Baltimore Orioles: #RIPFlanny

Today’s a tough day in Baltimore Orioles history. And honestly, I can’t believe it’s been ten years…ten years since the late Mike Flanagan passed away. That was one of the toughest game nights I’ve ever been through, and one I’d just as soon as never experience again.

I vowed on that night to never let an August 24th pass while writing this column without writing about “Flanny.” Ten years later, there’s not much left to say that hasn’t already been said regarding Mike Flanagan. He was an Oriole through and through. And he loved being an Oriole, along with being a part of this organization.

A year later the O’s made the playoffs for the first time since 1997. I thought a lot about Mike Flanagan that season, as the O’s returned to glory. He would have been so proud to have seen that season. Again, because he was proud to have been an Oriole.

Mike not only loved being an Oriole, but he loved Baltimore. He moved his family to the area, and his kids grew up here. He lived the “Baltimore life” everyday. So today, ten years after his untimely death, I send my thoughts and prayers to all who loved him. He’s certainly missed by everyone in the Orioles’ family.

The O’s begin a three-game set with The Los Angeles Angels tonight at Camden Yards. Spenser Watkins gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Los Angeles’ Dylan Bundy (also a former Oriole). Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: John Means a hard-luck loser

The funny thing is that the Baltimore Orioles played well enough to win in all three games against Atlanta this weekend at Camden Yards. But they couldn’t make it over the hump. This isn’t to say that they aren’t trying or are purposely throwing games. They just can’t put it all together in games right now. John Means put them in a spot to win today, which is all you can ask. Means’ line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K.

Make no mistake that Means was good today. Remember that a minimum of six innings of three-runs or less ball goes down as a quality start. As I said in the title, Means is very much a hard-luck loser today.

Means gave up a solo homer to Soler in the fourth inning. And that will happen with him on occasion. He will give up a home run ball here and there. But a lot of them are solo shots, and odds are those won’t hurt you.

What hurt more than the home run was DuVall’s two-RBI double later in the inning. Ramon Urias would get the Orioles on board in the bottom of that fourth inning with an RBI-double. But that closed out the scoring for the day, and the Birds fell, 3-1.

One might draw a silver lining on the fact that the Birds were competitive against one of the best teams in baseball this weekend. But there are no moral victories in baseball. Or any sport for that matter.

The Birds will enjoy a much-needed day off tomorrow at home. The Anaheim Angels come in for three start long Tuesday.

Baltimore Orioles: Phantom hit-by-a-pitch

The Baltimore Orioles are finding out that when a losing streak reaches into the teens, it finds ways to taunt you. Matt Harvey pitched well tonight, and without a doubt put the O’s in a spot to win. They also fought tooth and nail against Atlanta to win this game, but to no ends. Because these losing streaks find ways to taunt you. Harvey’s line: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 5 K.

Ryan Mountcastle’s solo homer in the first inning gave the O’s the lead early on. Mountcastle picked up where he left off when he went into concussion protocol. And that‘s a good sign for the future.

But it was in the third inning that the O’s began to see the relentlessness of the losing streak. With a runner already on, Freeman was hit by a Matt Harvey pitch. He gets first base, right? Pretty simple…but is it?

The rules specifically state that if they’re hitter doesn’t attempt to get out of the way of the pitch, the umpire can neglect to award him first base. (It’s rare, but I’ve actually seen it called.) Not only did Freeman not try to get out of the way, but he appeared to lean into the pitch. Freeman would later score on Swanson’s two-RBI double, and Atlanta led 2-1.

Is this petty? Tough to say. That very well could have been called, and Freeman prevented from taking first base. But those are the things that happen when you’ve lost 16 straight games. As I said, the losing streak begins to taunt you.

Atlanta would extend their lead in the fourth with a solo homer by Pederson. But the Birds would come back in the last of the fourth and tie it up at three. They got back-to-back homers from Anthony Santander and Ramon Urias.

But Atlanta would take the lead right back in the top of the fifth on Riley’s solo homer. They’d also get an insurance run in the ninth, and for their sake it’s a good thing they did. Because Santander smacked his second solo homer of the game, cutting the final score to 5-4.

But consider the fact that had that Freeman HBO been called as it could have been, the game’s at best a tie. The O’s had other opportunities for sure, but that’s a tough pill to swallow. But again, when losing streaks get out of hand, they begin to taunt you.

The series concludes tomorrow afternoon at Camden Yards. John Means gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Atlanta’s Touki Toussaint. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

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.