Tag Archives: Matt Harvey

Matt Harvey did his job for the Baltimore Orioles tonight. Certainly he had some issues in the first inning, but he did his job. He put the O’s in a position to win the game. Harvey’s line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K.

I’ve written a lot about how the Orioles needed to get men on base over the course of the losing streak. And in fact, that’s how they broke the streak eventually. Luckily for Tampa, getting people on base isn’t a problem. Neither is clearing the bases.

Diaz’s RBI-single in the first gave Tampa a 1-0 lead. Margot followed later in the inning with a two-RBI single. After one, Tampa held a 3-0 lead.

However Austin Hays’ two-run home run in the last of the fourth cut the Tampa lead to one at 3-2. But the mark of this game was pitching. Tampa bent but they didn’t break. They allowed the Orioles base runners, but prevented them from crossing the plate.

Tampa’s Zunino would smack a three-run homer in the seventh which doubled their run total at 6-2. But again, their pitching shut the Orioles down. Save for at the end when Cedric Mullins hit a solo homer. But there were already two out in the ninth, and the game was already going Tampa’s way.

I wouldn’t put too much stock in this loss. First off the O’s just lost – this as opposed to looking inept against Tampa, which was the case the last time they were in town. Plus the O’s were still getting guys on base. That’s key to stopping another losing streak.

The series continues tomorrow night at Camden Yards. John Means gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Michael Wacha. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Matt Harvey entered last night’s start for the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium as one of the hottest pitchers in baseball. And for the most part, his performance seemed consistent with that point. However Harvey tweaked his knee and was forced to leave after just four innings. Harvey‘s line: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K.

Harvey had a lead before even taking the field. Ryan Mountcastle’s sac fly-RBI and Austin Hays’ RBI-single in the first inning gave the O’s a 2-0 lead. Mountcastle would also add a solo homer in the fourth, and the Birds appeared to be off to the races. But a fourth inning homer by Rizzo and Torres’ RBI-single cut that lead to 3-2.

And that’s where Harvey exited the game. We later found out about him tweaking his knee. Harvey on his injury:

It’s my push-off leg. You know, I reached down to get that ball that Torres hit and just kind of felt a little tweak. It was nothing serious, and then went to cover, it just felt tight. I think going forward in the outing, like, I couldn’t quite push off the rubber and stay in my mechanics like I needed to.

Quote courtesy of Steve Melewski, MASNsports

Brandon Hyde said after the game that his expectation is that Harvey will make his next start, leaning on off days and so forth:

He tweaked his knee a little bit on the comebacker. I think it was in the third, and then in the fourth when he had to cover first base, it bit on him a little bit there too. So we’re hoping that, he’s going to have two extra days off, everything checked out OK, we’re hoping he’s going to be able to make his next start.

Quote courtesy of Steve Melewski, MASNsports

New York would put five runs across in the seventh, and two in the eighth. This against the Oriole bullpen, of course. They always say to stay out of the big inning. that seventh inning basically ended the competitive part of the game. Big innings will do that.

Matt Harvey turned in another great post-ASG start tonight for the Baltimore Orioles. Opponents’ bats are 4-for-40 against Harvey thus far in the second half of the season. And similar to last week in Kansas City, Harvey pitched to a quality start.Harvey’s line: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K.

The O’s took the least early when Trey Mancini smacked a solo homer in the first inning. Ryan Mountcastle followed suit with a solo shot of his own in the last of the fourth. For what it’s worth, Mountcastle had a grand slam against Washington last time around in May. Granted that was in a losing effort. Tonight’s homer came in a win.

The O’s would strike again in the sixth. Austin Hays’ RBI-double ran the score to 3-0. Later in the inning the Birds would load the bases, and while they didn’t plate all of the runners they were able to get a couple home. Pedro Severino’s RBI-single and Maikel Franco’s sac fly-RBI appeared to put the game out of reach at 5-0.

But to their credit my, Washington felt never felt they were out of it. Soto’s solo homer in the seventh cut the lead to 5-1. One inning later in the eighth it was Washington’s turn to load the bases. And Turner’s two-RBI single cut the lead to 5-3.

But that’s as close as Washington would get. The O’s would close out the game, and cruise to a 5-3 win. They’ve guaranteed a series win against Washington at Camden Yards.

The O’s did get lucky in a sense tonight however. Washington had to scrap their scheduled starter (Scherzer) in favor of Lester, who was scheduled to start tomorrow. Scherzer apparently had shoulder soreness. To his credit, Lester pitched fairly well. But it’s always a gift when you can avoid a team’s ace, and one of the best pitchers in baseball at that.

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

Matt Harvey took the ball for the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon going for a series win in Kansas City. Harvey’s return to NY of course didn’t go well. While he only pitched in Kansas City for one season, this return was starkly different. It was perhaps the best outing by an Orioles’ starter in some time. Harbey’s line: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K.

This was exactly the sort of outing that Harvey needed. And similar to last night, the O’s also got the bats going. Albeit perhaps not as they did last night. But they certainly did enough.

Ramon Urias’ two-RBI single in the third got the O’s on the board. That put them off in the right direction with a 2-0 lead. It also signaled to Harvey that his efforts were going to be backed up on this day.

Trey Mancini’s RBI-single in the fifth ran the score to 3-0. One inning later Austin Wynns’ RBI-double scored Ryan McKenna all the way from first base. And that was impressive; McKenna’s speed brought the run in as much as did Wynns’ placement of the ball. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen the caliber of speed on the Orioles that they have now. And that can be the difference between winning and losing.

Kelvin Gutierrez would give the Orioles an insurance run in the eighth when he reached on an error, scoring a runner from third. So the O’s win today, and with a shutout at that. They also take the series with Kansas City, two games to one.

The O’s now head to Tampa to open up a three-game set at Tropicana Field. Spenser Watkins gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Ralph Yarbrough. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles’ starter Matt Harvey pitched a decent first inning last night against Toronto. It was an incredible stroke of bad luck in what I think was a bad decision by the umpiring crew that snowballed the inning. And by extension the game. Harvey’s line: 3.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 3 K.

Toronto put the first two hitters of the game on base. Guerrero then appeared to line out to center. However replays clearly showed that while Ryan KcKenna made a valiant effort to get to the ball, it popped out of his glove while he was on the ground. Needless to say, it was a base hit.

However the umpires awarded home plate to the runner on second, giving Toronto a 1-0 lead. They appeared to view this as a ground rule double; they placed two runners in scoring position with nobody out. And with Toronto leading 1-0.

Both of those runners in scoring position would end up scoring. Toronto led 3-0 after the first inning. I can’t quite grasp how they saw fit to turn a routine line drive to center field into a double. During the play, the Orioles tagged one base runner out, and at one point two runners were on first base. Yet this was disregarded by the umpires, and the Orioles got no outs. And found themselves trailing.

Gurriel’s RBI-single in the fourth extended the lead to 4-0. Bichette and Guerrero would also add RBI-singles, extending the lead to 6-0 and breaking the game wide open. Toronto would put up a run in the fifth, two in the sixth, and one in the eighth. Austin Hays’ sac fly-RBI in the fifth and Ryan Mountcastle’s RBI-single in the eighth rounded out the Birds’ 10-2 loss.

Often times a play such as that one in the first can set the tone. The O’s went from potentially having two outs to trailing and having two runners in scoring position – with no outs. And Harvey never recovered, as he ended up getting nitpicked to death in a sense.

The series concludes tonight at Camden Yards. Keegan Akin gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Alex Manoah. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Matt Harvey struggled in Cleveland for the Baltimore Orioles last night. There was plenty of blame to spread around, however everything begins and ends with starting pitching. But Harvey’s numbers probably look worse than how he actually pitched, because as I said there was plenty of blame to spread around. Harvey’s line: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R (5 earned), 2 BB, 2 K.

Stevie Wilkerson committed an error in the first inning, causing Harvey to throw more pitches and elongating the inning. That runner would score on Bradley’s run-scoring single. However in the second the Birds would tie the game on MIkel Franco’s RBI-double.

Cleveland would take the lead back in the fourth on an RBI-single by Clement. However Clement would end up at third on a throwing error by Cedric Mullins. Cleveland would proceed to put to four more runs on the board in the inning, taking a 6-1 lead. Trey Mancini’s RBI-single in the fifth and Bradley’s seventh inning homer would round out Cleveland’s 7-2 victory.

One could ask which comes first – the chicken or the egg. Is Harvey more to blame for putting the ball in play, or the defense behind him for the errors once the ball was in play? While yes it begins and ends with starting pitching, we tend to put too much emphasis on that when things go south. Manager Brandon Hyde seemed to look more to the defense behind Harvey after the game:

I thought Matt threw the ball as well as he’s thrown the ball in a long time, probably since the first month for me stuff-wise. I know the velo wasn’t quite as high, but I thought he pitched better. I liked his slider, I thought he threw some good changeups to left-handers. But when you have to get four outs an inning, it makes it really, really challenging.

Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports

The series continues tonight at Progressive Field. Keegan Akin gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Aaron Civale. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Matt Harvey found out the hard way tonight what the Baltimore Orioles and Orioles fans have known for some time. This in terms of how Tampa wins games on broken bat and softly hit singles. Of the first nine hits Tampa had, only three were solidly hit and squared up. Harvey’s line: 1.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 1 K.

Now you don’t lose 13-6 and blame softly hit balls. However Tampa set the tone for the game in the second inning, putting six runs on the board. The box score says that those runs came on homers. So again you can’t truly blame a couple of broken bat singles. But those homers were three-run homers due to softly hit balls and broken bat singles.

After Tampa ran it to 8-0 in the third with a two-run homer by Zunino, the Birds got on the board in the last of the third on an RBI-single by Austin Hays. So at least they weren’t about to totally roll over. Not that anyone expected that they would.

Before the game the Orioles had promoted Stevie Wilkerson back to the big league club, DFAing Rio Ruiz. And Wilkerson produced immediately, with an RBI-single in the fourth. The O’s would also get a run on a force out by Austin Hays in that inning, as well as a man RBI-single by Trey Mancini.

However Tampa wasn’t having any comeback. They’d get three insurance runs before the end of the game, including a second two-run homer by Zunino. DJ Stewart and Pat Valaika would add garbage time RBI-singles in the last of the ninth, and the O’s dropped game one of the series, 13-6.

Tampa finds ways to get on base. Where as the Orioles are hitting the ball hard and those balls are finding gloves, Tampa flat out doesn’t care. A softly hit base hit counts the same as one hit square. And it’s true.

Once they get guys on base, they’re good at getting them in. Usually by way of homers. And that’s what we saw tonight.

The series continues tomorrow night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. John Means gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Ryan Yarbrough. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Matt Harvey gave the Baltimore Orioles a very un-Matt Harvyish start this afternoon at Citi Field against the New York Mets. Obviously Harvey broke into the majors with New York, and this was his first start back at Citi Field since leaving the organization. Needless to say, it wasn’t the outing he or anyone would have wanted. Harvey’s line: 4.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 4 K.

New York took a 2-0 lead in the last of the second on Pillar’s two-RBI triple. Ironically, that was one of the only balls against Harvey that was squared up. He fell victim to softly-hit balls and broken bat singles for much of hit outing. Which can be aggravating. What’s also aggravating is the fact that regardless of anything else, Pillar seems to always kill the Birds.

Later in that second inning Peraza’s RBI-single ran the lead to 3-0. And the rout was on. By the end of the fifth, New York had put seven runs on the board, and chased Harvey from the game. Chance Sisco would add an RBI-groundout in the seventh for the O’s, avoiding the shut out.

This was always going to be a tough series for the Orioles because it was so quick. They arrived in New York after the Boston game on Monday night, then a day-and-a-half later the series was over. Granted New York had to play in essence the same schedule, but there’s a difference between being at home or on the road for something like this.

The O’s do have two things in their favor, and that’s an early ride home to Baltimore this afternoon, and a day off at home tomorrow. However they then begin a grueling nine-game stretch, which will see the New York Yankees coming to Camden Yards this weekend, Tampa for three next week, and then a three-game weekend series in Washington. None of those games will be easy.

Certainly Matt Harvey wanted to pitch better in his return to Queens. However the fact that he’s in the big leagues again is a testament to his work ethic and his drive. He has nothing to be ashamed of. He just needs to buckle down in his next start, because as I said the Birds are going into a difficult stretch.

I suppose the Baltimore Orioles should consider themselves lucky that last night’s game wasn’t rained out. It isn’t like we haven’t seen our share of seven inning doubleheader’s thus far in 2021. However Matt Harvey’s four-run fourth inning did the Birds in following an hour and thirty-eighth minute rain delay. Harvey’s line: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R (0 earned), 1 BB, 3 K.

You notice that all four of those runs were unearned. Harvey himself committed a fielding error, allowing a runner to reach base. That runner then stole second, and reached third on a fielder’s choice. Therefore any runs in the inning were unearned.

Renfroe’s RBI-single scored the run, and following a walk Dalbec’s three-run homer gave Boston a 4-0 lead. But the O’s made a go of it in a sense. Trey Mancini smacked an RBI-single in the fifth, and Ryan Mountcastle a solo homer in the eighth. That cut the lead in half at 4-2.

However Boston would put two insurance runs across. They’d bet two RBI-doubles, one in the eighth and the other in the ninth. And in doing so they took the first game of the series, 4-2.

After the game Matt Harvey admitted that he wasn’t feeling it going in. He didn’t blame the weather or the delay, however that couldn’t have helped. Harvey on his outing:

I just really didn’t have it tonight. Kind of just was all over the place, really just physically didn’t feel that great and wasn’t able to get it done. I wasn’t able to limit the damage when I needed to that inning and it just wasn’t a good start. Didn’t feel good mechanically, didn’t feel good physically, didn’t feel I was that strong out there. It was a rough day. Chalk it up and move on and get ready for my next one.

Quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports

The series continues this evening at Camden Yards. Zac Lowther comes up from the minors to make the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Boston’s Garrett Richards. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Matt Harvey took to the hill for the Baltimore Orioles tonight in Miami. This was also the Birds’ first foray into interleague play, which meant that they O’s lost their DH – and Harvey had to hit. But that didn’t seem to stop the Orioles’ bats, which were hot from the beginning and gave Harvey a deep cushion. Harvey’s line: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 4 K.

Maikel Franco‘s RBI-groundout in the first inning put the O’s in the driver’s seat. It also set the tone. Later in the inning Rio Ruiz smacked a two-RBI double, and the O’s led 3-0. They batted around in the first inning, ironically giving Harvey an at-bat before he even took to the mound.

But more importantly, he had the lead when he got on the mound. He did give a run back in the last of the first, but following an uneventful second inning the Birds opened the game wide open. Trey Mancini and Freddy Galvis each smacked solo homers. That gave the Birds a 5-1 lead in South Florida. One inning later they extended the lead to 6-1 on DJ Stewart‘s RBI-double.

Here’s the issue with having that sort of lead that early in a ballgame: there’s plenty of time for the opponent to come back. And Miami started chipping away. They put two across in the fifth, and two in the sixth. Before they knew it, the Orioles’ 6-1 lead had evaporated and it was only a 6-5 one-run lead.

Freddy Galvis’ RBI-single in the eighth gave the O’s a bit of insurance. But the good news is that the Orioles’ pen was sure, and they closed out the victory without much more drama. And given that this is a two-game series, winning game one is a big deal.

The downside of this win is that Anthony Santander sprained his ankle while on base in the top of the first inning. Santander appeared to be in pain, and had to be helped into the dugout. That’s definitely something on which to keep an eye. It wouldn’t shock me to see Santander headed to the IL tomorrow.

The short series in Miami concludes tomorrow afternoon at LoanDepot Park. Bruce Zimmerman gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Miami’s Trevor Rogers. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.