Baltimore Orioles: Cleveland too much once again

The Baltimore Orioles had a newbie on the mound yesterday afternoon in Cleveland: Gabriel Ynoa. Ynoa of course was acquired in a trade during spring training, and spent some time in the Orioles’ bullpen earlier this year. However he made his first start yesterday, but not with the greatest results. Ynoa’s line: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 3 K.

The zero walks was obviously a nice touch, and Ynoa didn’t pitch horribly to be honest. However this was always meant to be a bullpen game in a sense. But the O’s did give Ynoa a lead in this game early on. Trey Mancini‘s RBI-single in the first inning gave the Birds a 1-0 lead.

However that lead only lasted two innings. Urhsela’s RBI-double in the last of the third tied the game at one. And that was as close as the O’s got for the rest of the day. One inning later in the last of the fourth Bruce smacked an RBI-single which gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead. And one inning after that Santana’s RBI-double increased that to 3-1.

Now the O’s did battle back – just a little. Tim Beckham led the sixth inning off with a solo homer, cutting the lead to 3-2. However this game came across as another classic one in which the O’s relied too much on power. Furthermore, Cleveland pitchers once again did a masterful job of working the outside realms of the strike zone. Every borderline pitch by a Cleveland pitcher was seemingly called a strike.

Just for good measure, Cleveland got a solo homer from Lindor in the seventh to run the final to 4-2. While the O’s did muster the one early run without power, they seem to be slipping back into the old habit of relying on homers. Believe me, I’m the first one to tell you that homers are and should always be the way that this team wins. But it shouldn’t be the only way.

It’s also worth mentioning that this was Cleveland’s 17th straight win. So the Birds are catching them at just the wrong time. When you play 162 games, timing is everything in terms of when you catch teams. And unfortunately the Orioles have run into several teams this year while they were riding high.

The Birds will try to salvage one in this series this evening before a national television audience at Progressive Field on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Jeremy Hellickson gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer. Game time is set for just after 8 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: New York gets some home cooking

Luckily for the Baltimore Orioles and the entire mid-Atlantic region, it appears that Hurricane Irma isn’t going to visit this far north. However ripple affects of the monster storm are being felt across the board. So why not include the Orioles and other AL East teams in that mix?

The New York Yankees were scheduled to open up a three-game series against the Tampa Rays at Tropicana Field on Monday. That series will not be played in Tampa due to the potential affects of Hurricane Irma. So the league knew that they had to think fast and actually move the series – in fact, Baltimore was considered as a potential alternative.

However when the pieces fell, the parties involved decided upon Citi Field in New York – home of the Mets. This means that the Yankees will play 17 of their last 20 games in New York to close the season. For a team that’s in the wild card race, that’s a huge advantage. And a huge disadvantage for teams such as the Orioles who are trying to back their way into the playoffs.

Supposedly, this was an outcome chosen by the Rays themselves. How believable that is might be another story. Nevertheless, Tampa manager Kevin Cash probably hit the nail on the head when saying that there were more important things than baseball to consider (quote courtesy of Billy Witz, New York Times):

I’m fine with that. Look, we’ve got to suck it up on our end, deal with it. It’s not the most important thing.

There’s no question that the games are secondary, and certainly all of the people of Florida and all affected areas are in the thoughts and prayers of the entire nation. But there’s no denying that this gives the New York Yankees a huge and unexpected advantage. And it’s not really a matter of the fact that Yankees fans will be the primary attendees of the games – that would have probably been the case in Tampa also. But it’s the visiting players who’ll get to stay in their own beds, drive their own cars to the games, and get meal money for being on the road.

Meanwhile, the “homestanding Rays” will be living out of a suitcase in a hotel. Again, there may well have been no perfect solution given the circumstances. But my point here is that any other solution would have been preferable to playing in New York. This is something we’ve seen a lot of over the past few years – in terms of relocated games. Remember the Orioles playing their “home series” against Tampa at Tropicana Field? Even before that, Miami played a “home series” against Seattle at Safeco, and Toronto did the same against Philadelphia at Citizen’s Bank Park. And looking to other sports, we all of course remember the Saints playing a “home game” at the Meadowlands after Hurricane Katrina against the NY Giants.

Now granted the Yankees aren’t playing in their home park in this case. But that’s like arguing semantics. They may as well be playing in their home park. And I would submit that this is a trend that needs to stop. Inevitably, games will occasionally need to be relocated and teams will in essence lose home games when the real world meets the sports world. That goes without saying, and the fact is that you make due in anyway that you can. But is it really fair to even consider having a team “play host” in the actual visiting team’s park or city?

MLB got it right a few weeks ago when the Houston Astros played their series against Texas in Tampa. That was a totally neutral city and  so forth. But in this specific case, there’s going to be a couple of teams who miss out on the postseason that will do so by one or two games. The Orioles may or may not be one of those. Is it really fair to let them wonder what would have happened had New York not gotten three de facto (extra) home games?

For what it’s worth, Tampa will be designated as the home team in these games. They’ll wear their home whites while New York dons the road grays, and they’ll have the last at-bat. But baseball’s ultimately baseball once you’re between the lines. None of that really matters, nor does how many fans are rooting for which team. But there’s no question that New York will get the intangible benefits of being at home. And that’s a huge advantage – especially in a pennant race.

Baltimore Orioles, Wade Miley squeezed in Cleveland

Wade Miley didn’t exactly pitch a horrible game for the Baltimore Orioles last night in Cleveland. The numbers might not indicate that, but once he settled down, Miley looked decent for the most part. Miley’s line: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 4 K. Miley pitched well enough to win, had the Orioles been able to put some runs on the board. But that’s not how the game went.

From the very beginning, the O’s seemed to have an issue with the strike zone of home plate umpire Dana DeMuth. In some cases, that was with good reason. It seemed that every borderline pitch was going Cleveland’s way. If the Birds were in the field, the borderline pitches were being called balls. If the O’s were at bat, suddenly they were strikes.

DeMuth’s strike zone did seem to be a bit erratic at times, which can be frustrating for pitchers and hitters alike. Furthermore, as a hitter it also makes you have to consider expanding the strike zone. So it potentially led to Oriole hitters swinging at balls. And if you establish that you’ll swing at balls, they’re going to throw you balls.

Here’s the flip side of this discussion, however. Cleveland also adapted to the moving target of the strike zone much better than did the Orioles. And quite frankly, that’s a problem that the Orioles have always had. You’ll see a lot of angry glares towards home plate umpires from hitters and from Buck Showalter in the dugout. And again, in some instances that’s with good reason. Sometimes the strike zone does seem to be a moving target. But as the innings go on opposing teams seem to adapt to whatever the umpire seems to be calling, while the Orioles don’t.

We also saw in this game how things can snowball in baseball. Jonathan Schoop muffed a tailor-made double-play in the first inning. It doesn’t go as an error because he did get the force out at first base, and you can’t assume the double-play. However that led to a two on and two out situation, which led to Encarnacion’s three-run homer.

Again, Miley seemed to settle down after that, which is to his credit. The O’s just couldn’t put anything across to counter the damage that was already done. Santana smacked an RBI-double in the sixth, on a ball that was barely fair. Again, in a game of inches, the break went Cleveland’s way there. Cleveland would put another run across in the last of the seventh on a wild pitch, closing out their 5-0 win.

The series continues this afternoon at Progressive Field. Gabriel Ynoa will make a spot start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Josh Tomlin. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Kevin Gausman didn’t have it

Kevin Gausman had a tough time getting anything going for the Baltimore Orioles yesterday as they fell big in the series finale with New York, 9-1. Gausman’s line: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 4 K. That’s not going to get the job done, however New York was hitting everything that anybody was throwing yesterday – not just Gausman’s stuff.

Gausman started the game off with a walk of Gardner, who promptly stole second and was doubled home. Judge came up later in the inning and smacked a two-run homer, and the O’s trailed 3-0. Gausman pitched Judge right down the middle, which resulted in the home run. Mind you however, Judge has struggled mightily since the all-star break. So it wasn’t necessarily a bad idea to pitch-to-contact against him given the fact that he’s been recording outs. He just picked yesterday to try to break out.

After New York put two more on the board in the third, Gausman was finally lifted after that inning. Mike Wright came in for the fourth, and promptly gave up another two-run homer. As I said, New York was hitting everything they could. When the smoke cleared the Birds fell by the aforementioned score of 9-1. In this case, it began and ended with starting pitching, although the offense only putting up one run didn’t help.

The Orioles now embark on a road trip that will take them through Cleveland, Toronto, and New York. So that’s basically the season right there. The Orioles sit two games out of the final wild card spot, and one game behind Anaheim. But they have a tall task this weekend with a Cleveland team that’s basically the hottest in the league. Incidentally, this weekend’s series will also feature the Orioles in the national spotlight, as Sunday’s game is in prime time on Sunday Night Baseball.

After the game Buck Showalter mentioned how it’s important in any game to get off to a good start. Gausman was unable to do that, which added to why it didn’t work out for him and the Birds yesterday (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

The first at-bat of the game, that’s the difference between the major leagues and Triple-A is you make really good pitches and they tip them off and then you get two or three, in his case four pitches that could have been strikes. I thought Kevin’s stuff was pretty good. He struck out three guys in the first inning. It wasn’t his day.

The aforementioned series in Cleveland begins tonight. Wade Miley gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Mike Clevinger. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: How to deal with electronic sign-stealing

The series finale for the Baltimore Orioles with New York last night was post phoned until this afternoon due to rain. Unlike some teams who try to make everyone wait around for two or three hours, the Orioles made the decision before the scheduled start time. And that benefits everyone.

The story du jour in MLB of course is the Boston Red Sox being caught stealing signs with an apple watch (against the New York Yankees). I’ve heard a wide array of comments on this, however that aside my personal opinion is that stealing signs is dirty. When a guy’s standing on second base and is relaying signs to a hitter…that’s just not cool. But people love to hide behind the fact that everyone’s doing it.

HOWEVER, Major League Baseball does have a written rule saying that the usage of electronic devices to steal signs is not allowed. So this isn’t about upholding the unwritten codes of the game, yes in which I do personally believe. There’s actually a written rule against what Boston was doing. It’s akin to trying to argue that you were keeping up with the flow of traffic when you got pulled over for going 30 MPH over the speed limit.

So what next? Well before I go there, let me just say how despicable I think this is. Again, I’m not in favor of sign stealing the old fashion way. It goes against the integrity of the game, and the fact that everyone does it is no defense. In this case, I get pulling out all the stops to win. But resorting to tactics like this are despicable and shameless.

Commissioner Rob Manfred really needs to think long and hard about what he’s going to do. If you believe CSNNE, the penalty isn’t going to be very harsh. But again, they violated a written rule. And the argument that Boston didn’t do well against NY this year is a weak one. The results of the games shouldn’t matter. Heck, it sounds like they knew something was up, and they probably changed their signs.

The article I linked above talks about vacating wins, which is an interesting idea. Depending upon which wins and how many they had to vacate, the Orioles could stand to benefit. However I’ll be honest – that’s a bad idea. As petty as both Boston and New York can be, that’s a penalty that first off is probably a bit draconian. However they would also probably sue the league and it would end up in court. Let’s say that they vacated wins and the Orioles somehow magically won the division. That can’t be undone.

But Manfred does need to make an example out of the Red Sox. This type of thing can’t be allowed to stand. Perhaps manager John Farrell should receive a 30-game suspension or something to that affect. The Red Sox were quick to point out that he supposedly knew nothing of what was going on. First off I’m not sure I believe that. Secondly, it’s your job to know what’s going on in your dugout. So if he really didn’t know, he flat out wasn’t doing his job.

If Manfred lets them get off with a slap on the wrist, it’ll look bad for the game. Boston’s a team with a huge following and one who will probably generate a lot of TV ratings in the post season. Does Manfred really want to give the semblance that he’s putting that before the integrity of the game? One way or another, this is something that he needs to rectify; if you aren’t going to enforce the rules on the books, they may as well be struck.

The Orioles will wrap up their series with NY with a makeup game this afternoon. Kevin Gausman gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by NY’s Sonny Gray. Game time is set for just after 1:30 PM.

Baltimore Orioles’ Manny Machado walks it off early

When the Baltimore Orioles finish up a game well after midnight, it’s not late, it’s early. Last night’s game began with a two hour and fifteen minute rain delay before things even got started. But eventually they did, and fans saw Jeremy Hellickson be ineffective. Hellickson’s line: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 5 R (3 earned), 4 BB, 1 K.

However the O’s did have an early (or was it late?) lead. Mancini plated a run on an RBI-single in the last of the first. However the top of the third was almost back-breaking for the Birds. It certainly was for Hellickson, needless to say. New York plated six runs before the smoke cleared. To top it off, Jones dropped a routine pop fly in center, which attests to the two unearned runs.

However keep in mind that this is a resilient Orioles team. Furthermore while the clock said it was late, it was still early in the game. And the Orioles knew that. Apparently New York did not.

Manny Machado smacked a solo homer in the last of the third to bring the Birds back to within 6-2. Two innings later Jonathan Schoop added one of his own, and the lead was down to 6-3. However when you’re attempting to come back in a game solo homers only go so far. And that’s why Mark Trumbo decided to smack a two-run shot in the sixth, and suddenly it was 6-5.

And that brings us to the ninth inning, which as I said in reality was actualy “early.” This is a situation in which the Orioles being a veteran team who’s been in pennant races in the past really did them well. New York is young and many of their players don’t have much experience under the bright lights of these late season games. Especially ones that start so late…and end so early!

With two outs in the ninth Beckham took a walk against NY’s Betances. That brought Manny Machado to the plate, representing the winning run. Perhaps in the grand scheme of the season this game will be lost in the shuffle, and ultimately won’t mean anything. But anytime you have an opportunity to walk off the New York Yankees, you take it.

And that’s exactly what Manny Machado did, as he smacked a walk off two-run homer to left center, giving the O’s a 7-6 win. With the victoy, the O’s now stand only one game out of the wild card. Anaheim currently holds that spot, with Minnesota only a half game back. And then the O’s are a full game back. So…it’s on.

The series concludes this evening at Camden Yards. Kevin Gausman gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Sonny Gray. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Nibbling won’t get the job done

Dylan Bundy looked really good for the Baltimore Orioles yesterday afternoon against New York – the first time through the order. Bundy’s line: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 5 K. After that first time through the order however, New York hitters figured something out about Bundy, which incidentally was true of Oriole relievers yesterday as well: they were nibbling.

Nibbling may well be an okay strategy here and there or from time to time. However it’s not a game plan. Nor should it be. New York hitters eventually recognized what was going on, and just laid back and allowed Bundy and the Orioles to in essence beat themselves.

The Birds took an early lead, as Tim Beckham led the game off with a solo homer. One inning later Chris Davis smacked a two-run homer of his own following a New York error. So it appeared that the Birds were going to be off to the races in this game. Then as I said, the second time through the order New York figured out what was going on.

Gregorius smacked a two-run homer in the fourth, and Ellsbury an RBI-single. That tied the game at three. Now to his credit, Bundy went from cruising to being on the ropes in that inning. At the very least he salvaged a tie as opposed to surrendering the lead.

However he did surrender the lead an inning later as Castro’s two-run homer gave New York a 5-3 lead. And that closed the book on Bundy for the day. However as I said, the Orioles’ bullpen seemed to have the same strategy of nibbling on the corners. And it had the same results. New York would put two more runs across in the sixth, and Castillo would homer in the ninth for the O’s to close out a 7-4 loss.

When you nibble on the outer edges of the plate, eventually the opponent is going to take notice. That gets you into more hitter’s counts, and it allows the hitters to sit on fastballs when in the end you have to throw a strike. And here’s the other thing; nibblers don’t get calls. As the game went on almost all borderline pitchers were going New York’s way. On the flip side, when New York would be in the field pitches in the same location were being called strikes. It’s a by-product of living on the outer edges of the plate.

The series continues this evening at Camden Yards. Jeremy Hellickson gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by NY’s C.C. Sabathia. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Biggest win of 2017?

The Baltimore Orioles wouldn’t have been out of the playoff race had they lost to Toronto yesterday. In fact, they still would have had the same fighting chance they have today – however at 2.5 games out of the wild card as opposed to 1.5. But the fact is that whether it’s true or not, some wins just feel bigger in the grand scheme of things. This game was one of them.

Chris Tillman struggled as Toronto was able to grab an early lead. Tillman’s line: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 K. Yes folks, it begins and ends with starting pitching. But in these September games with the post season on the line, it’s as much about the bullpen and every other aspect of the game as it is starting pitching. Tillman lasted four innings, but if a starter isn’t hacking it after two, it’s not uncommon for him to get pulled. Especially when you have a bullpen like that of the Orioles.

Following a walk and a base hit, Tillman gave up a three-run homer to Donaldson in the third. But in a moment of foreshadowing of more than one type, Welington Castillo gave the Birds some hope with a solo home run in the last of the third. And to double-up on that foreshadowing, Mark Trumbo followed in the fourth with a solo shot of his own. Mancini would add a sac fly-RBI in the sixth, and we were tied at three.

However Toronto managed to put one across in the seventh to get the lead back. Saunders’ infield RBI-single ticked off of Davis’ glove at first, yielding a run. And it’s unconventional plays like that which have plagued the O’s this year. As I’ve said many times, anything can happen when you put guys on base. Orioles’ opponents have taken that to another level it seems, scoring runs off of plays like that, bloops, broken bat singles, etc.

But you play through it if you can. Unfortunately, it appeared that this game was destined for a loss, which would mean that an all but hapless Toronto team had come into Camden Yards and taken three-of-four from the O’s – a team in the playoff race. They say that’s why they play the games and so forth – incidentally, it’s also why they play all of the games in their entirety.

Remember how I said above that Welington Castillo’s homer in the third foreshadowed something?! Castillo led off the last of the ninth, and promptly smacked his second solo homer of the game to tie it up at four. And just like that, the playoff race was on! And as if these two teams didn’t go long enough past nine innings on Friday night, it took until the last of the twelfth to decide it. Mark Trumbo came up with runners at the corners and two outs, and his RBI-single to left won it for the Birds, 5-4.

Again, there are some wins that just feel bigger. I would point to last year’s come-from-behind win at San Francisco on a Sunday afternoon (in which the Birds trailed 7-1 in the seventh inning), as well as an early September win against New York in 2012. You like to point back to points in the season and say that maybe something began there. If I had to point to anywhere it would be the walk off win two weeks ago against Oakland. But with the standings being what they are at this point in the season, this one felt just a little bigger for the O’s.

And in fact, you could look at Castillo’s at-bat there in the ninth and say that it might have been one of the most important at-bats of the season. Ultimately if the O’s make it into the post season, all of that will be true. If they do not, it’ll be an afterthought.

The Orioles now open a huge series with New York at Camden Yards. Dylan Bundy gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Jordan Montgomery. Game time is set for just after 2 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Bats stay cool in loss to Toronto

Unfortunately for the Baltimore Orioles, their bats stayed cool last night amid a dense drizzle all game long. And for much of the game, this seemed to work fine, as Wade Miley kept Toronto in check. That is, until he didn’t. Miley’s line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K.

Those aren’t bad numbers per se. The only problem was that as I said above, the O’s didn’t put anything up offensively. Perhaps it was the chill in the air, or the semblance of an early season game. But the offense just never really came alive.

The teams played to a scoreless tie until the fifth inning when Toronto started to figure Miley out. Pillar smacked a solo homer, which given the game on Friday night and how this one was going seemed fairly big. One inning later Morales’ sac fly-RBI gave Toronto a 2-0 lead. And that would be the end for Miley, after that sixth inning.

The big blow however came in the seventh, when Toronto had two runners on. Donaldson came up to the plate, and promptly smacked a three-run homer to left field. Toronto would add three more before all was said and done. The O’s would also get a solo homer out of Smith in the eighth, and an RBI-single out of Trumbo in the last of the ninth.

For the Orioles’ sake, you have to hope that perhaps that little burst of offense in the final two innings leads to something starting today. If you’re going to struggle at the plate, you can still win games if your pitching shuts the opponent down. And for a good part of this game, Miley did – as Buck Showalter indicated after the game (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

Wade pitched well, Wade pitched well. I thought when he wiggled out of that jam in the sixth, it might be the difference in the ballgame right there. You like your chances 2-0, but we didn’t put much together offensively all night. It’s one of those, September baseball at its best where people are pitching that are good pitchers, good prospects, but there’s a lot of unknown and you get ambushed this time of the year easily.

It’s just that time of the year with baseball with the way the rules are in September. But that didn’t have anything to do with tonight. We just didn’t swing the bats very well.

The series concludes this afternoon at Camden Yards. Chris Tillman will be on the mound for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Brett Anderson. Game time is set for just after 1:30 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Walk off win by Jonathan Schoop in the twilight zone

Jonathan Schoop won the game for the Baltimore Orioles – in the twilight zone. I’ve said many times that when baseball games go past twelve innings they go into “the twilight zone.” Strange things are liable to happen, as eventually fatigue takes over. And whomever has that happen first, loses.

Kevin Gausman pitched a gem for the O’s, and it’s a shame that he couldn’t get the win. Gausman’s line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K. It’s rare that a pitcher is going to toss a shutout and not get the win. It’s also worth mentioning that Buck Showalter matched up perfectly in this game regarding the bullpen. Admittedly it’s easier to do that after September 1st when rosters expand, however a lesser manager wouldn’t have had the savoir faire to do it the way Showalter did.

This game had a bit of everything – except runs, that is. But we did see a lot of fine defensive plays on both sides which in theory kept the game and the 0-0 draw going. But perhaps none more so than Trey Mancini‘s catch in the top of the 13th to end the inning. On a liner to left field, Mancini was off balance; yet he reached up and back and caught the ball. And that’s what can happen folks…in the twilight zone!

And that set up the last of the 13th. Machado led the inning off with an infield single. That brought Schoop to the plate, and his RBI-double walked the Orioles off winners by the score of 1-0. These are the types of games that teams win when they’re in the playoff chase. And the Orioles are very much in that chase.

One interesting point from this game was Adam Jones earning his second career ejection after arguing balls and strikes in the dugout in the first inning. Jones is generally not the type to do that, however he felt that both he and his team were falling victim to an inconsistent strike zone. And quite honestly he probably had a point, as it seemed that any borderline pitch was going Toronto’s way for awhile – regardless of who was pitching and who was in the field.

That right there should have indicated that this game was destined for the twilight zone. However Jones’ replacement, Craig Gentry, had to leave the game also. He injured a finger attempting to bunt in the third inning. Later we found out that the finger was fractured. Gentry now appeared headed to the DL.

The series continues this evening at Camden Yards. Wade Miley gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Marcus Stroman. Game time is set for just after 7 PM. And that’s it for now…on the twilight zone.