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 salvage one in Wrigleyville

Dean Kremer pitched well enough to win today for the Baltimore Orioles at a Wrigley Field. It wasn’t spectacular, but it’s not always going to be. However if you can win enough of the “so-so starts,” you’re going to have a good season. So far Kremer and the Birds are doing just that. Kremer’s line: 5.0 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K.

It didn’t start out so hot. Tauchman, who’s burned the O’s all weekend, smacked the first pitch Kremer threw on the game out of the ballpark. Certainly it’s fair to say that Kremer limited the damage, which is good. However he put the O’s in the hole until the fourth when Anthony Santander hit a solo shot of his own, tying the game at one.

And in fact, the O’s took the lead later in the inning when Ramon Urias smacked an RBI-single. But Chicago wasn’t going anywhere either. In the bottom of the inning Morel hit a two-run home run, giving Chicago their lead back at 3-2.

However keep in mind that the Birds haven’t been swept in over a year – which is amazing if you think about it. And they weren’t about to make this time moment to end that streak. Urias tied the game back up in the sixth with a sac fly-RBI, and suddenly we had a new ballgame.

Later in that sixth inning the O’s got a runner on scoring position, and Adam Frazier’s RBI-single put them back in the lead at 4-3. Jorge Mateo would add an RBI-single of his own (before being thrown out at second base), extending the lead to 5-3. Tack on an Adley Rutschman RBI-double in the ninth, and the O’s head to Tampa with a 6-3 win in Wrigleyville.

The O’s did have to send catcher James McCann to the IL before the game. Manager Brandon Hyde said that he’s hopeful it’ll only be a ten-day stint. McCann injured himself running out a grounder at first base yesterday afternoon.

Baltimore Orioles: Ol’ Blue weighs in with the game on the line

The Baltimore Orioles got a great start this afternoon out of Kyle Gibson. A quality start, to be exact, both on paper and in practice. Obviously he still surrendered more runs than his team put up, however he put the O’s in a spot to win. Gibson’s line: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 7 K.

These sorts of games are always tough, especially on the road. You’re almost on edge the entire game because there isn’t much scoring, and it feels like every pitch means something. But that’s also part of the theatre of baseball. You take it or leave it.

Despite his outstanding effort today, Gibson and the Orioles fell behind in the last of the third on Hoerner’s two-run double. But the Birds bounced back in the fifth. Adley Rutschman’s two-run homer tied the game at five.

Unfortunately however, the Orioles didn’t okY the game tied for too long. Tauchman’s sac fly-RBI in the last of the fifth gave Chicago the lead back. And at that score the game would stay, and the O’s dropped the second straight game at Wrigley Field.

This game wasn’t without it’s controversies, however. Home plate umpire CB Bucknor had a wide abs revolving strike zone all afternoon, Now to be clear and unequivocal, that isn’t why the game finished the way it did. Teams have scouting reports on umpires in terms of how they call home plate and so forth. Chicago adapted to Buck or better than the Orioles did.

The Birds had two on with two outs in the seventh with Anthony Santander at the plate. On a two strike count, Bucknor rang him up on a pitch that looked like it could have ended up in the third base dugout. Santander didn’t look amused as he walked back to the dugout. And the fact that Bucknor allowed it says that he knows he made the wrong call.

Ironically, the O’s did get the tying run on base in the ninth. Austin Hays walked with two outs, on a pitch that indubitably WAS a ball. However it had been called a strike for much of the game. That caused complaining in the Chicago dugout – also prompted the umpires to review the count because there was confusion over whether that was actually ball four.

And it was evident to me that players on both sides were swinging (and missing) at balls out of the strike zone as the game wore on. In a way that’s good, because it shows guys are trying to adapt to the game situation. But it also means that the home plate umpire is interjecting himself into the flow of the game. And Major League Baseball needs to put a stop to that.

The series concludes tomorrow at Wrigley Field. Dean Kremer gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Chicago’s Jameson Taillon. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles cap off a 5-1 home stand with another win over Toronto

Tyler Wells is DEALING for the Baltimore Orioles. As he’s done many other times, including previously on this home stand, he went out today and dominated an opponent. That being Toronto. Wells’ line: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K.

The eight strikeouts sticks out at me. It’s tough to pitch much better than that. Now the downside to eight strikeouts is the number of pitches thrown. Strikeouts cost at least three pitches. In theory, fly outs or ground outs could be fewer. However the fact is that Wells took care of what he needed to take care of today. Just as he has all season.

The Birds took an immediate 1-0 lead on Gunnar Henderson’s RBI-single in the last of the first. However Wells made perhaps two bad pitches in the game, both to Jansen. The first landed in the seats in the top of the third. The second in the top of the fifth. And Toronto led, 2-1.

However the great thing about this Oriole team is that they pick one another up. Come the last of the fifth Adley Rutschman deposited a ball of his own into the outfield grandstand, tying the game at two. However the O’s didn’t want Wells to leave the game without the possibility of getting a decision. So Anthony Santander smacked an RBI-single in the sixth, putting the Birds in the lead, 3-2.

Austin Hays’ solo homer in the right gave the O’s some insurance, and they ended up with a 4-2 victory. This was their second series win against Toronto, which is huge in the all-important AL East standings. They also finished off a 5-1 home stand. Are the games perfect? No. But they’re winning much more than they’re losing. And that’s the goal.

The O’s now head to the Windy City for the second time this year to open up a three-game set tomorrow against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Cole Irvin gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Chicago’s Kyle Hendricks. Game time is set for 2:20 PM.

Baltimore Orioles fight but fall

Kyle Bradish turned in a quality start this evening for the Baltimore Orioles against Toronto at Camden Yards. It’s tough to pitch as well as Bradish did tonight, and to do it consistently. What makes it even worse is that the O’s lost the game, this despite Bradish’s best efforts. Bradish’s line: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K.

This wasn’t a game that was dictated by offense on either side. This unlike last night’s game, where the floodgates seemed to be open from the beginning. And that’s how things are going to go sometimes from game-to-game. Unfortunately however, the O’s didn’t get their first hit until the seventh inning.

And by that point, Toronto already had the lead. Springer’s solo homer in the sixth gave them a 1-0 lead. They would add onto that lead in the eighth with two RBI-doubles. One off the bat of Merrifield, and the other courtesy of Bichette.

However the O’s did attempt to rally in the last of the ninth. They put two runners on, and Aaron Hicks’ RBI-single cut the Toronto lead to 3-1. The Birds had the winning run at the plate a moment later, but that’s as close as they could get.

Again, you aren’t going to win every game. Kyle Bradish pitched more than well enough to win. He just didn’t get the run support. And again, that’s going to happen at times. Tonight just wasn’t the Orioles’ night.

The series concludes tomorrow at Camden Yards. Tyler Wells gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Yusei Kikuchi. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Gunnar Henderson helps to produce a grand ol’ donnybrook

The Baltimore Orioles provided Dean Kremer so much run support tonight that you almost wanted them to save some of it for another day. Toronto may have gotten on the board first, but the Orioles and Gunnar Henderson got the last laugh for sure. As did Dean Kremer, for the record. Kremer’s line: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K.

Kremer surrendered a run in the first on Guerrero’s RBI-single. However Toronto fell into a trap we saw with Kansas City over the weekend – scoring first, that is. Because once the O’s got cooking, they didn’t really let up.

Adam Frazier’s two-run homer in the last of the second put the Orioles in the lead. And they never looked back – only forward. One inning later Ryan O’Hearn smacked a two-run homer of his own. The Orioles led 4-1 at that point, and little did we know that the rout was on.

Following the O’Hearn homer, the O’s quickly loaded the bases again. That brought last week’s AL Player of the Week, Gunnar Henderson, to the plate. With the bases loaded…and you can fill in the blanks from there.

Henderson sent a deep fly ball to center, and it barely cleared the wall over the glove of Keven Kiermaier, who as many know has haunted the Orioles over the years with plays in the field. And with that, Henderson began his quest for another player of the week award, with a grand slam. He’s currently one of the hottest hitters in baseball, and yes he resides right here in Camden Yards.

That gave the O’s an 8-1 lead. Toronto would get one back in the fourth on Kirk’s RBI-single. But that was almost a token run. Especially given that the Birds kept the pressure on. In the last of the fourth Aaron Hicks hit his first Camden Yards home run (as an Oriole), smack off the right field foul pole. But wait – there’s more. They got RBI-singles in the fifth and sixth respectively off the bats of Anthony Santander and Adam Frazier.

Toronto would register two more runs on an eighth inning solo homer by Biggio, and an RBI-single by Kirk. They’d also plate a run in the ninth on a fielder’s choice, and a sixth run on a swinging bunt, but the Birds walked away with an 11-6 victory.

It’s tough to call this a statement game, because baseball’s not about that. A series can be a bit of a statement, but out of 162 games it’s tough to pinpoint one as a statement game. The Orioles sweeping this same Toronto squad last month at Rogers Centre was a statement.

However if there is such a thing as a “statement game,” that would be tonight’s game. Assuming of course there are still people out there who need to know for sure that this Orioles team is for real. They completely outclassed a hated division rival in this game. And in doing so, once again reminded the entire league that they aren’t going away.

The series continues tomorrow evening at Camden Yards. Kyle Bradish gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Jose Berrios. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Royal sweep in Charm City

The Baltimore Orioles went into this afternoon’s game with Kyle Gibson on the mound, and with a chance to sweep Kansas City Royals. Who on paper are a team that the Orioles should handle hands down. But as we know, that’s not always how it works out. But today, it did. Gibson’s line: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 4 K.

The O’s started off somewhat inauspiciously, with Witt knocking an RBI-double to right, off of Ryan O’Hearn’s glove. However the O’s immediately reminded KC that they were the better team. They tied the game in the last of the first with a sac fly-RBI by Austin Hays. But that was just a warm-up.

The O’s would put two on, and later in that first inning Ramon Urias’ two-RBI double would put them in the lead at 3-1. But Kansas City stormed back; Perez’s two-run homer in the third tied the game back up at three. However, the Orioles were about to show Kansas City that they weren’t quite as royal as they might have thought.

Josh Lester’s two-RBI double in the last of the third put the Orioles back in the lead. James McCann would add a sac fly, and an inning later Aaron Hicks’ RBI-double would extend the lead to 6-3. The O’s would cap things off with Gunnar Henderson’s three-run home run in the seventh, and Ryan O’Hearn’s solo shot in the eighth.

And with that 11-3 win, the Orioles swept Kansas City away. This was a team the Orioles should have beaten, and they did. That’s a good sign. You have to win the games you’re supposed to win. Because this is a big week coming up in Birdland, with Toronto coming to town.

Baltimore Orioles: Cole Irvin strong in first start back

The Baltimore Orioles brought Cole Irvin back up to the big leagues to make the start this afternoon against Kansas City. You remember him, right?! Based on how he pitched at Norfolk and how he looked this afternoon, it appears he regained the form of what he was last year in Oakland – for now. Irvin’s line: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K.

You’d like your starter to go deeper than five innings. But keep in mind that Irvin was fresh back up from the minors. However he put the O’s in a spot to win the ballgame. That’s all you can ask of a starting pitcher. In short, he did his job.

And on that note, he also got some help. For starters, it looked like he might surrender s three-run homer in the first inning. But Anthony Santander about near climbed the wall in right field and brought the ball back in. You take every advantage you can get in MLB.

And true to form, Santander turned around in the last of the first and provided offense. His RBI-double plated Adley Rutschman on his bobble head day, giving the Birds a 1-0 lead. Santander would later score on an RBI-so gle by Ryan O’Hearn.

One inning later the crowd was electrified again. Gunnar Henderson’s solo homer extended the lead to 3-0. Kansas City would get in the board in the fifth on Fermin’s RBI-single, but the O’s weren’t allowing much else. In fact, they further extended their lead. Austin Hays’ RBI-single extended the lead to 4-1. Adam Frazier would tack on two insurance runs in the last of the eighth with a two-run homer.

And while there were a few hairy moments, the Oriole bullpen held. Again, Brandon Hyde probably wants his bullpen to be responsible for less of the game than what we saw today. But such is life.

End of the day, it’s a win. While they’re a scrappy team and they’re certainly playing valiantly to win, Kansas City’s a team the Orioles should be beating. They’ve taken the series, and go into tomorrow’s game smelling a sweep.

The series concludes tomorrow at Camden Yards. Kyle Gibson gets the start for the O’s, and Kansas City is yet to name a starter. Game time is set for just after 1:30 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Starting the home stand right

Tyler Wells got the start tonight against Kansas City as the Baltimore Orioles opened a six-game home stand. And the good news is that the Birds picked up right where they left off yesterday afternoon in Milwaukee. Wells looked good, and got the O’s into the later innings. Wells’ line: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K.

Austin Hays got the O’s on the board immediately with a solo homer in the last of the first. One inning later Jorge Mateo would add an RBI-single. Kansas City would cut the lead in half in the third with a sac fly-RBI, however the Orioles still maintained the lead.

And they even extended it. Anthony Santander’s RBI-double would plate Hays in the fifth. However Kansas City would eventually load the bases in the seventh, and they put a second run on the board on a wild pitch by Wells. That would prompt Oriole manager Brandon Hyde to go to the bullpen, who once again was stellar.

It sure helps the effort of winning a series when you win the opening game. This was also the first time the Orioles had worn their City Connect uniforms and won. So that gets the monkey off the backs of the all-black alternates.

The series continues tomorrow at Camden Yards. Cole Irving gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Kansas City’s Brady Singer. Game time is set for just after 4 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Milwaukee outgunned by Gunnar Henderson

The Baltimore Orioles had just about everything work against them in the first two games of the series with Milwaukee. Every bounce went the other way, and it seemed to continue to do so early on with Kyle Bradish on the mound in the finale this afternoon. Bradish’a line: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 10 K.

Milwaukee put their only three runs of the day up I. The last of the first. These came on an RBI-groundout and two RBI-singles. This forcing the Orioles to play catch-up for most of the day.

However this seemed destined to be a pitcher’s duel. And a pitcher’s duel that was going to be won by Milwaukee at that. However the Orioles decided to remember that they were clutch in later innings today. And it served them well.

Ramon Urias’ solo homer got them on the board in the seventh. One inning later Anthony Santander smacked an RBI-double, bringing the O’s to within one at 3-2. Then Gunnar Henderson came to the plate…

…mind you, Henderson has been looking to break out for some time. And that may have happened today. Henderson smacked a two-run homer in that top of the eighth to give the Orioles the lead. They would get two insurance runs in the ninth on Adam Frazier’s two-RBI double, and the Birds went home 6-3 winners.

That was a big win for this team. Losing two straight is a problem. However if you can’t take the series, at least make sure you don’t get swept. And it’s good to see Gunnar Henderson coming up with the clutch homer like that. Just keep winning games.

The O’s now return home to open a three-game set with Kansas City at Camden Yards. Tyler Wells gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Kansas City’s Daniel Lynch. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles boat raced by Milwaukee

Dean Kremer started for the Baltimore Orioles tonight, and odds are he wishes he stayed in the clubhouse. Milwaukee came out swinging, and they used that to their advantage. Kremer’s line: 8 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 BB, 2 K.

Just about everything went Milwaukee’s way tonight from the get go. Every bounce, and every turn. Adames smacked a solo homer in the first, and Wiener a two-run shot in the third. Wiemer would come up again in the fourth, producing an RBI-single.

And things snowballed from there. Manager Brandon Hyde was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the fifth. After the game he said he felt that the strike zone was getting “rather large.” Needless to say, the implication was that Milwaukee got one version of the zone, and the Orioles another.

Perhaps a concerning thing is the number of hits and RBI came from the bottom of the order, as well as with two outs. That’s a huge problem. You can’t allow hits and runs at any point, much less when you’re almost off the hook.

With Milwaukee leading 10-0, the Birds finally got on the board in the ninth. Austin Hays’ RBI-single played a run. Ryan McKenna would later ground into a double-play with the bases loaded, finishing things off at 10-2.

Bruce Zimmerman also did a solid for the Birds, pitching three innings. This saved the Orioles at least one or two relievers. He was able to take the ball from Kremer and run with it to the finish line. Yes in a losing effort, but he bridged the gap and saved the bullpen for tomorrow and this weekend.

The series continues tomorrow at American Family Field. Kyle Bradish gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Milwaukee’s Colin Rea. Game time is set for just after 2 PM.