed in anything.

Gibson proceeded to load the bases in the third with nobody out. However at that point for once, things started to work out. Gibson relied on almost exclusively breaking pitches. With the bases loaded, he struck out three hitters to get out of the inning. It’s fair to say that Gibson caused the traffic on the bases. But also fair to say he single-handedly got himself out of the jam.

Oriole bats came alive in the sixth with a two-run home run by Gunnar Henderson. He was followed by Pete Alonso, who smacked a solo homer which tied the game at three. One inning later, Jeremiah Jackson’s two-RBI single put the O’s in the lead at 5-3. A late lead…at Dodger Stadium?!

Part of the reason that Jackson was in the outfield was so his bat could get into the lineup. Whomever sends the lineup in probably sees that two-RBI single as justification. And needless to say, it is good that Jackson pulled that off. But my point remains the same; you can’t think that defensive metrics aren’t going to sneak up on you when guys are out of position in the field.

The Orioles carried that lead into the ninth. Remember, Ryan Helsley gave up a couple of home runs in his last outing against Seattle, but the O’s held onto win. He gave up a solo homer to Betts to cut the lead to 5-4. He also issued two walks in the inning.

With two outs, Rushing smacked a single to Tyler O’Neill in right, allowing the tying run to score. O’Neill all but air mailed the throw to the plate, which arrived up the third base line. Samuel Basallo did what he could to field the ball, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the winning run from scoring, and the O’s dropped a 6-5 game late at Dodger Stadium,

That final play is obviously more memorable given the fact that it ended the game. But the more glaring thing is Jeremiah Jackson’s slight mishap in the outfield in the second inning. That cost the Orioles a run by the slimmest of margins.

Is it fair to suggest that he showed why they needed to get him in the lineup with his go-ahead hit? Sure. But that illustrates the fact that the front office needs to put more of an emphasis on defense. If Jackson’s bat is that valuable, DH him. Make no mistake that an infielder playing in the outfield made a small mistake that cost the Orioles a run early. And the Orioles proceeded to lose a very winnable game by one run.

For the record, there’s not much blame that can be put on Jeremiah Jackson. He’s the guy who was set up to fail in a sense. The Orioles’ front office is trying to outsmart the system. You just can’t do that. When you put an infielder in the outfield, he doesn’t suddenly become a natural outfielder. Was there a hot dog wrapper on the field which caused Jackson to briefly slip, or did he briefly slip because he wasn’t playing his natural position? You can’t game the system.

Incidentally that final play – it’s one that many people think Basallo should have made. Maybe it is. But why did Tyler O’Neill decide to rush a throw home?

The series continues tonight at Dodger Stadium. Trevor Rogers gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Los Angeles’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Game time is set for just after 10 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Late night win

It begins and ends with starting pitching – for the Baltimore Orioles and everyone else. The Birds got a quality start in Seattle for the second consecutive game last night, this time from Kyle Bradish. He mowed ‘em down – Seattle hitters, that is – from the beginning. Bradish’s line: 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 12 K.

Twelve strikeouts. There’s something to that. Some of the best pitching outings that the Orioles have gotten this year had high strikeout totals from their own staff. This as opposed to pitching on the fringes of the plate with the idea that a high spin rate is going to induce putting the ball in play. All that’s done is induce soft contact and assisted opponents in getting on base. Twelve strikeouts is also a career-high for Kyle Bradish.

The O’s struck first when Gunnar Henderson smacked a two-run homer in the third. Bradish would surrender his one run one inning later when Canzone’s RBI-single got Seattle on the board. However Bradish also minimized the damage. Which is often a key to a quality start.

The O’s would begin to tack on in the sixth. Leody Taveras’ RBI-triple extended the lead to 3-1. It’s also worth noting that Tyler O’Neill robbed Raleigh of at the very least an extra-base hit in the sixth. Raleigh sent a deep drive to right field; O’Neill scaled the wall and caught the ball on the railing. O’Neill has seen a lot of criticism from fans for his lack of production at the plate, but that was as big a defensive play as you’ll see.

The O’s put runners at the corners in the seventh, and Taylor Ward drove in a run by grounding into a double-play. Not the ideal way to score, but it’s still a run. Jackson Holliday would smack a solo home run in the ninth as an insurance run.

The Orioles got Ryan Helsley back off the IL coming into this series. The one slight blip in the radar from last night’s game was that he surrendered back-to-back solo homers in the last of the ninth. Again, not ideal. But Helsley did seem to right himself and he sent Seattle down in order after that, soaring the Birds to a 5-3 win.

The series concludes this afternoon at T-Mobile Park. Shane Baz gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Seattle’s Bryan Woo. Game time is set for just after 4 PM.

Baltimore Orioles drop late night pitchers duel

Brandon Young gave the Baltimore Orioles a quality start late last night in the series opener in Seattle at T-Mobile Park. Sadly, the bats didn’t cooperate once again. Young has been a pleasant surprise thus far this season, and last night was no exception. Young’s line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 2 K.

Taylor Ward jumped on the first pitch and almost smacked it out of the ballpark. However it hit off the top of the wall and Ward ended up on second base. He would later score on Samuel Basallo’s RBI-single to give the O’s a 1-0 lead.

That would have indicated that the O’s were going to put some runs up. However the issue is that despite that quick jolt on the first pitch, that was the only run the O’s scored – in that sequence and at all. You just can’t let opportunities go by the wayside like that. And it’s happening too often.

Seattle got to Young in the third on Rodruiguez’s RBI-single. That came on the heels of two walks. In a tight game, every base runner matters. However that was the only run that Young allowed in that sequence as well. He pitched himself into a jam, and minimized the damage.

Young gave a quality start, which is always outstanding. It’s a tragic twist of fate when it occurs in a losing effort. It’s certainly not Yonng’s fault that Oriole bats couldn’t muster anything. The Orioles only registered three hits in the entire game. That shouldn’t be the case.

Despite Young’s quality start, he can’t last forever in the game. He came back out for the seventh and Allowed two singles before manager Craig Albernaz pulled him. Those two runners would both score on a two-RBI single by Raleigh, sending the O’s to a 3-1 defeat.

It’s easy to say that Craig Albernaz left Young in too long. Granted that almost goes without saying. But pitchers can often lose it in a game very quickly. The real villain in this game would be the offense. Seattle pitchers struck out twelve Orioles. 12. They only had four opportunities with runners in scoring position, as they struggled to get on base. You can’t win many games like that.

The series continues tonight at T-Mobile Park. Kyle Bradish gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Seattle’s George Kirby. Game time is set for just after 9:30 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: A loss on the fringes

Trevor Rogers didn’t pitch poorly for the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon. But he had just enough things go awry to hurt the O’s. Some within the bounds of his control, and some outside of it. Rogers’ line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K.

San Diego’s Taylor led off the second inning with a bunt – which seemed fairly unorthodox. However the ball went back to Rogers, with Pete Alonso also making a play on the ball. Which meant that Jeremiah Jackson probably should have covered the bag. He didn’t, and Taylor was safe.

He would later score on another play involving Jackson at second. Duran grounded the ball to second, but it hit the bag and went into center field. My question is why did Jackson allow the ball to hit the bag instead of fielding it before it got there? Nevertheless, it went as an RBI-double. Tatis would tack on an RBI-single before the inning ended and the O’s trailed 2-0.

Jackson would quasi-redeem himself in the last of the fifth with a solo homer. However Duran would come on again in the seventh with one on. This following a walk – and nothing good happens after a walk. Duran smacked a two-run homer, breaking the game wide open.

The Birds would get one back in the bottom of the inning on Gunnar Henderson’s RBI-single. However Henderson and Jackson Holliday would combine to commit three errors in the top of the ninth. Tatis appeared to hit into a double-play when he lined out to Blaze Alexander in right field to end the inning. But…

…San Diego challenged the tag at the plate. And the umpire ruled that Wagner slide in safe by a fingernail before the tag at home plate. The O’s went 1-2-3 in the ninth, dropping the series. And the homestead before going out west.

Oriole pitchers, including Rogers (who pitched well) aimed for the fringes of the plate all day. Many of them missed. That combined with the bizzare stretch in the second inning surrounding Jeremiah Jackson…in various ways, this game was lost on the fringes.

Here’s another intangible point. San Diego indubitably seemed to use the theatrics in yesterday’s game (surrounding the hit batsmen) as fodder going into today. And you have to wonder if part of the reason Craig Stanmen fought as hard as he did with the umpiring crew was to fire up his team. Needless to say, the result today would indicate that it did.

Instead, Craig Albernaz seemed to try to diffuse the situation in his postgame comments – this last night. The professional term would be that he took the high road. Which in general is a virtuous thing both in life and in baseball. But is it possible that he inadvertently allowed the wind to be taken out of his team’s sails, and put into the sails of an opponent?