Baltimore Orioles: Is Nestor Cortes hurting the team?

Nestor Cortes Jr. gave up the decisive runs, specifically a grand slam in the ninth inning of tonight’s Baltimore Orioles game against Toronto. But that’s not why I ask if he’s hurting the O’s. In fact, perhaps the better question is whether or not the Orioles are hurting themselves by keeping Cortes on the roster – but more on that in a moment.

Dylan Bundy turned in his third consecutive quality start for the Orioles, and the third consecutive quality start in which he missed out on a win that he deserved. Bundy’s line: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 10 K. It’s strange to call someone a hard-luck loser for a team that lost 7-1 but that would describe Bundy’s outing tonight. Unequivocally, he pitched well enough to win.

Bundy made one bad pitch – and it ended up being a two-run homer by Pearce, giving Toronto a 2-0 lead in the third. However the O’s came right back in the bottom of the inning on a Machado solo homer to cut the lead in half. But that’s as close as they got.

Cortes inherited a bases-loaded situation in the ninth, and promptly walked in a run to make the score 3-1. That brought Donaldson to the plate, with the bases still loaded. And unfortunately for the O’s, they were unable to walk that one last tight rope, and Donaldson deposited that ball in the stands. The grand slam gave Toronto a 7-1 victory. The final score obviously isn’t indicative of how close the game was in truth, but it goes as a six-run loss.

Going back to Nestor Cortes, we know that the Orioles under Dan Duquette have been big on the Rule 5 draft. Obviously they also have Anthony Santander (who’s Rule 5 status expires next month) and Pedro Araujo on the roster as Rule 5 draftees. And we know their history of Rule 5 players since 2012.

Araujo’s been fairly solid thus far, and Santander’s been great. Cortes has had some struggles, and quite frankly if the Orioles could send him down and keep him they probably would. But they can’t do that, or he goes back to the Yankees’ organization.

Is this mentality not potentially hurting the team, however? The fact that Cortes was the last one left on the bench in yesterday’s 12-inning game is telling. The O’s would have rather used guys who were over-taxed.

Again, this isn’t a knock on Cortes as much as it might sound like it is. I do think he has a promising career ahead of him in the big leagues. But the road’s very tough from his standpoint right now. Wouldn’t it do the player (Cortes) justice by letting him go back and further season himself in the minors? Consequently, would that not do the team justice in terms of giving them a roster spot that was more interchangeable?

I’m not suggesting that the O’s shouldn’t participate in the Rule 5 draft. I’m saying that they probably shouldn’t be quite as stubborn about keeping the players they select as they are. If someone isn’t cutting it, that’s not a knock on him. It just means he might not have been ready. So is it serving anyone by keeping him?

The series with Toronto continues tomorrow night. Andrew Cashner gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles, Richard Bleier make the Empire State lay low

There’s nobody on the Baltimore Orioles, or the New York Yankees for the matter, who deserved to be the winning pitcher in this afternoon’s game than Richard Bleier. Nobody. Bleier wasn’t even supposed to pitch today, except perhaps in an emergency. That emergency came, in the form of a twelve inning game. And Bleier was true to the challenge.

Mike Wright Jr. had a disastrous start, which saw him not even make it out of the first inning. Wright’s line: .2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, (2 earned), 1 BB, 1 K. You might suggest that two earned runs in the first inning doesn’t exactly look “disastrous.” However when runners get on base that represent potential unearned runs, you still have to worry about them. Wright didn’t do that.

So the Orioles and Wright spotted New York a 5-0 lead. However the O’s would start their comeback attempt almost immediately, as Anthony Santander got them on the board in the second with an RBI-single. And the Orioles chipped away from there – which is what good teams do when they get behind early on.

Tim Beckham would add an RBI-single in the third, and Danny Valencia‘s two-run homer in the fifth brought the Orioles to within 5-4. A Romine RBI-single would put NY back ahead by two in the last of the fifth, just to prove that the Orioles weren’t the only scrappy team in the ballpark this afternoon.

However the Birds came right back in response to New York’s answer. Manny Machado‘s RBI-single in the sixth would bring them back to within a run at 6-5. And one inning later the Orioles would take the lead when Santander smacked his first career home run, this a two-run shot. That was a huge lift for the team, as they proved to themselves that this was a game they could win.

Romine’s RBI-single in the last of the seventh would tie it at seven, however. This game also saw some strange plays with the Orioles in the field, however the Birds answered the bell every time. Stanton lined into a 6-3 double-play to end the sixth, and Judge decided to try to swipe second base in the last of the eighth – and was thrown out. Judge may be a lot of things, but a base stealer he is not.

The O’s brought Bleier in to pitch the ninth, and as I said above he wasn’t supposed to pitch today. Buck Showalter said that he wanted to stay away from him if possible. The fact is that it wasn’t possible. And Bleier mowed New York hitters down – big time. He was helped by an amazing over-the-shoulder catch in left by Craig Gentry, which saved the winning run from crossing in the last of the tenth. But Bleier was perhaps the best pitcher in a game that featured almost every pitcher on each roster. And there’s no doubt that he brings the right attitude with him into every game he pitches (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

I told Buck I had nine years in the minor leagues, so I had nine years off. I’ll pitch every day the rest of the year. I really don’t care. As long as I’m in the big leagues, I’m available.

Showalter said that he kind of looked like a starter out there. And perhaps he did – in the sense that he put his team in a spot to win the game. That’s what you ask of your starters. Bleier isn’t a starter, but the team needed him today in a tough spot. And he answered the call big time.

The Birds would record a quick out in the twelfth, with Bleier still the pitcher or record. Alvarez would draw a walk as a pinch-hitter, and Santander would get aboard with a seeing-eye single. That brought Gentry to the plate, and his sharp liner to the left side found left field, and left the Orioles with an 8-7 lead in extra innings.

Unfortunately for the Orioles however, closer Brad Brach struggled in the last of the twelfth. He issued two walks, and then muffed fielding Romine’s sac bunt to the left of the pitching mound. Everyone was safe, and New York had the bases loaded with nobody out. Things didn’t look good for the boys from the Old Line State, but the bases loaded does give the defense one often overlooked but very big advantage…

…there’s a force at every base. And while Brach committed a pretty bad error to achieve that force at every base, he also got an opportunity to redeem himself. And that set the moment for the third and final oddity with the O’s in the field.

Judge sent a tapped back to Brach, who fielded it cleanly in his glove. He flipped it to Calep Joseph for a force at the plate, who then threw it to Machado covering third base for a 1-2-5 double-play. That in and of itself is pretty impressive, because 1-2-5 double-plays don’t happen often. However the fact that Brach had the wherewithal to throw the ball home, and Joseph the same wherewithal to throw to third was pretty special. Brach had the opportunity to atone for his mistake, and he did. He also struck out the next hitter to end the game.

Had they lost this game, the O’s would have split the series in New York. But in winning they were able to take three-of-four, which is a much better result. And these were hard-fought games – make no mistake about it. A team of lesser character and skill wouldn’t have won them. Brach easily could have given in after his mistake. He didn’t, and it sealed a hard-fought win. Bleier easily could have gotten knocked around and blamed lack of rest. He didn’t, and he helped win the game and series.

The O’s now head home for a short three-game homestand against Toronto. Dylan Bundy gets the call for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s J.A. Happ Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Playing under protest

The Baltimore Orioles found themselves in a situation Friday night where manager Buck Showalter informed the umpires that the team was officially playing under protest. This is something that’s while totally legal in accordance with MLB rules and regulations, rarely happens so much anymore. And on the off chance that a team plays under protest, the protest is usually not upheld.

You know the situation of which I speak; the rundown play on the third base line Friday night. Without detailing the situation itself once again since I presume everyone knows what happened, the umpiring crew found their decision at odds with the rule book. According to the MLB rule book, the definition of a protested game is as follows:

Managers can protest a game when they allege that the umpires have misapplied the rules. The umpires must be notified of the protest at the time the play in question occurs and before the next pitch or attempted play begins. If the play in question ended the game, a protest can be filed with the league office until noon the following day. No protests are permitted on judgment calls by the umpires.

Major League Baseball’s executive vice president of baseball operations later determines whether the protested decision violated the rules, though the game will not be replayed unless it is also determined that the violation adversely affected the protesting team’s chances of winning.

On Friday, Rule 5.09 should have come into play, which details almost the exact scenario that unfolded on the field. In short, when the trail runner stepped on third, he had run past the lead runner per the rules. So he should have been out.

But that’s not how the umpires saw things, and to their credit this was admitted after the game through crew chief Jerry Meals. Following that incident, the next New York hitter recorded the third out of the inning, which ended the threat. In sum, if the Orioles had lost that game it would not have been due to the misinterpretation or oversight of the rule.

That in and of itself means that the protest probably wouldn’t have been upheld. While certainly a violation, it wouldn’t have been a violation that “adversely would have impacted the Orioles’ chances of winning the game.” Point being, you can’t play a game under protest and then think it’s ultimately going to be replayed. And there’s a lot of confusion about that, incidentally.

The fact is that there’s a lot of confusion about playing under protest overall, which probably stems from the fact that it doesn’t happen too often. As is stated above, the manager of the offended team has to formally tell the umpire that he’s playing under protest. The umpire then literally draws an imaginary letter P in the air, which indicates to the official scorer that the game is being played under protest. After the game the offended manager can either let the matter drop, or file the formal protest paperwork with the league, at which point it’s judged by the league office.

If the league decides that in fact there was a misinterpretation of the rules in some manner which led to a team’s chances of winning being lessened, the game is ordered replayed from that point onward. And if not, the result stands. As you can imagine, there are many times when managers play under protest but they end up winning the game – in which case they don’t file the paperwork with the league and the matter drops.

Let’s say that the subsequent New York hitter in Friday’s game had come into score and NY had won the game 4-3. Then I think you would have a very legitimate case in front of the league office whereby the umpires botching the rules would have made it more difficult for the Birds to win. You very well could have had a situation where the result was thrown out and the game would have been resumed in the top of the seventh with a 3-3 tie. The umpires’ apology backs this up.

More confusing perhaps is the question of what is and is not “protestable.” You can never play under protest after a judgement call. So fair/foul, out/safe, and obviously balls and strikes cannot result in the game being played under protest. Those are considered judgement calls by the umpires. And make not mistake that the umpire may be wrong in any given circumstance on the call. But it’s still a judgement call on his part.

The situation the other night saw a rule incorrectly applied – or more realistically not applied. If it’s a case where a rule is misinterpreted, incorrectly used (or not used), etc, that is a situation where a team can play under protest. So it’s a very fine line to walk in a sense. First the rule has to have been botched. Then it has to be proven that the team’s chances of winning were adversely affected. So you can see why this comes off as such a novel concept, because it’s not used often and when it does it isn’t usually successful.

However I’m glad that baseball has this method in the rule books. The umpires aren’t perfect, and the fact is that there are a lot of rules to know. So why not put a safety measure into the rules which allow for a team to have it’s case heard when they feel something’s been done incorrectly? The goal is to get the call correct. This further allows the league to do that.

Baltimore Orioles: Walks haunt Chris Tillman

Chris Tillman posted a much better effort for the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon at Yankee Stadium than last time out. He had his struggles in this one, but ultimately he put the Orioles in a spot to win following a marathon game on Friday night. Tillman’s line: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 3 K.

Again, he wasn’t perfect. The Orioles need him to go deeper into the games. But he pitched better than the numbers indicate. Tillman gave up two early runs in the second on a two-RBI single by Gardener, however had the ball not ticked off of Chris Davis‘ glove, odds are two don’t score.

But the Orioles came right back. Manny Machado smacked a two-RBI double in the third, and Pedro Alvarez an RBI-double in the fourth. And before you know it, Tillman and the O’s held a 3-2 lead.

However Tillman issued walks in the last of the fifth and the sixth. Both led to New York runs. Judge would bat in a run on a ground out in the fifth inning, and Andujar’s sac fly-RBI would give New York the lead on the last of the sixth. Both runs came off of walks, the one in the sixth inning coming after a lead off walk.

The Orioles have to cut down on free passes if they’re going to be successful this season. That’s been their bugaboo for some time. Now I will say that neither Tillman nor any subsequent Oriole pitcher was given the benefit of the doubt on borderline pitches. They were all called balls. But when you’re giving the impression of nibbling, you aren’t going to get those calls.

Romine would add an RBI-single later in the sixth. Judge’s RBI-double would then run the score to 6-3 in favor of New York. Austin would add a two-RBI single as well, running the final to 8-3. This is a tough game to lose for the O’s because of the quick turnaround after last night. However the good news is that they’re still in good shape to take the series tomorrow afternoon.

Incidentally, I made mention of a few borderline pitches that were called balls against Oriole pitching. First off keep in mind that balls and strikes are judgement calls. The idea is that you want the umpire to be consistent, and for the most part he was. But when you’re trying to hit the black on the plate, you’re leaving things open to interpretation.

The series finale is tomorrow from Yankee Stadium. Mike Wright Jr. gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Jordan Montgomery. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Pedro Alvarez leaves the Empire State in his grand wake

Next time someone asks who won the most recent New York Marathon, you can say the Baltimore Orioles – thanks to Pedro Alvarez. This is obviously a play on words, but it was Alvarez’s grand slam in the 14th inning that lifted the Birds to victory for the second consecutive game against the New York Yankees. And this time around, they may have severely wounded their opponent.

Kevin Gausman was strong for the Birds on the mound, in what seems like ages ago as the starter. Gausman’s line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K. Obviously you want your starter going deeper than that. But with how this game turned out, it was really beside the point. Especially on a night that saw New York potentially lose both Sabathia and Chapman to injury, and one in which the O’s ripped through their bullpen.

The Orioles never trailed in this game, although it sure was tied for awhile. Manny Machado‘s solo homer in the first inning gave them the lead, although NY would immediately tie it in the bottom of the inning on a Stanton sac fly-RBI. However Machado would come up again in the third, smacking his second solo homer of the game, and giving the O’s the lead back at 2-1.

But again NY matched them. Judge’s RBI-single in the bottom of that third inning would tie the game once again at two. But wouldn’t you know it, the O’s were going off the grid in this one. Chris Davis seemingly decided to apparently break his slump with his first homer of the season, a solo shot of his own in the fourth. Of course, NY would tie it with a Gregorious solo homer in the eighth – and we played on.

But let me back up for a moment. I tell people all the time that when a game goes past the 12th inning it enters the twilight zone. This game definitely went into that realm, however I think it was there well before the 12th or 13th inning. Perhaps it entered the twilight zone when Sabathia had to exit with right hip soreness. Perhaps it was when Chapman almost had to leave with an injury, potentially further taxing NY’s bullpen. But my vote is that it entered the twilight zone with a bizarre sequence in the last of the sixth.

Long story short, with one out the Orioles caught Stanton in a rundown between third and home. Sanchez, who was previously on second, took third. Stanton was then tagged out down the left field line. Again, it was a bizarre play and in reality according to MLB Rule 5.09 clause (b)(9), it should have been a double-play.

Buck Showalter actually played under protest because the O’s weren’t awarded a double-play. However the next batter grounded out harmlessly, so the protest was dropped. However the scenario laid out in the rule almost exactly describes what happened in that play. To his undying credit, crew chief Jerry Meals basically admitted to a pool reporter after the game that his crew got this one wrong (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

OK, what we had on the field, what Ronny (Kulpa) had on the field, was as soon as Stanton ran by him into foul territory there, he had him out for abandoning his effort, which gave Sánchez the base, so when they tagged him he wasn’t out. That was our explanation on the field. We were incorrect.

That just doesn’t happen, folks. Umpires normally don’t go into that much detail on rules and situations to begin with. But they rarely admit they were incorrect. Jerry Meals is a good veteran umpire, and it takes a lot of guts on his part to say that.

So in the wake of that play in the last of the 11th with two outs and the bases loaded, Mychal Givens uncorked a wild pitch – that probably should have ended the game. Gregorious came in from third, however the ball bounced off the grandstand and right back to Orioles’ catcher Caleb Joseph – who flipped the ball towards Givens who was trying to cover the plate.

Givens blocked the plate masterfully like an old school catcher, disallowing Gregorious from touching it. Gregorious was called out, however the play was reviewed. We know that catchers aren’t allowed to block the plate…but are pitchers? Rule 6.01 covers blocking the plate, but makes no mention of a pitcher. The call was correctly upheld, and we played on.

But what would a long night that had just about every twist and turn in the world be without a grand finish. And Pedro Alvarez gave us that, with a grand slam in the 14th inning to lift the O’s to victory. And in “grand style” at that!

This game for some reason reminded me of the 2012 18-inning win at Fenway that has Chris Davis as the winning pitcher. Ultimately it was a wild game that sprang a life of it’s own, and it took heroics from an unlikely source for the Birds to win it. On a side note, make no mistake about the fact that the Orioles heavily taxed NY’s pitching, especially their bullpen. The Orioles’ pen was used heavily as well, but New York had to use theirs for longer and more in depth. That aside, I suppose that both teams could make roster moves in their bullpens before today’s game.

The teams will get right back at it this afternoon with a matinee at Yankee Stadium. Chris Tillman gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by NY’s Sonny Gray. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Jonathan Schoop’s at-bat ends Birds’ losing streak

You can’t blame the Baltimore Orioles or O’s fans for thinking this night was going to end any differently than others of late. Not after Trey Mancini got thrown out at home plate on an aggressive send by third base coach Bobby Dickerson in the first inning. You could already feel defeat being snatched from the jaws of victory. But something funny happened…

…the Orioles ended up playing a superior ballgame this evening at Yankee Stadium. Andrew Cashner pitched a gem, that put the Birds in a spot to win the game. Cashner’s line: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K. Cashner pitched out of a couple of mini-jams through those six innings, but for the most part he limited the traffic on the base paths. He becomes the first Orioles’ starter to earn a win in 2018.

Cashner matched New York starter Tanaka almost pitch-for-pitch. The one run he gave up with a solo homer in the last of the sixth by Judge. And that was actually the first run of the game. However if Orioles’ fans felt that it was predetermined to be the Birds’ sixth straight loss, they quickly found out that they were sorely mistaken.

Jonathan Schoop led off the inning, with an at-bat that ended in a solid single to center. That’s what the box score says. What it doesn’t say is what happened between when Schoop stepped in the box and when he reached first base. He worked Tanaka to the bone in that at-bat. Previous to then, Tanaka hadn’t really thrown that many pitches. But Schoop hung in there, with a Houston Astro-like at-bat. And eventually, he wore Tanaka down to the point to where he got a pitch he liked and lined it into center field.

That brought Adam Jones to the plate with a runner on first. And Tanaka, perhaps still reeling from the previous at-bat, grooved a pitch down the middle. And it only took Jones a New York minute to send the ball deep into the Bronx night, giving the Orioles the lead. Jones doesn’t need any help hitting home runs – he never has. But partially credit Schoop for that, as his at-bat set up what Jones did.

Anthony Santander would add an RBI-double to right later in the inning, which left two runners in scoring position. However Trey Mancini would clean up what was left on the base paths very quickly with a two-RBI double, giving the Birds a 5-1 lead. New York would add one more in the seventh, and they would push the likes of Givens, O’Day, and Brach in the remainder of the game. But the ‘pen remained true and held the lead, helping the O’s to break a five-game losing streak.

The Orioles also might have found their lead off hitter, as Mancini got the nod this evening, and got on base immediately. Whether he remains in that slot moving forward remains to be seen – but for one night he was strong. I can’t stress enough how big that Schoop at-bat was, even though the likes of Cashner, Jones, and Mancini will justifiably get the headlines for tonight’s win. That really set up the seventh inning to be a big inning, and the Orioles really took advantage of Tanaka being weakened a bit by that sequence. It’s the little things like that which can help to push you over the top in a close game (which at that point is what this game was).

The series continues tomorrow evening at Yankee Stadium. Kevin Gausman gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by NY’s CC Sabathia. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles waste Dylan Bundy’s quality start in loss

The Baltimore Orioles need to figure out a way to win. Not in general, not this season, not anytime or anything other than one game. Teams go through good stretches and bad over the course of a season. However the Birds have started the year in a funk, which makes it feel like the dog days of August – when in fact fans should still be celebrating the return of baseball.

Unfortunately for the O’s, they wasted a quality start by Dylan Bundy this afternoon in Houston. For the second consecutive game, Bundy gave the Orioles a quality start, and for the second consecutive game, he left with a no decision. Bundy’s line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R (1 earned), 2 BB, 8 K.

Adam Jones popped into a force out when his pop fly fell at the feet of the Houston outfielders. However that came with a runner on third base, which gave the O’s a 1-0 lead. Houston would tie it up one inning later on an RBI-ground out, however in the fourth Gentry would reach on an error with a runner at third, allowing the Birds to take the lead back at 2-1.

Houston would tie the game on a sac bunt-RBI in the sixth. And one inning later Bregman’s RBI-single would give them a 3-2 lead, which they never surrendered. At a certain point, you have to wonder if the O’s aren’t overly predictable. They look to bash the ball out of the park on every play. That’s their nature, and the fact is that in the division in which they play it has to be…

…but it also allows pitchers to know exactly what they’re going to throw. Houston ironically isn’t a team that bunts too often. That goes against the analytics that drive their game in terms of sacrificing outs. However they probably caught the Orioles off guard with that squeeze bunt. And it netted them a win.

Should bunting and playing the game one base at a time be the Orioles’ game plan? No. They’d get bludgeoned to death in their division. But it should be something that they do here and there. Because otherwise their offense remains predictable and stagnant.

Going back to Bundy for a moment, as I’ve said many times pitchers will usually have ten good starts, ten poor, and ten in between over the course of a season. Mind you, that’s not an absolute stat; but the O’s wasted a good start by Bundy today in a losing effort. That’s not something that can happen.

The O’s now head to the Bronx where they’ll open up a four-game series with the New York Yankees tomorrow night. Andrew Cashner gets the start tomorrow for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by NY’s Masahiro Tanaka. Game time is set for just after 6:30 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Did Buck Showalter mismanage the bullpen?

 The scoreboard says that the Baltimore Orioles fell 10-6 to Houston last night. However the facts say that the Birds were neck-in-neck with the defending champions last night. Oriole bats came alive, and the O’s got good starting pitching out of Mike Wright. It just wasn’t enough. Wright’s line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K.

The Birds had a lead almost right away, as Jonathan Schoop smacked a first inning solo shot to left. However if Houston doesn’t get you one way, they’ll get you another – there are times I wonder if teams like Houston don’t sit up at night trying to figure out new ways to score runs. Correa’s deep fly ball in the last of the first bounced and rolled around the outfield so much that it became a two-run inside-the-park home run, giving Houston a 2-1 lead. Correa would add a sac fly-RBI in the third to run it to 3-1.

The O’s almost got the lead back in the fourth, and in a big way. Trey Mancini was robbed of a three-run homer by Reddick. Again, if they don’t get you one way they’ll get you another. The O’s had to settle for a sac fly-RBI from Mancini, inching closer at 3-2. However the top of the sixth brought the O’s the lead they had coveted, as Adam Jones smacked the ball over the railroad tracks in left field, giving the Birds a 4-3 lead.

Buck Showalter at that point opted to pull Mike Wright – after 81 pitches. He opted to go to the bullpen, and I’m sure that he had his reasons. Personally I thought that Wright had at least one more inning left in him, and he had pitched well enough to get that nod. While I’d always defer to a manager like Buck Showalter in that situation, it was curious to say the least.

And in fairness, hindsight is 20/20. But sure enough, Reddick smacked a two-run homer almost immediately (in the last of the sixth). The O’s would tie it back up one inning later on Jones’ RBI-single, however unfortunately for them Reddick would get to come back up in the seventh with the bases loaded. And he took Nestor Cortes out of the ballpark with a grand slam. While a Sisco RBI-single brought the Birds back to within four in the eighth, it just wasn’t enough.

There were two curious aspects in terms of the bullpen. First off, could Mike Wright not have gone further into the game? Secondly, Why use a Rule 5 pick (Cortes) in that situation? I’ll address the latter point first; using a guy like O’Day or Brach would be a tough sell in that scenario, as those guys serve very specific roles in terms of setting up and closing – when the team has the lead. Castro could have been an option also, but he pitched the night before.

However the bigger issue in my mind was Mike Wright. We know that Showalter is loyal to his players to a T. And that’s a good thing. I suspect that the O’s had the lead, and Showalter wanted to get Wright the win. And ultimately it boils down to a difference in team cultures. In the AL East you try your best to bludgeon your opponent. Now while a one-run lead certainly isn’t a bludgeoning, normally there’s a point in games where a team takes a lead – both literally and emotionally.

That’s kind of how one could have viewed the Jones two-run homer. It felt like the Orioles had turned a corner and had control of the game. And ultimately Showalter wanted to get his starter the win…because his starter had pitched well enough to get the win, and deserved it. But Houston doesn’t quit. While in the AL East the opponent would still be trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark (and the Orioles’ bullpen could have pitched to the opponent’s aggression), Houston plays small ball. One stage at a time…

…and before you know it, the bases are loaded. And before you know it after that, someone hits a grand slam. And your little moment of taking the lead both literally and emotionally is then null and void.

Again, my personal opinion is that Showalter made a mistake in lifting Mike Wright when he did. But hindsight is 20/20. If given the same scenario again would he send Wright back out there? Probably. Houston’s also a tough team to predict, because they find so many creative ways to beat you. You know that the Orioles are trying to hammer you to kingdom come. With Houston, each guy is literally just looking to get on base. And somehow that small-minded mentality works in their favor.

The series concludes this afternoon at Minute Maid Park. Dylan Bundy makes the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Houston’s Dallas Keuchel. Game time is set for just after 2 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Brian Dozier speaks again

Last night I said that it wasn’t time for the Baltimore Orioles to hit the panic button. And I meant it. 1-3 isn’t a desirable start in any sport. However it’s much less of a problem in baseball than it is say in football. If you start 1-3 in the NFL, numbers are being run in terms of probability of making the playoffs. Your season is already on the line. Not so in MLB.

With that said, Minnesota’s Brian Dozier seems intent on continually dragging the Orioles through the mud off the field. His comments regarding Chance Sisco‘s bunt on Sunday afternoon were well documented. To me, it would have stood to reason that Dozier would have wanted this situation to go away as quickly as possible after seeing the backlash.

Instead, yesterday he doubled down on his comments and explained why (in his mind) what Sisco did was such an issue (quote courtesy of Ryan Fagan, Sporting News):

When they didn’t hold our runner on, they conceded to the fact they didn’t want us to steal, so we didn’t steal. We could have very easily stolen and put up more runs, so therefore in return you don’t bunt. That’s what everybody is missing in this whole thing.

One might at least see just a slight bit of logic in that statement. A slight bit. However Dozier’s conveniently leaving out one thing; Minnesota employed a shift against Chance Sisco. If the Orioles were in essence conceding the game by not holding a runner on, Minnesota should have seen that and not employed the shift.

Because otherwise what Dozier’s saying is it’s not okay for you to try to get in base in that circumstance, but it’s okay for us to use different methods to get you out. Somehow, that doesn’t seem fair. Furthermore, Dozier’s point initially was to the effect of how dare he bunt during our guy’s one-hitter. The concept of conceding the game didn’t come up until later.

The explanation to this is that Dozier’s just wrong. He made a big mistake in even mentioning this at all, and it’s blowing up in his face. However as I said, it doesn’t make sense that he would double down on his comments. One thing sports figures need to realize is that in the 24-hour news cycle, things like this will go away eventually. At some point someone else will put his foot in his mouth, or do something dumb. People will eventually move on.

But by commenting further, it keeps the scenario in the news. Dozier should have let it go and eventually it would have been just an unfortunate memory. Maybe the “veteran leadership” in the organization needs to step in and remind him of that.

Baltimore Orioles drop another as Chris Tillman falters

At some point you have to figure that the pendulum will swing back in the Baltimore Orioles’ direction. There’s A LOT of season to play – and by that, I mean there are 158 games left. However tonight wasn’t the time for the law of averages to even things out, and Chris Tillman apparently wasn’t the pitcher to do it. Tillman’s line: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 0 K.

Tillman was up in the strike zone for most of the night. And that’s a really dangerous place to be against a team that’s perfectly happy hitting the ball where it’s pitched. And that’s what Houston does. Now one thing that isn’t Chris Tillman’s fault is the Orioles’ offensive output – which was non-existent for the second straight game.

Back-to-back doubles in the first inning set the tone for the game, resulting in an RBI-double by Bregman. However Tillman showed some flashes of settling down after that point. He was still up in the zone, however he was also able to induce guys to chase some of those pitches. Tillman put up goose eggs in the runs column in both the second and third innings.

However the fourth did Tillman in. A Gaonzalez solo homer, a Fischer RBI-triple, and a Springer RBI-single gave Houston a 4-0 lead. Altuve would add an RBI-double in the sixth, and Fischer a sac fly-RBI in the seventh. At the end of the day, the Birds  were almost shut out for the second consecutive game. I say almost, because the O’s did get on the board in the ninth on a Trey Mancini solo homer.

It’s tough to finger which is more pressing issue; pitching or hitting. I would submit…neither at this point. We’re four games in, folks. Consider that; four games in! Now I’m not going to suggest that those four games have been things of beauty (with the exception of perhaps the first one), however 2.5% of the year a season does not make.

This is not to say that the O’s don’t need to take notice of what’s going on. Four innings of shaky ball at best isn’t going to cut it out of the O’s. Now in fairness they did square some balls up against this Houston team tonight. The Houston defense just managed to make gold glove plays to rob the Birds of base hits.

Going back to Tillman, he needs to hit his spots. He also needs to work on his release point, which in my assessment was part of his issue. When he held onto the ball in his windup just a bit longer, he hit his spots perfectly. One positive point of this game was that at the tail end of the game we saw one or two things start to change. Chris Davis smacked his first hit of the season in the eighth, and of course Mancini’s aforementioned homer. But the Orioles will need more of this and then some to get things turned around.

The series continues this evening from Houston’s Minute Maid Park. Mike Wright gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Houston’s Justin Verlander. Game time is set for just after 8 PM.