Baltimore Orioles: Somehow always a step behind

Tomoyuki Sugano was lackluster for the Baltimore Orioles tonight. Despite being gifted a three-run lead before even taking the field, he couldn’t hold it. He just couldn’t find the strike zone and had little command. Sugano’s line: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3 earned), 4 BB, 4 K.

As I said, Sugano had the lead before he stepped on the field at Cleveland’s Progressive Field. Gunnar Henderson’s RBI-single in the first inning gave the Birds a 1-0 lead. Ramon Laureano added a two-RBI single before the inning ended, and the O’s led 3-0.

But Sugano gave the lead right back. Ramirez’s three-run home run tied the game back up at three in the last of the first. And Laureano would come back up to bat in the third. And he would smack a two-run home run, giving the Birds a 5-3 lead.

But Cleveland would net a run in the fourth, and Naylor would tie the game at five in the fifth with a solo home run. They would take the lead in the sixth on a solo home run by Manzardo. On top of that, Cleveland would walk in two runs in the seventh. This just before Rocchio smacked a two-RBI single, securing Cleveland’s 10-5 win.

As I said, Cleveland walked in two runs in the seventh. In both cases the hitters sat back and waited for the Oriole reliever to throw a pitch out of the strike zone. It was almost as if they knew the Orioles weren’t going to “give in,”

On the flip side, several previously hard-throwing relievers on Cleveland’s side were throwing soft fastballs and getting strikes – some called and others swinging. It seems that Cleveland was thinking backwards. They knew the analytics said this. So they did that. That’s the danger in relying so heavily on analytics.

The series continues tomorrow night at Progressive Field. Brandon Young gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Joey Cantillo. Game time is set for just after 6:30 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Add-on runs help

Trevor Rogers gave the Baltimore Orioles another quality start this afternoon at Steinbrenner Field. The Birds of course had dropped the first two games of the series, and were looking to salvage one. If anything, Rogers’ outing may have been shortened by a seventh inning rain delay. Rogers’ line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K.

Jackson Holliday hit the second pitch of the ballgame over the wall for a solo home run, giving the O’s a 1-0 lead. Two innings later catcher Alex Jackson would follow with a solo shot of his own. But the inning didn’t end there. Following a walk and a single, Gunnar Henderson’s two-RBI double gave the O’s a 4-0 lead.

True to form however, Tampa battled back. Camiero’s RBI-single on the home half of the third cut the lead to 4-1. One inning later Jansen smacked a solo homer cutting it to 4-2. Tampa also put some guys on behind that and continued to threaten. Which is par for the course for them, especially given that they tried to give the Orioles an out, and Alex Jackson’s errant throw to get the lead runner at second (on a bunt) ended up in center field at one point.

However Tampa made an unforced error. Simpson, who as we know has blinding speed, popped up a bunt to Trevor Rogers with one out and runners at the corners. It was an obvious attempt bunt for a base hit, but it seemed a little pointless. It didn’t appear to be a squeeze play, which means it’s possible that someone missed a sign. It could also be Tampa trying too hard to by overly cute or outside the box. But it didn’t work either way, and Kim ended the inning with a fly out.

But, Tampa still edged closer. Even when it seems the Orioles beat them, it’s as if they think they’re never out of it. Their stock and trade is to claw their way back into games. Luckily it appeared that the O’s were having none of that today.

Ryan O’Hearn’s solo home run in the sixth gave the Orioles a much-needed add-on run. And you need those against anyone. But especially against an opponent like Tampa. The Orioles needed a couple last night and couldn’t do it. They did today, and it paid.

Following a two hour and 36 minute rain delay, they resumed play. Tampa would score a third run on an RBI-single by Wall in the ninth. Tampa would then load the bases before Felix Bautista recorded the third out to end the game. Make no mistake, that tack on run mattered.

Ramon Laureano was ejected in the third inning – he also owns the team’s only other ejection this year. He clearly checked his swing on a two-strike count; if anything, he was closer to not taking the bat off his shoulders than he was at offering. He slammed his helmet down at home plate, and was ejected after being rung up on an appeal to first base.

Interim manager Tony Mansolino also earned his first ejection as a skipper in that sequence when he came out to protect Laureano. One prevailing thought was that Laureano thought he was the third out in the inning and was merely throwing his helmet at what he thought was the end of the inning. Either way it wasn’t a good call by the umpiring crew.

The Orioles now head to Cleveland to open a four-game set at Progressive Field. Tomoyuki Sugano gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee. Game time is set for just after 6:30 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: If you don’t take it, someone else will

Dean Kremer pitched to a quality start for the Baltimore Orioles tonight. And when your starter goes all out and you still can’t get the win, that’s a huge problem. Kremer did everything he could to put the O’s in a spot to win. They just couldn’t reach out and take it. Kremer’s line, 7.0 IP 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K.

The Orioles led this game from the beginning, and for most of the way. They started the game with a single and a double, and then scored on Gunnar Henderson’s sac fly-RBI. Ryan O’Hearn’s subsequent RBI-single extended the Orioles’ lead to 2-0.

But Oriole bats quieted down after that. For the entire game, they were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. This over nine hits. The Orioles got them on, but couldn’t get them in.

Kremer did allow a run in the seventh on an RBI-groundout by Lowe. I can’t stress enough that Kremer was great tonight. Your the only thing that matters is the final score and screw everything else crowd will discount that. But Kremer did the job of every starting pitcher; he put his team in a spot to win the game.

Tampa of course is chock full of speed. Kim got aboard in the eighth and stole second base. He would tie the game at two on Simpson’s RBI-single. A couple of walks and stolen bases later, the bases were loaded. And Tampa for sure had a lot of speed on the base paths.

The Orioles played the infield in with the bases loaded and one out. Aranda grounded the ball to Ryan O’Hearn at first. He immediately threw home, knowing that he might not have the time to turn two in the infield. However the throw was errant to home plate, netting Tampa two runs.

The speed Tampa had on the base paths may have provided an additional sense of urgency for O’Hearn. Maybe he rushed the throw. But the point remains that the speed on the base paths had an effect. And it cost the Orioles the game…

…in a sense. They did tack on a run in the ninth on Cedric Mullins’ pinch-hit bloop RBI-single. He would later steal second base, and Jackson Holliday came within a hair of a go-ahead home run. But the park held it, and the O’s fell 4-3.

The Birds had opportunities. Between that and Kremer’s strong outing, this was a game they should have won. But they never seized the moment and added on before it was too late. Tampa on the flip side did just that. If you don’t take opportunities that life presents, someone else will take it from you. Regardless of who you are.

The series concludes tomorrow at Steinbrenner Field. Trevor Rogers gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Ryan Pepiot. Game time is set for just after 12 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Curtain comes up on the second half

The Baltimore Orioles will open the second half of the season this evening at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Needless to say, there are a lot of things the Birds hope are different than the first half. Beginning and ending with injuries.

Perhaps this season was cursed last year when the Orioles had three pitchers undergo Tommy John’s. I would put that thought forward, along with an obtuse over-reliance on analytics. This to the point of opposing teams actually using that to their own advantage. If the computer says you’re going to do this, you know your opponent is prepared for it. So instead you work on doing that and you catch them off guard.

Nevertheless, there are still games to be played. That begins tonight. If the Orioles feel they can somehow make a run back into the playoff race, that effort does as well.

The series with Tampa begins this evening at Steinbrenner Field. Charlie Morton gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Taj Bradley. Game time is set for just after 7:30 PM.

Baltimore Orioles banking on the luck of the Irish

The Baltimore Orioles selected Ike Irish this evening out of Auburn University with the 19th pick in the MLB draft. At first glance it’s a curious pick – Irish is a catcher, and the Birds already have Adley Rutschman. But at second glance, he’s also an outfielder.

Irish is a career .350 hitter at Auburn, which boasts the likes of Frank Thomas and perhaps the greatest pure athlete in my lifetime, Bo Jackson. (Also Charles Barkley of the NBA.) Not to mention Orioles’ hall of Famer Gregg Olson. He also has a career .987 fielding percentage.

Irish is a catcher by trade, but he also plays right field. I suspect he won’t be catching in the farm system anytime soon with the logjam the Orioles have at that position. But time will tell. Either way, Irish is the team’s first pick.

Baltimore Orioles grounded entering the break

Brandon Young and the Baltimore Orioles had to wait an extra hour and 38 minutes to start this afternoon’s first half finale against Miami. The skies opened up over Camden Yards – and the O’s. Young probably wishes the game had been rained out at this point. Young’s line: 4.1 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 0 BB, 4 K.

Young gave perhaps his best start as a pro earlier this past week against New York. Today was a different story. The O’s had a halfway decent start in that Jackson Holliday led off with a base hit and went to second on a passed ball. He was later picked off of second. Ramon Laureano also ran into the third out in the second trying to steal third.

But it was Miami’s Stowers, who the Orioles traded last year (as part of the Trevor Rogers trade), who owned the day. His solo homer in the first gave Miami a 1-0 lead. The following inning Brandon Young would get to two outs before back-to-back doubles extended the lead to 2-0.

That brought Stowers back to the plate, and he smacked his second home run of the game against his old team, this of the two-run variety. To show Miami wasn’t kidding, Lopez’s solo shot gave them a 5-0 lead. All that with two outs.

But Stowers wanted to prove his point. In the fifth he added a third home run, once again of the two-run variety. At least that one came before two outs. But Stowers didn’t want to leave Baltimore. As evidenced by his play today.

Two-out rallies have been a problem for the O’s for years. Young was heavy on four-seam fastballs on the fringes of the plate today; did Miami bank on that? Perhaps. Young could have also missed his spots. Having said that, he didn’t walk anyone. So I suspect he was throwing it where he intended. Miami would plate three additional runs, and Ramon Laureano’s solo homer got the O’s on the board in the 8th. But the Orioles fell today, 11-1.

End of the day this was a game that snowballed. Stowers finished with three homers and six RBI. And until the aforementioned Laureano homer, the O’s could never get anything going.

Needless to say, the first half wasn’t what anyone wanted. The team was decimated by injuries, and will continue to be. But they played well at the tail end of the first half – despite today. Do they have a stretch run in them at 43-52? That’s asking a lot. But you have to start somewhere.

Baltimore Orioles: Bottom of the order sinks the Birds

Trevor Rogers and the Baltimore Orioles overall should go down as hard-luck losers this afternoon. Rogers gave up one run in what appeared to be a pitcher’s duel – at first. The major damage came later. Rogers’ line: 6.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K.

It’s a shame that an outing like that doesn’t yield a win. Or at the very least a no decision. But that’s how the ball bounces sometimes in baseball. Rogers I’m sure would have at the very least liked to beat his former team. Needless to say, he still dominated them.

Rogers surrendered a base hit with two outs in the seventh, and was lifted. The next hitter was hit by a Gregory Soto pitch, and Hill’s RBI-single broke a 0-0 tie and gave Miami a 1-0 lead. One inning later Sanchez’s RBI-single ran it to 2-0.

The bottom of the order didn’t come up again until the top of the ninth with two outs. Needless to say, Miami was still in a save situation with only a two-run lead. Stowers, a former Oriole, got aboard with a two-out single and promptly stole second base. That brought Hill to the plate again, and he grounded a ball sharply to Gunnar Henderson, who was only able to knock the ball down…

…he came set to throw to first, but froze. Stowers was running with two outs, and he didn’t stop. Henderson fired home, but was unable to nail Stowers at the plate.

Somewhere there was a miscommunication. Stowers just kept on motoring around, even though he was never known as a runner when he was with the Orioles. Edwards would smack a two-run homer before the end of the inning, and Miami took game two of the series, 6-0.

This was a close game until the bottom of the order came up. It’s been a problem for the Orioles all year – the bottom of orders across the board. That and two-out rallies. But end of the day, you won’t win them all.

The series and the first half concludes tomorrow at Camden Yards. Brandon Young gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Miami’s Eury Perez. Game time is set for just after 1:30 PM.

Baltimore Orioles sweep doubleheader, win series against NYM

Tomoyuki Sugano’s had a rough go of things for the Baltimore Orioles of late. He was somewhere in between great and not good in the second game of today’s doubleheader, and still managed to pitch a quality start. Sugano’s line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 K.

Sugano put some traffic on base right out of the gate, but semi-minimized the damage. He allowed two runs in an RBI-groundout by Soto, and a sac fly-RBI to Alonso. When you can allow runs to score while recording outs and clearing the bases, that helps.

The Orioles got on the board thanks to a most unlikely catalyst – that being catcher Alex Jackson (who was just acquired via trade last weekend). Following Cedric Mullins’ one-out double, Jackson added an RBI-double, cutting the New York lead to 2-1. Jackson would score himself later in the inning when Jordan Westburg slugged one over the fence for a two-run home run, giving the Birds a 3-2 lead.

Sugano had one other hiccup, that being an RBI-single surrendered to Baty in the fourth. That did tie the game at three. However luckily for Sugano, Oriole bats stayed hot before he departed. Colton Cowser’s RBI-single in the fifth gave the Birds the lead back at 4-3. Ramon Urias reached on an E5, allowing Ramon Laureano to score to run it to 5-3.

We’ve seen the O’s “error their way” into deficits all season. That starts with getting guys on base; when you get guys on base, anything can happen. Today it worked in the Orioles’ favor.

And they added on an inning later. Alex Jackson showed he also had some speed – for a catcher. He ran on contact when Jordan Westburg sent a hopper to short. He slid in safely, and the O’s led 6-3. Ramon Laureano would tack on a seventh run on a fielder’s choice-RBI, and the Orioles went home 7-3 winners.

One of the reasons teams don’t like doubleheaders (one of the various reasons) is because statistically most teams tend to split doubleheaders. Today was a statistical oddity in that sense, because the Birds swept today’s games. And in doing so they took two-of-three from the Metropolitans from Queens.

The O’s now open a three-game set with Miami tomorrow night at Camden Yards – final series of the first half. The O’w are yet to announce a starter, but Miami will pitch Edward Cabrera. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Gunned in the nick of time

Charlie Morton gave the Baltimore Orioles another outstanding start this afternoon against the NYM. Morton was meant to pitch last night, but the game was rained out and ended up being the first part of a doubleheader today. Morton’s line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K.

Morton took the ball in the wake of reliever Bryan Baker having been dealt to Tampa before the game. The Birds got some draft stock back for Baker, which could prove to be invaluable. But it’s always tough when you lose a teammate in that manner.

Morton gave up an RBI-double in the fifth to New York’s Taylor. But that was the only blip in the radar for the most part. Oriole bats were unable to muster much either. That is until they did.

Gunnar Henderson got the first part of this game off. Sometimes you have to stagger stars in doubleheaders. Especially when it’s as hot as it is today. But that also gave the Orioles a huge bat to use in a pinch-hitting situation, and Tony Mansolino picked his spot masterfully.

Henderson came up in the eighth with a runner on and the O’s still trailing 1-0. And he promptly smacked a two-run home run to right field. Suddenly, the Orioles were not only on the board, but they had the lead.

Ramon Laureano would extend it to 3-1 later in the inning with a sac fly-RBI. Felix Bautista closed New York out in the ninth, and the Orioles took game one of the twin bill. After losing the way they did on Tuesday and losing a teammate to a trade this morning, that was a big win. And needless to say, Gunnar Henderson rose to the occasion when the Orioles needed him.

The series concludes early this evening at Camden Yards. Tomoyuki Sugano gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Brandon Waddell. Game time is set for just after 5 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Immaculate wasn’t enough

Brandon Young is coming along for the Baltimore Orioles as a starter. He still has a ways to go, But he’s improving – which is the goal. He had a solid start last night against the New York Mets at Camden Yards; Young’s line: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K.

The game began in a 46 minute rain delay. But the Birds took the lead in the last of the third with Jackson Holliday’s RBI-single. Cedric Mullins scored all the way from first base to give the Orioles the lead.

One could argue that the fifth inning was Brandon Young’s crowning achievement as a pro. He pitched an immaculate inning, striking out the side. That’s a rarity in baseball, meaning that each hitter struck out on the minimum number of pitches (3). In many aspects it’s a made up stat. But it’s so rare it’s in fact very noteworthy.

However before leaving with one out in the sixth, Young would surrender the lead. A solo homer by Mauricio and an RBI-double by Nimmo put New York in control. But Oriole bats got Young off the hook – and he deserved that, as well as he pitched. The Birds loaded the bases in their half of the frame, and Ryan O’Hearn’s two-RBI double gave them a 3-2 lead.

Ramon Laureano followed with a two-RBI single to extend it to 5-2. One inning later in the seventh Jacksonville Holliday’s two-run home run ran things to 6-2. Then the eighth inning happened.

Bryan Baker’s pitched at a very high level for the Orioles out of the bullpen this year. Not anything, he’s become somewhat of a setup man. However the NYM appeared ready for him last night. Lindor smacked a two-run home run, and later in the inning Alonso did the same. That tied the game at six.

Occasionally pitchers are going to throw a clunker – even sure-handed relievers. You have to shake it off and come back to the ballpark the next day. Unfortunately the game which started late as it was needed an extra inning to get a result, and it was New York who came out on top. Soto&: run-scoring single in the tenth gave them a 7-6 lead – and a 7-6 win.

Yennier Cano got the loss, but of course that came as a result of the ghost runner. Soto swung at the first pitch and hit it. Sometimes you live or die by that ghost runner in extra’s.

The series continues this evening at Camden Yards. Tomoyuki Sugano gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Nee York’s David Peterson. Game time is set for just after 7 PM,