Tag Archives: Richie Martin

The Baltimore Orioles find themselves with a previously-unscheduled off day today due to contingency plans for Hurricane Dorian. However in the second game of a twin-bill yesterday, the Birds found themselves in some controversy when Richie Martin was called for interference for being inside the first base line. It took a run off the board, and began a downward spiral for the Orioles in the game.

As the rules stand now, that’s not a play that could have been reviewed. (The ball has to be by the bag for it to be reviewable.) However even if it could have been reviewed, would it have been overturned?

And the answer is no, it wouldn’t have been overturned. Personally I thought the call was questionable at best. While the base runners do need to stay to the left of the line, most of the times you see that called are when the runner’s physically on the grass. Martin wasn’t anywhere near the grass – if anything he was kind of straddling the line. Not over the line, mind you, but straddling it.

So the play wouldn’t have been overturned because there wasn’t clear and concise evidence that the call on the field was incorrect. Had Tampa challenged the play saying that he was out of the baseline, the same would have been true. Not enough evidence to overturn the ruling on the field.

However I suppose my point would be that perhaps we should look making calls in the infield reviewable. We’ve all seen our share of balls that have appeared to go over the bag get called foul. Would the game not be better for getting those correct?

What I wouldn’t want to see is something in line with what the NFL’s doing with their replay system. Allowing coaches to challenge pass interference in games to me is akin to managers being allowed to challenge balls and strikes. So I think there are some things which should remain judgement calls. But why not encompass as much as possible in what is in fact reviewable?

Errors are piling up on the Baltimore Orioles, and they’re making a huge difference. And the sad thing is that there’s a part of me which says one mistake here and there can’t make THAT big a difference. Yet it does. Gabriel Ynoa was the victim of that mentality last night. Ynoa’s line: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 2 K.

Oakland smacked a solo homer in the third and a three-run shot in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead. Jonathan Villar smacked a solo homer for the O’s in the fifth. That was followed by Rio Ruiz netting a run with a fielder’s choice.

The Orioles appeared to at least be competitive in the game at that point. However in the sixth Oakland put two runs on the board off the bat. That extended their lead to 6-2. Still however, that’s a lead that could be overcome – in theory.

Richie Martin committed a fielding error with two outs. That would have been the final out of the inning. Now in general one can accept an error by a guy like Martin, a Rule 5 pick who’s in his first year in the majors. And again, my own thoughts in a moment like that are there’s two outs, just get one more and the inning is over. No harm no foul.

Only that isn’t how things normally go for the Orioles. When they commit small defensive lapses like that, opposing teams take full advantage. Oakland was no exception last night, and they ended up putting ten runs up in the inning. Think about that, eight runs after the error, ten total.

They would also put up two in the seventh, which came on a two-run homer. Now again it’s tough to argue that the error cost the Orioles the game because they were already losing and in fact they didn’t score again. But who knows how things would have played out?

The Orioles can’t allow themselves to adopt the mentality that I apparently have. By that I mean that they can’t ever just assume there are two outs in an inning and one error won’t kill them. It is a big deal, and when you let your guard down your opponent pounces. That was evident last night.

The O’s will try to savage one game in this series in the finale today at the Oakland Coliseum. Jimmy Yacabomis gets the start for the Orioles (in what could be more of an “opener” situation than a real start), and he’ll be opposed by Oakland’s Chris Bassit. Game time is set for just after 3:30 PM.

On the south side of Chicago, the baddest part of town, the Baltimore Orioles used every manner possible to pull out the stops and win the first half of a twin bill. Rookie Richie Martin atoned for himself very well, as it was his triple that helped to propel the Birds to victory. Things started out rough for starter David Hess however, through very little fault however of his own. Hess’ line: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R (1 earned), 2 BB, 4 K.

Abreu’s run-scoring double in the first inning gave the ChiSox a 1-0 lead. That run came on the heels of an E4 on Alberto, so it was unearned. Due to various errors committed by the Oriole infield, the Birds were trailing 4-0 after three innings. When a young team’s lost four straight and they have that happen in the first game of a doubleheader, it all but makes sense to pack it in and start looking towards the next game. That didn’t happen.

Dwight Smith Jr. scored on a wild pitch in the fourth to get the O’s on the board. Later in the inning Stevie Wilkerson would ground into a fielder’s choice-RBI. And the O’s has started to chip away. Incidentally, Smith was on third base earlier because he stole third – all part of the aggressiveness that the Orioles are trying to show on the base paths.

Richie Martin would later plate Wilkerson with an RBI-double. That put the Birds right back in the game, as they trailed 4-3. They had several opportunities to tie or take the lead, but those were squandered. They went 3-for-17 in the game with RISP, including leaving the bases loaded in the sixth inning.

Dwight Smith however would smack an RBI-double in the seventh following a lead off walk, and the game was tied at four. Richie Martin would lead off the next inning with a triple. Keep in mind that the Rule 5 pick has played great defense to date, but he really excelled at the plate in this afternoon’s ballgame. He set the table to put the Birds in a spot to win.

With Martin on third and nobody out in the top of the eighth, Jonathan Villar would get him home with a sac fly-RBI. Make no mistake that while the RBI goes to Villar, it was Martin’s prowess at the plate and then his speed which manufactured that run. Not only was it the go-ahead run, but it was the winning run as the O’s broke a four-game skid with a 5-4 victory in game one of a twin bill.

The nightcap of the doubleheader and the series finale at Guaranteed Rate Field is coming up this evening. Andrew Cashner gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Chicago’s Ivan Nova. Game time is…in just a few moments from when this is being written!