Batlimore Orioles: Jorge Lopez potentially injured as Birds fall again

Baltimore Orioles’ starter Jorge Lopez never looked comfortable in this afternoon’s game. Manager Brandon Hyde and the medical staff came out to check on Lopez early in the first inning when his velocities were down, and he loaded the bases with nobody out. Lopez convinced Hyde that he was fine and to leave him in, however his struggles continued. Finally after the second inning, he was replaced. Lopez’s line: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 K.

As I said, Lopez loaded the bases before he was able to record an out. He eventually walked Meadows, which gave Tampa a 1-0 lead. Choi would ground into a double-play which scored a second run, but also gave the Orioles and Lopez two outs.

And in that situation in general you’ll take that. 2-0 early in the game isn’t anything, so you’ll trade an additional run for two outs. The issue of course is that these are the Tampa Rays. They don’t just fall apart in games. They cause you to do that.

Lowe would smack a two-run homer against Lopez in the last of the second, and the O’s trailed 2-0. Two innings later it was another walk with the bases loaded, and a two-RBI single by Choi. That gave Tamp a 7-0 lead. And they never looked back.

Richie Martin‘s RBI-single in the fifth, and Ramon Urias’ solo homer in the ninth would give the Orioles their nominal runs for the day. However the concern isn’t that this was their 15th straight loss, or that they can’t seem to find anything to go right for them in games. The concern right now is for Jorge Lopez. I would assume that Brandon Hyde will update the media of anything regarding Lopez’s health in short order. But he didn’t look comfortable on the mound today, and his velocity was down.

The O’s head home now to open a three-game set with Atlanta at Camden Yards. Keegan Akin gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Atlanta’s Max Fried. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: You basically have to be better than perfect

The Baltimore Orioles lost their 14th straight game last night, tying a season high. Spenser Watkins put them in a position to win the game, but as can often be the case the Birds couldn’t get out of their own way. Tampa slides in when they’re given opportunities in games, no matter how small the opening. You have to be better than perfect to beat them, and the Orioles haven’t been. Watkins’ line: 4.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 K.

The O’s actually started out with the lead, and they had it before Watkins even took the field. Cedric Mullins led off the game with a solo homer. Later in the first inning Pedro Severino’s RBI-single gave the O’s a 2-0 lead. However that was fool’s gold in a sense.

With one out in the last of the first, Franco got aboard with what was ruled an infield single. It could have been an error however, as Martin misplayed the ball at shortstop. And there’s your small little opening for Tampa to get in. True to form, Choi produced a two/m-RBI single later in the inning to tie the game at two.

Lowe’s RBI-single in the fourth gave Tampa the lead at 3-2. Lowe would later steal second – another small opening. Tampa puts runners on with the expectation that they’ll score. And they do whatever they need to do to ensure those ends. Sure enough, Franco would double Lowe home, and Tampa led 4-2.

Franco would add an RBI-single in the sixth, and Cruz a sac fly. Meadows would add a sac fly of his own, and Tampa held a 7-2 lead. Meadows also added an RBI-double in the eighth. However the O’s got two back in the seventh and eighth, on an RBI-single by Austin Wynns, and solo homer by Ryan Mountcastle.

The series concludes this afternoon at Tropicana Field. Jorge Lopez gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Shane McClanahan. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: One error snowballs on John Means, Birds

Things are going south quickly for the Baltimore Orioles. And when they go south…boy do they go south. Even ace John Means is affected. Means’ numbers look poor from last night. But he was semi-on his game. It was one small thing that sent things to disaster. Means’ line: 4.0 IP, 8 H, 7 R (4 earned), 0 BB, 7 K.

The strikeouts and walks are obviously the Means we know. Through three innings he was very good, and the Orioles were in the game. However in the fourth Franco reached on a fielding error by Jorge Mateo. It was just a routine ground ball that Mateo bobbled. No problem, right? Ground ball double-play gets you out of the inning…

…not against Tampa. They live for the small little opening in a game that they can find, and they jump through. Franco would steal second, and then Margot would send a ground rule RBI-double bouncing over the wall. If not for the error and the steal, no run would have scored. That’s what Tampa does.

Zunino’s two-run homer later in the inning would give Tampa a 3-0 lead. They’d also get a three-run homer by Cruz in the fifth, followed by an RBI-double by Lowe. To add insult to injury, Lowe would later score on an error by Ramon Urias. It was a routine infield pop up, and Urias just dropped it.

Cruz would smack a second homer, this of the two-run variety, in the last of the sixth. But the real story in this one were the errors. Again, Tampa exploits your biggest weaknesses, and they pounce on your mistakes. Even John Means suffered as a result.

Manager Brandon Hyde said after the game that he felt Means battled. And he wasn’t wrong:

I thought the first three innings, he was really good. I thought they battled him tough. A lot of foul balls, a lot of deep counts. He was making good pitches. They’re a scrappy team and he was at 60-ish pitches after three innings, putting up zeros. He had a tough time finishing guys. I’m sure when the game started, his thought were to stop this and to pick us up because he’s a super competitor and he’s a good starting pitcher and he’s going to be good. Just didn’t make pitches there in the fourth and fifth, and I don’t know if trying too much there, just not executing.

Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports

The series continues this evening at Tropicana Field. Spenser Watkins gets the call for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Louis Head. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles sunk on homer parade

Matt Harvey’s numbers make his start look worse than it was for the Baltimore Orioles last night in Tampa. He put the O’s in a position to win, save for a couple of errant pitches. Overall he was good. Harvey’s line: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 6 K.

The O’s put runners at the corners in the first, and took a 1-0 lead on Cedric Mullins’ sac bunt-RBI. However that lead only lasted until the fourth. Meadows’ two-RBI triple gave Tampa a 2-1 lead. One inning later Kiermaier’s solo homer ran it to 3-1.

Lowe would smack a solo shot of his own in the fifth, and Wendle an RBI-double. And in typical Tampa fashion, they find ways to score against the Orioles that you just wouldn’t expect. Phillips’ inside-the-park homer counts as that sort of thing. Tampa has a lot of speed, and sometimes the ball does funny things when it rattles around in the outfield after hitting the wall.

Tampa would net three more runs on two homers in the sixth and seventh. Trey Mancini would get one back for the O’s on an RBI-double in the eighth. Brandon Hyde said after the game that the team was still fighting and trying to stay upbeat:

I think we’re handling it the best we possibility can, to be honest with you. I thought the energy in our dugout tonight was unbelievable for a team that’s winning as many games as we have, just our record. I think our clubhouse is still positive, I think our coaching staff has done a great job of trying to stay positive through these rough stretches that we’ve gone through. I think the effort is there, I do. I think we’re playing hard. We’re not executing and we make bad pitches during bad times and we’re trying too hard at the plate in big moments and that isn’t how it works in this game. Our strike zone discipline at the plate is an issue and when guys are over-aggressive it doesn’t lead to big innings.

Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports

The series continues tonight at Tropicana Field. John Means gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Drew Rasmussen. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: It all goes the other way in a losing streak

In four innings of work, Keegan Akin threw one bad pitch for the Baltimore Orioles. However you can probably excuse that in the sense that it was tough for both teams to know where the strike zone was. Home plate umpire Greg Gibson kept everyone on their toes with what appeared to be a revolving strike zone. Amin’s line: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 K.

Anthony Santander got the Birds on the board before Akin even took the mound. He reached first on a base hit, and went to second on a throwing error, the same error which allowed an Oriole run to score. However the Birds also then had two runners in scoring position with one down. And that was the only run they netted.

Akin seemed to get squeezed immediately. He walked a batter following a base hit in the last of the first, this after appearing to throw strike three. That seemed to get to him, and he uncorked a wild pitch – allowing the runners to advance. They would later score on Martinez’s three-run homer.

As the title suggests, when you’re in the midst of a losing streak, things go the other way. The Birds could have had a big first inning. Instead they let Boston off the hook. And Akin couldn’t adjust to the strike zone, although as we would later find out it was going to be tough for any Oriole pitcher to adjust.

Boston would also put three across in the sixth. Oriole pitching issued three walks in the inning, one of which walked in a run. All three had pitches in the sequence which should have been a called strike three. But they were called balls. Again, when things aren’t going well, borderline calls usually go against you.

Jorge Mateo’s seventh inning RBI-single got the O’s to within 6-2, but that was about it. They fell into an 11-game losing streak, not aided by the strike zone today. However you also need to adjust to the strike zone. Now I’ll grant you that it seemed to move around. However the O’s also tried to nibble on just about every corner of the plate for the entire game. That didn’t seem to work.

Manager Brandon Hyde addressed adjusting to the zone indirectly while giving kudos to Boston:

I just see how much better we have to get in our strike zone discipline. You watch them (and) compared to us, they’re hitters and they’re more experienced. They have a bunch of guys who have been in the postseason and have won a lot of games. But there’s just a level of understanding the strike zone and understanding what the pitcher is trying to do and not chase, not let pitchers off the hook. They got squeezed, there’s no doubt about it, but they weren’t swinging on balls on the edges and were continuing to get them. And we just have a tough time having innings like that because we are in swing mode and good pitchers can pitch to that.

Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports

The O’s now head to Tampa for the first of four games at Tropicana Field. Matt Harvey gets the start for the O’s, and Tampa is yet to announce a starter. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: It seems useless

It really didn’t matter who the Baltimore Orioles started yesterday – for the record, it was Jorge Lopez. They looked beaten before the game even got underway. Boston started scoring, and basically didn’t really stop until the game itself ended. Lopez’s line: 3.1 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 2 BB, 1 K.

Boston scored on a wild pitch in the first, followed by a three-run homer by Devers. Verdugo added an RBI-single in the second, followed by an RBI/l-double by Bogaerts. At that point it was 6-0, and while Boston still had a ways to go the game appeared already over.

Austin Hays and Trey Mancini did offer up back-to-back homers in the third. However that was only a brief respite from the onslaught Boston was bringing. They cut the O’s a break and only posted one in the fourth, but if the game wasn’t already out of hand, a seven-run Boston fifth made it so. When the dust settled, the O’s fell 16-2.

Now you can’t blame Boston, for the record. At a certain point they stopped trying to manufacture runs. But the hits kept on coming, and they kept scoring. It’s the Orioles’ job to put a stop to that. And they couldn’t do it.

Manager Brandon Hyde said after the game that the team just needs to get better across the board:

We really have no choice, except to come out and play hard and do our best to try to stay in games and try to compete and try to win as many games as we can. That’s been the mindset here. We haven’t pitched very well of late. We’re not scoring a ton of runs, either. We’ve just got to get better in all areas. We’re a long ways away.

Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports

The series concludes this afternoon at Fenway Park. Keegan Akin gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Boston’s Eduardo Rodriguez. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Spenser Watkins struggles in Fenway debut

Spencer Watkins of the Baltimore Orioles is only the latest pitcher to struggle in his debut at Fenway Park. Guys have grown up watching games there on television, knowing what the park symbolizes in the sport, and knowing that big green wall is behind them. And as a result many guys struggle. Watkins’ line: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 1 K.

Watkins struggled with his control, evidenced by the three walks and only one strikeout. Now to his credit, Watkins said after the game that the venue didn’t make a difference. However Fenway’s a tough play to pitch for the best pitchers, much less a rookie. But needless to say, Watkins said the right things on pitching at Fenway:

Same as every other place. Of course, Fenway is Fenway. Any baseball player can go onto that field and be a little bit wide-eyed, but I felt like it was more so me just staying focused mentally. Was there crowd noise? Absolutely, but there’s crowd noise everywhere. I think it’s just a matter of me staying focused mentally.

Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports

Boston started their party in the second inning. They got an RBI-single from Duran, an RBI-double from Dalbec, and a sac fly-RBI from Hernandez. This after Watkins loaded the bases with nobody out. The Birds’ line offensive bright spot came in the third, when Richie Martin smacked his first home run in two years – a solo shot.

Boston would add homers in the last of the fourth, sixth, and seventh. And they would take game one of this series, 8-1. It‘s the Orioles’ ninth straight loss.

The series continues this afternoon at Fenway Park. Jorge Lopez gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Boston’s Chris Sale. Game time is set for just after 4 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Free Shoeless Joe

The Baltimore Orioles played in the late afternoon yesterday, allowing for fans to watch the “Field of Dreams Game” between the Yankees and White Sox in Dyersville, Iowa. First and foremost, I think the game was incredibly well produced. Kevin Costner coming out of the cornfield followed by the players, the game itself being played at dusk in a cornfield, and a walk off home run into said corn. As Costner said, “it was perfect.”

The movie Field of Dreams is incredibly special to those of us who play, follow, or write about baseball. Personally my favorite moment and the most poignant for me has always been when Ray sees his Dad removing the catcher’s gear and he says, “…oh my God…it’s my father.” At that moment it’s manifested both to Ray and the audience what the true meaning of the voice’s messages, and thus the story was. It’s not about baseball, and it’s not about Shoeless Joe Jackson. It’s about father’s and son’s. And not only is that the greatest story ever told, but it’s the very essence of the game.

Field of Dreams is my favorite movie. Nothing could ever top it; so I’m glad that Major League Baseball is in effect embracing it, and in essence bringing it to life. I’m glad that they appear committed at least to do it again next year, although I’m not sure they could ever come close to the spectacle that they put on last night. That is unless maybe the real Shoeless Joe and his friends came back and played.

To harp on that point for a moment however, it’s not lost on me that Shoeless Joe Jackson remains in a state of banishment in Major League Baseball. You hear part of the story in the movie itself; Jackson and seven of his teammates fixed the 1919 World Series – called the Blacksox Scandal. As Ray tells his daughter, he did take their money, however there’s no proof that he ever did anything to lose any of the games. He even hit the series’ sole home run.

However as we’ve found out in modern times, it’s disputable as to whether or not Jackson ever took the money. There are numerous reports, including those of the seven other players involved, saying that Jackson refused the money. And that he tried to report the fraud to the team as it was happening. Yet he was still thrown out of baseball, and remains ineligible for the Hall of Fame.

I guess I would submit that if MLB wants to make the Field of Dreams game such a huge part of the narrative, should we not maybe consider re-instating Shoeless Joe? And I suppose I say that for purposes of Hall of Fame induction. I think it would be a great ending to that story, for baseball to be one with the legend of Shoeless Joe once again.

It’s been suggested formally on numerous occasions, including to current commissioner Rob Manfred. However they’ve always scoffed at the idea. So let me be only the latest person to say it: FREE SHOELESS JOE!!!

Baltimore Orioles: Even John Means looked pedestrian against Detroit

One might have thought that John Means might have been just what the doctor ordered for the Baltimore Orioles against Detroit. But even Means couldn’t put a stop to the Birds’ losing ways against Detroit. Means’ line: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 3 K.

The Orioles actually held the lead in this game early on. Cedric Mullins in effect stole home plate in the first inning during a rundown. It was an incentive way to get a run across, and it was very much against the run of play from the first twins games. And I suspect that was the intention.

But that didn’t do much to rally the team in a sense. Detroit tied the game in the fourth on an RBI-double by Candelario. Later in the inning Nunez smacked a two-run homer, giving Detroit a 3-1 lead. Further into the inning, Reyes’ two-run homer ran jt to 5-1.

The good news is that even in a losing effort, the Orioles tried to fight back. DJ Stewart homered twice, in the fourth and the sixth. Both were solo’s. But Stewart’s had a decent series against Detroit, and he appears to be heating up. Unfortunately those homers were sandwhiched by Detroit’s Grossman smacking one of his own (a solo shot). The O’s would add one in the seventh, but fell 6-4.

Means said after the game that he tried to dial his fastball back a bit yesterday after firing it hard in his last outing:

You know, I really tried to slow down a little bit today. Just try to kick it back into first gear. I felt my last outing, I was pretty jumpy and a little too aggressive. I thought today I would slow it down. I thought it was pretty good for the first few innings and that one inning, I was missing my spots. Physically, I feel good. My mechanics, I’m going kind of going back and forth on certain things and trying to get back in that rhythm I went on before. Trying some different things out. I’m not going to quit.

Quote courtesy of Steve Melewski, MASNsports

Sometimes pitchers do things like that. And sometimes it works. Detroit hitters could have been waiting for blazing fastballs in the game. Instead they were waiting for whatever Means threw. Sometimes that sort of strategy can work; yesterday it didn’t.

The O’s now head to Fenway Park in Boston for a three-game series. Spenser Watkins gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Boston’s Nick Pivetta. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Chris Davis retires

Chris Davis, formerly of the Baltimore Orioles, released this statement this morning:

The Orioles then subsequently released this statement:

So there you have it folks, Chris Davis is retiring. Perhaps the one piece that was “semi-left over” from the 2012-2016 era. I don’t need to tell folks of Davis’ recent struggles, because they’ve been well-documented over the years. However so were his immense highs.

It’s my hope that Orioles fans will remember Davis as hitting 50 home runs one year, as opposed to not even coming close to the Mendoza Line. Perhaps more poignantly, until his final appearance in a major league game, he remained an above-average big league first baseman.

That’s not something you’re going to hear covered in a lot of commentary about this today. Most people will talk about his massive contract and how he never lived up to it. But that’s only at the plate. Davis ALWAYS earned his keep in the field. As a first baseman, he has a career fielding percentage of .995. He’s also 1-0 as a pitcher – who could forget the game against Boston where he came into pitch in extra innings, earning the win?!

But going back to Davis as a fielder for a moment, he played parts of six seasons at third base as well. When Mark Reynolds was struggling at the hot corner in 2011-2012, Davis was asked to go across the diamond to play at the hot corner, leaving first base to Reynolds. Not only did he do it, but he fielded at a .911 clip at third. That doesn’t sound great, but for a first baseman I see it as outstanding.

Point being, he was a team player. He was willing to play wherever the Orioles wanted him to play – including the outfield. And in the aforementioned example, Reynolds turned out to be a pretty decent first baseman also. It was a win-win.

Davis was traded to the Orioles from Texas mid-2011, and the rest is history. He and his wife Jill were always very generous with their time when it came to charities in the Baltimore area. Even when his hitting tailed off significantly, he always represented the very best of Baltimore and of the Orioles. Best wishes in retirement, Chris. I hope I speak on behalf of the team and the fans when I say you’ll always have a special place in Baltimore’s heart.