Baltimore Orioles’ win marred in a Manny Machado controversy

Whether or not actions such as these are intentional or not, Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles has controversy find him. He’s just one of those people. And I don’t say that in an accusatory manner, because I’ve noticed that I’m one of them also. And I can tell you from my own experience that I don’t seek it out – it just finds me. But when it hits, it’s not as if one can simply walk away.

The Orioles got yet another great outing from a starting pitcher, this time Dylan Bundy. As I said yesterday, it all begins and ends with starting pitching. And with that said once again, Bundy really put on a great show on the Orioles’ behalf yesterday. Bundy’s line: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K.

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead on an Adam Jones RBI-single to right field in the third inning. Manny Machado would also smack a solo shot over the center field wall in the last of the fifth. And that’s your ballgame, folks! All you need is two runs (actually one) when you get solid pitching as such.

It’s also worth noting that Brad Brach has three consecutive saves that were all pretty flawless. Brach has admirably been filling in for the Orioles’ injured closer (Britton), who’s getting closer to returning. And that’s been a load off of the mind of Buck Showalter, as Brach’s taken the ball and been running with it.

Regarding the aforementioned Machado incident; he executed a hard slide into second base, which took out Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia. The replay showed that the slide might have been a bit later than normal, however simply a hard slide to try to break up the double-play – which Machado did. However Machado’s cleat popped off the bag, spiking Pedroia in the calf. That had Boston fuming during and after the game. (It also got their third base coach tossed in the top of the ninth when he decided to continue the argument.)

It’s tough to interpret intent – most of the time. So I can’t say whether or not Machado did this on purpose. However I’ll give you my opinion, which is that while it was a bit late and yes a hard slide, the spiking wasn’t intentional. Machado’s spike made contact with second base, and then popped off and scraped Pedroia. If he was going to intentionally do that, would he not have just gone at Pedroia directly?

Furthermore, after realizing what he had done, he attempted to catch Pedroia as he fell down. That hardly seems like the actions of someone who did something like that on purpose. It would seem to me that one would have to be a pretty good actor to pull all of that off and make it look like an accident. And keep in mind that these plays are all bang-bang in a sense – they evolve quickly.

What happens moving on from here obviously is unknown. There are two games left in the weekend series, and loads left in the regular season between these two teams. Does Boston decide to throw at Machado or someone else? Tough to say. Nothing could happen, or the benches could clear – or something in between.

Again, Machado seems to be the type of guy who just has controversy find him. And I’ll say it again, I’m the same way for whatever reason. I could have someone bump into me on the street and suddenly start saying hey man cool it and back off! So I’m not accusing Machado of anything, because I know the type of predicament in which he can sometimes find himself. It happens to me all the time.

Believe me folks, it’s not something that you seek out – controversy just finds you. So speaking for myself, I try to keep my nose clean and my head down. And I’m sure Machado tries to do the same, but unfortunately sometimes lightning rods are unsuccessful at deflecting controversy. Again, it happens to me all the time!

The series continues tonight at Camden Yards. The Orioles will be starting Jayson Aquino for the first time this year, and he’ll be opposed by Boston’s Steve Wright. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Bite the bullet on Manny Machado?

A lot has been made over the past year or so about the Baltimore Orioles’ situation with Manny Machado. And if you look down the road a piece, the Washington Nationals are in the same bot with Bryce Harper. Both players will be free agents after next year, and they’re expected to get obtuse paydays – even by MLB standards.

At the most recent home stand, a New York fan was seen wearing a #13 jersey in pinstripes with MACHADO taped onto the back. (Never mind the fact that New York doesn’t put names on the backs of their jerseys…) And in Washington they’re seeing similar sentiments regarding Harper. Fans in both camps are already preparing for the player’s departure – and perhaps with good reason.

There are only a few teams who would potentially be willing to pay the amount that industry experts are saying Machado and Harper will be garnering on the open market. New York, Boston, the LA Dodgers, and perhaps the Chicago Cubs are thought of as teams that could afford that. But could the Orioles?

Only the Orioles know that for sure. However I would say that they probably could, if you factor in the MASN money. In fact, the premise of the article assumes that they could in theory afford Machado at $35-$40 million a year for 8-10 years. So let’s use that as a given…

…what I’m saying is that the Orioles should pony up and sign him  – NOW. If the Orioles were going to deal Machado, the time to do it would have been this past off season. With two years left of team control, he would have been at his peak value. So in my view, that’s not an option – if it ever was one to begin with.

So the only option would be for the Orioles to sign him, and sign him now. First off, the Orioles are the only team who can legally negotiate with Machado right now. No agent or player would legitimately be able to bounce an offer off of another team. If Machado hits the open market, it’s going to be ugly – for the Orioles. The same is true with Harper in Washington. The Orioles might well decide to make an offer of ten years $350 million with Machado on the open market. But NY would go up to $360, Boston up to $370, etc.

So the only real option the Orioles have if they want to dictate the market is to make a mega-offer right now. Or at some point prior to next year. Do I think it’s fair that salaries have gotten that out of control? Not in the least. My personal opinion is that baseball needs a salary cap. Am I saying that Machado is priceless? I’m not going that far – but I’m saying that he’s the best third baseman in the game today, and he’s a player the Orioles can’t afford to lose.

This is all very easy to say about someone else’s money. But keep in mind that odds are the Orioles would be playing against Machado 18 times a year. Do Orioles fans really want to see Machado coming into Camden Yards and flashing his defensive magic against their team? I would suspect not. So the only alternative is to sign him.

Baltimore Orioles win behind a stellar Wade Miley effort

Wade Miley turned in perhaps the best start of the season by any Baltimore Orioles’ pitcher in their 2-1 win over Cincinnati.

If you would have told me that the Baltimore Orioles would take two-of-three in Cincinnati this week and the two games they won were going to be pitcher’s duels, I’m not sure I would have believed you. Yet if it was possible to one-up what Jimenez did on Wednesday, Wade Miley did it last night. Miley’s line: 8.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 11 K.

Let that sink in for just a moment; eleven strikeouts! This was by far the best outing Miley’s had as an Oriole. The only downside was that he didn’t get credit for the win. However the fact is that he did more than just put his team in a spot to win. When you pitch eight innings (longer than any other Oriole pitcher this year) and give up two hits, you got the win – whether the box score says so or not.

After the game Miley said that he did what all starters try to do, in going deep into a game – and it worked (quote courtesy of Brittany Ghiroli, mlb.com):

All our starting pitchers try to go out and get as deep into a ballgame as we can. We were able to get some early outs and get deeper into the ballgame.

Miley got ahead of hitters early, and didn’t let them off the hook for the most part. That’s always a recipie for a deep outing and a quality start. Again, the only downside was that the O’s couldn’t get Miley the win.

The Birds took a 1-0 lead in the second on a Jonathan Schoop solo home run, however two innings later in the fourth Cincinnati’s Votto followed suit. Two solo homers (one on each side), and a 1-1 tie. And on they played after nine innings.

Incidentally, the Orioles had two runners thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple last night. The first one (involving Manny Machado) was fairly close, although in my view he should have stayed at second base. The second one (involving J.J. Hardy) had the runner out by a country mile. You live and learn I suppose.

However Hardy made up for it in the tenth inning. With a runner at second base, he worked the count and sent a liner into center field for a base hit. That brought Trumbo into score, and the O’s held a 2-1 lead – which turned into a 2-1victory.

Both this game and Wednesday’s game would have been losses in the past for this team. That shows that it really does begin and end with starting pitching. However in the past the Orioles haven’t faired well when they were in situations where they had to play small ball. This time around they did what they had to do to win the games, and that’s a good sign.

The O’s now head home after a long nine-game road swing to open up a three-game set with Boston. Dylan Bundy heads to the mound for the Orioles tonight, and he’ll be opposed by Boston’s Drew Pomeranz. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles, Ubaldo Jimenez bounce back strong in win

Tuesday was a trying night for the Baltimore Orioles, just as the first couple of starts had been trying for Ubaldo Jimenez. However last night we saw what bouncing back looks like on all accounts, as Jimenez pitched a gem that was won by the Orioles. Jimenez’s line: 7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K.

Jimenez went deeper than any other Orioles’ starter into a game thus far in 2017. Heck, he even registered a base hit late in the game, the 34th of his career! When you’re an American League pitcher and you’ve retired almost everyone who’s come up to face you AND you get a base hit (in an interleague game), you know things are running smoothly. Buck Showalter mentioned after the game that he felt Jimenez had all of his pitches working for him and hitting their spots (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

He filled up the bottom of the zone tonight. Had enough secondary pitches working for him. I thought Welington was good with him. With a lot of catchers you can be good when you have those things at your disposal. I thought his tempo, a lot of ground balls, a lot of pretty good plays made behind him because guys were engaged in the game.

We’ve seen Jimenez be this good in the past at times, and there’s no doubt he’s tough to beat when that happens. Ironically however, the Orioles scored more runs (three) in a loss on Tuesday than they did in a win last night. However the fact is that they would have only needed one run at the end of the day.

Schoop smacked an RBI-single in the second inning, however the Orioles also left the bases loaded. But keep in mind that this is the National League, where small ball rules supreme. One run is a victory, no matter how small.

Machado added a sac fly-RBI in the fifth to close out the scoring. Again, no one run is too small not to put across in a small ball situation. In a way that’s somewhat endearing – because “it’s supposed to be the small things in life,” right?! But to a power-hitting team like the Orioles, that’s a tough and frustrating game to play.

Ironically, I prefer the National League game only for the fact that the pitchers hit. I’ve always said that pitchers should be held as much in accountability for offensive output as anyone else. I’m not naive however; I recognize that no pitcher is going to be feared per se at the plate. So then it introduces more strategy in terms of moving guys over, double-switches, etc. It also makes the use of the bullpen more strategic.

And Jimenez illustrated perfectly what I’m saying last night, as he recorded the aforementioned base hit. Nobody was on and at the end of the day the inning ended in a double-play, however Jimenez is on the scorecard as having reached on a base hit. I’m in favor of MLB streamlining the rules between the leagues, for the record. However my version of that would be the elmination of the DH in the American League.

The series concludes this evening at the Great American Ball Park, after which the Orioles will mercifully head home. Wade Miley will be on the mound for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by former Oriole Scott Feldman. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: No quit in Adam Jones

When a team is winning or losing by a big margin, there’s often an urge to in essence waste at-bats in the name of getting the game over with. Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles doesn’t really believe in that. More poignantly, he doesn’t believe in giving up. And that attitude pretty much sets the trend for this Orioles team.

Kevin Gausman got beaten around last night in the series opener in Cincinnatti, although the fact is that their offense also had a very on night. Gausman’s line: 2.2 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 3 BB, 2 K. While all of those runs were earned, several of them came off of Oriole miscues in the field.

If you’re Gausman, you can’t fret too much about a start like this. It wasn’t good for sure, however all pitchers have a few clunkers over the course of a season. This doesn’t indicate that Gausman isn’t ready for showtime, or that what good we’ve seen of him this year wasn’t real. He had a bad start, something that will happen to even the best pitchers in the game.

Cincinnati put two runs across in the first inning, one of which came as a result of a bobbled ball in the infield by Jonathan Schoop on what could have been an inning-ending double-play. As I said above, that still goes as an earned run against Gausman, but only because you don’t assume a double-play. If the double-play was assumed, that would have been an error on Schoop. However he actually did redeem himself in the second inning on an RBI-single that cut the lead in half.

But that’s as close as the Orioles got. Duvall smacked a grand slam in the last of the second, which burst the game wide open at 6-1. Later in the inning Barnhart hit an RBI-double which made it 7-1, however Cincinnati got greedy. They sent the runner from first base, however Adam Jones relayed a throw to Jonathan Schoop at second, who threw the runner out at home plate to end the inning. And for the record folks, it wasn’t even close.

One inning later Votto smacked a two-run home run, opening up a 9-1 lead for Cincinnati. But it was Jones’ at-bat in the fifth which impressed me. Again, at 9-1 a lot of players on both sides are in essence playing out a string in a game. Not Adam Jones. He worked the count, and sent a two-run homer over the wall to narrow the lead to 9-3, which was the eventual final.

The score is irrelevant in a sense. However Jones recognizes that you always leave your best out on the field. And the sad part is that his effort isn’t really the norm. We actually call it out and praise it when we see it. Let’s put it this way; when people are paying to come to the game and sit in the stands, you should never just lollygag and give up at-bats. Jones personified that last night, and I tip my cap to his approach.

The Orioles also had to remove Seth Smith in the sixth inning after he appeared to re-injure his right hamstring. Smith was held out of much of spring training dealing with this injury, and now it’s apparently bitten him again in the regular season. It’s unclear when or if the O’s will place him on the DL, however I suspect that they will. With two more games under NL rules, you always want to have a pinch-hitter/runner available at will.

Joey Rickard is apparently not ready to come off the DL yet with his sprained middle finger. It’s unclear how close Rickard is to being able to return; it could always be possible that they make hi a corresponding move for Smith if he goes to the DL. He might only be able to pinch run for a couple of days, but it’s possible.

The series in Cincinnati continues this evening at the Great American Ball park. Ubaldo Jimenez gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Cincinnati’s Amir Garrett. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Sister cities connected by the railroad

The Baltimore Orioles head to Cincinnati this evening for a three-game series. This will not only be the Orioles’ first foray into Interleague play this season, but also their first step outside the division. Given that they’ll play by National League rules, the Birds will have to surrender their DH this evening and starter Ubaldo Jimenez will have to swing the bat.

Baltimore and Cincinnati have special places in history, but not for reasons that you might think. Certainly the 1970 World Series comes to mind, when the Birds defeated the “Big Red Machine.” You could also look to the NFL where the Ravens play the Bengals twice a year, but that’s not what I mean either.

As we know, Oriole Park at Camden Yards’ crowing feature is the B & O Warehouse on Eutaw St. The Warehouse of course is the former terminal for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and it began being built in 1899. The final sections were built around 1905 or so, and it was in use until the 1960’s. Since 1992 when the ballpark opened, it’s housed the Orioles’ team offices, stadium store, etc.

This isn’t news to Orioles fans. But have any of you ever heard of Longworth Hall? You can click on the link I provided, but I would encourage you to click on images from a simple google search of the building first. Trust me, you’ll do a double-take when you see what comes up, and you’ll have to pinch yourself not to think you’re looking at Baltimore’s B & O Warehouse.

Longworth Hall is the Warehouse’s “sister building” in a sense. Whereas the Warehouse in Baltimore was the “Baltimore terminus” of the B & O Railroad, Longworth Hall was the “Ohio Terminus.” Here’s a fun fact about me, I’m somewhat OCD when it comes to uniformity. So in my mind it makes total sense and I can actually rest easy knowing that both ends of this very important railroad in American history are bookended by what in essence could be the same building.

The buildings are uncannily similar but not identical, and in fact my understanding is that Longworth Hall is actually bigger than Baltimore’s Warehouse. And whereas Baltimore’s used the Warehouse as a centerpiece for “The Ballpark that forever Changed Baseball,” Cincinnati is using Longworth Hall as part of a condo and commerce project in their downtown area.

In essence, both cities use the buildings as a tip of the cap to the past while creating a modern downtown atmosphere, albeit for different reasons. Longworth Hall was at risk for demolition as recently as 2012, however that would apparently only happen if the owners of the building (the family of Nicholas Longworth, the original owner) decide to sell it.

So in this sense, Baltimore and Cincinnati are forever linked together in history. Most people know of the B & O Warehouse, mainly because of Camden Yards. However Longworth Hall served the exact same purpose, on the other side of the same original railroad that we know. And again, I encourage you to google Longworth Hall and pull up images on the google search – you’ll have to tell yourself time and time again that you aren’t looking at the Warehouse in Baltimore.

The series in Cincinnati begins tonight at the Great American Ballpark. The aforementioned Ubaldo Jimenez will be on the mound for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Bronson Arroyo. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Big wheels keep on turning

As late as last year, Rogers Centre was a house of horrors for the Baltimore Orioles. And I’m not just talking about the 2016 AL Wild Card Game, but also regular season series’. So an early season four-game set north of the border may well have been met with some angst in the Orioles’ clubhouse.

But that would have ended up being unnecessary, as the Birds took three-of-four from Toronto, putting them in a great spot going into today’s off day before opening a series in Cincinnatti tomorrow. Dylan Bundy was fairly dominant for the Orioles yesterday, shutting Toronto bats down all day – just as Toronto bats had basically been shut down all series long. Bundy’s line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K.

Throughout the first part of the afternoon it appeared as if we were going to see another pitcher’s duel. It wasn’t until the fifth inning that anyone scored, which was when Adam Jones‘ RBI-single gave the O’s a 1-0 lead. One inning later Trey Mancini smacked a three-run homer, and the Birds were off to the races.

The O’s would add additional runs in that fourth inning on Hardy’s RBI-double, and Gentry’s sac fly-RBI. Toronto also mounted a threat in the seventh, but the O’s got out of it surrendering only one run. But one inning later Mancini spouted off again with a solo homer. But wait…there’s more.

The O’s ended up with three home runs in that eighth inning, as Gentry and Machado each added two-run shots. Toronto would put three runs on the board before all was said and done, however that was too little too late. The O’s ended up with an 11-4 victory in the series finale, again giving them a series win at three games out of four.

This has the feel of a series to which one might look back as one that was instrumental in setting the tone for the season. The Orioles found different ways to win in different types of games at each spot along the way. They also leave Rogers Centre with five consecutive quality starts, dating back to last week in Boston. The pitching has really stepped up and come a long way.

However that pitching took a bit of a hit before the game, as we found out that Zach Britton was being sent to the 20-day DL with forearm soreness. He apparently felt a twinge while throwing a breaking ball on Friday night; the DL assignment is back-dated to Saturday.

Adam Jones also smacked into the Rogers Centre wall chasing down a triple late in yesterday’s game. He stayed down for awhile, but was able to stay in the game. He was lifted in the ninth inning, but it certainly gave the Orioles a scare.

Needless to say, the Orioles may well have exorcized any old demons which existed at Rogers Centre. Timely hitting, offensive power, and quality pitching all played a role in this big divisional series win. Big wheels keep on turning!

Baltimore Orioles’ Alec Asher strong in eventual loss

The Baltimore Orioles came to Toronto hoping that it wouldn’t be against them that the Blue Jays got well. To this point, that hasn’t happened. However they did manage to beat the Orioles yesterday, in what ended up being a pitcher’s duel.

The Birds of course acquired Alec Asher from Philadelphia at the tail end of spring training, and he was called up as the de facto fifth starter in the rotation. The O’s were really high on him from the moment they made the deal to get him, and he didn’t dissapoint in his Orioles’ debut. Asher’s line: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K.

Asher pretty much kept a struggling Toronto lineup at bay for all but the tail end of his outing. Toronto has a good lineup, which at some point is going to make someone pay for their struggles thus far. But it wasn’t Alec Asher, and for the most part it wasn’t the Orioles today.

Asher started to tire in the seventh when he hit Bautista with a pitch, and later gave up a base hit to put two runners on. That ended his day, however Bautista would later come around to score on Barney’s RBI-single. That run was charged to Asher, and it gave Toronto a 1-0 lead.

However it wasn’t just Asher who showed his worth to the Orioles today. Castillo led of the ninth with a base hit, and was promptly lifted for pinch runner Craig Gentry. Almost immediately, Gentry stole second base and was later moved to third on a fly out. He would score on Schoop’s sac fly-RBI.

That extended the game, and made Toronto come to bat in the last of the ninth and potentially onward. However Morales led off the inning with a walk off home run, and the O’s fell 2-1 at Rogers Centre. However the final result shouldn’t dim the fact that the Birds may have found a back-end starter in Asher.

It’s unreasonable to assume that Alec Asher will pitch at that level indefinitely. He’ll have starts where he can’t get balls over and so forth. But for the time being, I suspect he’s cemented himself into the Orioles’ rotation. For what it’s worth, this was the Orioles’ fourth consecutive quality start.

And don’t downplay the importance of what Gentry did yesterday either. The Orioles haven’t had much team speed of late, and he provided that which extended the game. He entered the game, and before you could blink he was at third base. That’s a great weapon to have late in games. Especially close ones.

The series in Toronto concludes on this Easter Sunday afternoon. Dylan Bundy will get the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s J.A. Happ. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Wade Miley quality start plus power equals victory

In as many outings, the Baltimore Orioles have now seen two quality starts in a ballpark that was traditionally harsh on their pitching staff. Last night Wade Miley set the tone early, and save for one semi-rough inning was a real work horse for the Birds Miley’s line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 8 K.

I’ve always said that it begins and ends with starting pitching. And in that sense the starting pitching’s been pretty good the last two nights. Miley did run into some problems in the second, however Toronto had their share of help which had nothing to do with pitching. Overall, a very well pitched game from the Orioles’ standpoint, and that sets the table for wins.

The Birds took a 1-0 lead when Chris Davis scored from third on a wild pitch. Incidentally on the flip side, when things aren’t going well those are the kinds of things that will happen in games – we’ve seen it with the Orioles many times. Toronto would tie the game in the bottom of that second inning with a Smoak RBI-single, and Miley allowed a second run in a Machado error. Miley had induced a ground ball that would have almost certainly ended the inning with a double-play (although you can’t assume the double-play), however a run scored as Machado bobbled the ball in the field.

For a short period it appeared that Smoak was going to steal the show, as he extended the Toronto lead to 3-1 in the last of the fourth with a solo home run. But one inning later the Birds were back in command. Jonathan Schoop‘s solo homer brought the O’s to within 3-2, and later in the inning J.J. Hardy smacked a two-run homer of his own to give the Birds the lead back at 4-3.

However luckily the O’s got some insurance later in the game, which they probably ended up needing. Solo homers by Chris Davis in the sixth and Seth Smith in the ninth put the Orioles ahead 6-3. Toronto threatened in the last of the ninth agains, as Travis’ RBI-single brought them to within 6-4. However the Birds recorded the final out without anymore drama, running their league-best record to 7-2.

Again, it begins and ends with starting pitching. Miley put his team in a position to win last night by pitching strongly. That makes a world of difference, and after the game he discussed the fact that he had improved over his last outing (quote courtesy of Steve Melewski, MASNsports):

I just spent some time slowing down a little bit throughout the week and slowing my delivery down and I was able to command the fastball a little better. I had the breaking ball a little bit as well. I was able to throw the backdoor slider and then bury it when I needed to. Caleb did an outstanding job. I can’t say enough about the way we worked together. I’d seen him working back there hard for me and it’s a pretty good feeling. Definitely the command was there tonight, where it was nonexistent the other day.

As I’ve said before, pitchers are going to have ten good games, ten poor, and ten in between over the course of a season. File this one under the good category for Miley. Having a starting pitcher set the tone for the game makes a world of difference. And as I said, in the past two games it’s come in a ballpark at Rogers Centre where the O’s have struggled in the past.

One scary moment of the game occurred in the eighth inning when home plate umpire Dale Scott took a foul tip off his mask and fell to the ground. The game was halted for approximately 15 minutes as both teams’ medical staffs attended to Scott, who was eventually carted off the field. He was later diagnosed with a concussion, and will not work the rest of the series. So I’m sending my best thoughts his way, along with hopes for a speedy recovery.

The series continues this afternoon in Toronto. Alec Asher (who in essence is now the Orioles’ fifth starter) will make his maiden start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Marco Estrada. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Kevin Gausman pitches a gem in Birds’ win

Kevin Gausman gave the Baltimore Orioles the start they’ve been wanting for some time last night in Toronto. Well, I say that…however this is only his third turn through the rotation this year. But needless to say, Gausman put it all together last night to give the Orioles their third quality start of the young season. Gausman’s line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K.

Toronto is traditionally a tough place to pitch, and not just for the Orioles. Granted the Orioles seem to struggle there more than other teams for whatever reason, but the dimensions of the park and the strange bounces off the turf give pitchers across the league fits. But in a sense, the O’s are catching Toronto at the right time, as they’re struggling mightily. Sometimes it matters when you play certain teams, and the Orioles are certainly hoping that they’re clear out of town whenever Toronto breaks out of their funk.

Buck Showalter heaped praise on Gausman after the game, pointing out how good he was over his six innings (quote courtesy of Steve Melewski, MASNsports):

He was good, really good. A well-pitched game. We got in here about 4 or 4:30 (a.m.) like everybody does over the course of the season, and we needed a well-pitched game. We got it from Darren (O’Day), who has had two good games in a row and that’s good to see. Brachie and Zach were going to pitch tonight regardless because of four days off. We needed all of them.

The game was a scoreless tie through four innings, with both teams occasionally getting a runner in scoring position and threatening. However Jonathan Schoop finally broke through in the top of the fifth with an RBI-double, and the O’s had a 1-0 lead. The Birds tried to get two on that play, however Mancini was thrown out at home plate trying to score. Some might question the decision to send him, but in a game that was shaping up to have runs at a premium, better to try to get everything you can.

Later in the inning J.J. Hardy‘s RBI single gave the O’s a 2-0 lead. Toronto would cut the lead to 2-1 on a Donaldson RBI-double in the last of the sixth, however Donaldson pulled up lame on the base paths and had to leave the gave. It’s unclear if he’s looking at a potential DL situation or not, but the injury didn’t look good.

The Orioles’ bullpen was fairly solid, however there was some angst at the end before Zach Britton could record his 53rd consecutive save. He had runners at first and second with one out, and uncorked a wild pitch to move both runners (one of which was the would-be winning run) into scoring position. However J.J. Hardy made perhaps the biggest play of the game in looking the runner back to third and throwing to first on a soft grounder in the infield for the second out, and then a line drive to center field ended the game as the O’s improved to 6-2 on the season.

The Orioles also made a flurry of roster moves, both before and after the game. It appears that Alec Asher (acquired just before the season from Philadelphia for a PTBNL) is going to be starting tomorrow afternoon’s game, in essence as the fifth starter. He’s in Toronto on the “taxi squad,” but hasn’t officially been called up as of yet. He’s being joined by Stefan Crichton, and as a result Oliver Drake was DFA’d off the roster.

The O’s then proceeded to trade Drake to Milwaukee, along with their 2016-17 international signing bonus draft pick. In return, they got pitcher Damien Magnifico, who was immediately optioned to Norfolk. So in essence they’ve called up some of their depth, but they’ve also replaced it. And while Drake wasn’t a longterm solution in the bullpen, they were able to move him and do some justice by him in the long run.

The series in Toronto continues tonight at Rogers Centre. Wade Miley will get the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.