Tag Archives: Wade Miley

Wade Miley was decent for the Baltimore Orioles last night – the first time through the order. After that Boston seemed to know exactly what was coming, and when. And that trend continued after Miley left the game. Miley’s line: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 4 K.

There’s barely anyone on the Orioles’ roster (of the players who have been here all year at least) that’s not dealing with some sort of injury or ailment. And that’s been true for awhile. There are both a lot of tired bats, aas well as tired legs. Not to mention arms, fingers, groins, etc. The only downside to being a veteran team is that injuries can catch up to you. And for sure they have this year for the O’s.

That’s why I feel that people aren’t in a spot to question the team’s effort in games. Because this year it’s seemed that each time another veteran was going on the DL for the Birds, another youngster for another team was breaking out. But it’s tough to simply look at results on the field and come to the conclusion that the team just isn’t trying.

As an example, Hardy was thrown out at first base on a swinging bunt last night that would have been an infield hit for most players. It wasn’t that Hardy was’t running hard, because he was. Age and injury just prevented him from going full throttle. In other words, he ran as hard as he could. Am I saying that the Orioles should mirror what New York did this year and go full youth in 2018? No, because youth comes with it’s own set of problems of which you can generally steer clear with veterans. But it is what it is for 2017.

Boston seemed to put up runs in two’s in this game, with Betts giving his team a 2-0 lead in the fourth with a two-run homer. Later in the inning Marrero added an additional two-run homer, and suddenly it was 4-0. One inning later Ramirez’s two-RBI double ran it to six, and another by Pedroia in the eighth ran it to eight.

Ramirez would add an RBI-single in the ninth to run the final to 9-0. Again, I think it’s incredibly easy to say that the team just isn;t trying anymore. If there were lower-character guys on the field, I might not necessarily disagree. But these players have proven who they were in terms of being quality players and characters – many of them since 2012. One injury-plaqued season shouldn’t change that.

Furthermore it would be unfair and wrong to suggest that the O’s simply got lucky from 2012 to this point. I mean, does that really make sense – if you think about it? So for five seasons we in essence saw a fluke, and now we’re seeing the real team? Somehow that doesn’t add up.

The O’s will now begin the final home series of the year as Tampa comes into town. Gabriel Ynoa gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Matt Andriese. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

When Wade Miley records only one out in the first inning before being pulled, you know that the Baltimore Orioles stood nary a chance in the game. Miley’s line: .1 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 0 BB, 0 K. Miley was seemingly beaten before he even set foot on the mound. As were the Orioles overall.

New York put up six runs in the first inning, including a three-run homer by Frazier. That’s ultimately what knocked Miley out of the game – after surrendering six runs and recording one out. The O’s did make a veiled attempt to get back into the game. Jonathan Schoop smacked a solo homer in the fourth, and the Birds put two runners on base. However they let NY off the hook, and the inning ended.

And New York made them pay for that. Judge smacked a three-run homer in the bottom of that fourth inning which ran the score to 9-1. That type of thing has been an issue all year, as I’ve documented. Opposing teams are in fact holding the O’s accountable at every turn of the way for their mistakes. The Birds had an opportunity to get back into the game, and they couldn’t do it. Instead, New York put an additional three runs up in the bottom of that very inning.

And again, the O’s don’t exactly hold their opponents accountable. They’re letting them off the hook. Wednesday night in Toronto they had the bases loaded and nobody out. They allowed Toronto to work out of that jam. Now ironically that’s a situation in which the O’s weren’t “held accountable” in a sense because they managed to win 2-1. But the point is that the game is based on failure – if you fail to record outs guys will get on base. The O’s are failing to take advantage of other teams’ failures. But other teams aren’t being so charitable, nor should they be.

Trey Mancini smacked a solo homer in the sixth, however New York put up an additional four runs in the bottom of the inning. It seemed that all the Orioles had to do was put up one run and New York would explode. However the O’s would get RBI-doubles from Rickard and Joseph in the eighth, and Chance Sisco‘s first big league homer in the ninth. This ran the final to 13-5.

Even with such a bad loss at such a key time, Buck Showalter recognized what a moment this was for Cisco, and he addressed it after the game (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

Facing a guy who throws about 30 percent fastballs, we knew it and didn’t make much of an adjustment. He did against a good pitcher and he’ll remember that and followed up with a home run. I like how calm and quiet he’s catching. Regardless of how the game was, you do take it as a special moment for him. I got the lineup card for him and I want him to feel good about that part of it. It was good to see. I was glad to get him out there.

The series continues tonight at Yankee Stadium. Gabriel Ynoa gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by New York’s Luis Severino. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

 

Wade Miley didn’t exactly pitch a horrible game for the Baltimore Orioles last night in Cleveland. The numbers might not indicate that, but once he settled down, Miley looked decent for the most part. Miley’s line: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 4 K. Miley pitched well enough to win, had the Orioles been able to put some runs on the board. But that’s not how the game went.

From the very beginning, the O’s seemed to have an issue with the strike zone of home plate umpire Dana DeMuth. In some cases, that was with good reason. It seemed that every borderline pitch was going Cleveland’s way. If the Birds were in the field, the borderline pitches were being called balls. If the O’s were at bat, suddenly they were strikes.

DeMuth’s strike zone did seem to be a bit erratic at times, which can be frustrating for pitchers and hitters alike. Furthermore, as a hitter it also makes you have to consider expanding the strike zone. So it potentially led to Oriole hitters swinging at balls. And if you establish that you’ll swing at balls, they’re going to throw you balls.

Here’s the flip side of this discussion, however. Cleveland also adapted to the moving target of the strike zone much better than did the Orioles. And quite frankly, that’s a problem that the Orioles have always had. You’ll see a lot of angry glares towards home plate umpires from hitters and from Buck Showalter in the dugout. And again, in some instances that’s with good reason. Sometimes the strike zone does seem to be a moving target. But as the innings go on opposing teams seem to adapt to whatever the umpire seems to be calling, while the Orioles don’t.

We also saw in this game how things can snowball in baseball. Jonathan Schoop muffed a tailor-made double-play in the first inning. It doesn’t go as an error because he did get the force out at first base, and you can’t assume the double-play. However that led to a two on and two out situation, which led to Encarnacion’s three-run homer.

Again, Miley seemed to settle down after that, which is to his credit. The O’s just couldn’t put anything across to counter the damage that was already done. Santana smacked an RBI-double in the sixth, on a ball that was barely fair. Again, in a game of inches, the break went Cleveland’s way there. Cleveland would put another run across in the last of the seventh on a wild pitch, closing out their 5-0 win.

The series continues this afternoon at Progressive Field. Gabriel Ynoa will make a spot start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Josh Tomlin. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Unfortunately for the Baltimore Orioles, their bats stayed cool last night amid a dense drizzle all game long. And for much of the game, this seemed to work fine, as Wade Miley kept Toronto in check. That is, until he didn’t. Miley’s line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K.

Those aren’t bad numbers per se. The only problem was that as I said above, the O’s didn’t put anything up offensively. Perhaps it was the chill in the air, or the semblance of an early season game. But the offense just never really came alive.

The teams played to a scoreless tie until the fifth inning when Toronto started to figure Miley out. Pillar smacked a solo homer, which given the game on Friday night and how this one was going seemed fairly big. One inning later Morales’ sac fly-RBI gave Toronto a 2-0 lead. And that would be the end for Miley, after that sixth inning.

The big blow however came in the seventh, when Toronto had two runners on. Donaldson came up to the plate, and promptly smacked a three-run homer to left field. Toronto would add three more before all was said and done. The O’s would also get a solo homer out of Smith in the eighth, and an RBI-single out of Trumbo in the last of the ninth.

For the Orioles’ sake, you have to hope that perhaps that little burst of offense in the final two innings leads to something starting today. If you’re going to struggle at the plate, you can still win games if your pitching shuts the opponent down. And for a good part of this game, Miley did – as Buck Showalter indicated after the game (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

Wade pitched well, Wade pitched well. I thought when he wiggled out of that jam in the sixth, it might be the difference in the ballgame right there. You like your chances 2-0, but we didn’t put much together offensively all night. It’s one of those, September baseball at its best where people are pitching that are good pitchers, good prospects, but there’s a lot of unknown and you get ambushed this time of the year easily.

It’s just that time of the year with baseball with the way the rules are in September. But that didn’t have anything to do with tonight. We just didn’t swing the bats very well.

The series concludes this afternoon at Camden Yards. Chris Tillman will be on the mound for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Brett Anderson. Game time is set for just after 1:30 PM.

If you would have told me that the Baltimore Orioles would have put two runs across in yesterday’s game and that Wade Miley would only go five innings, I would have assumed that the Birds would have lost. But I’d be wrong. Furthermore, those two runs came in the first inning; Miley and the Orioles’ bullpen really did a great job keeping Boston at bay. Miley’s line: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K.

Adam Jones opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI-double that gave the O’s a 1-0 lead. Trey Mancini would then hop one over the wall for a ground-rule double, which scored Jones. Before you could blink the O’s had a 2-0 lead.

But little did we know that would be all they’d put across. It’s somewhat surprising given the way that the other two games in this series went, however on the flip side a pitcher’s duel is also a nice change of pace. This is not to say that Boston never threatened. Devers’ RBI-single in the sixth cut the Orioles’ lead to 2-1. Boston would later load the bases, however Betts struck out to end the inning.

The win puts the Orioles right back at the .500 mark for the season. They’ve struggled to get back there, yet all it took was a weekend trip to Fenway. They’re also two games back of the final wild card spot. The team immediately in front of them? Seattle. And they come to Camden Yards starting tonight. This could be the most important series of the year.

Make no mistake about the fact that this was a big win for the O’s, and a big series sweep. Nobody would have blamed them for dropping the finale and going back home after taking two-of-three. That’s kind of the modus operandi in baseball. But this team was determined to get the sweep, and they did.

Buck Showalter opined afterwards on the atmosphere and feel of the game, and how it felt like a pennant race (quote courtesy of Rock Kubatko, MASNsports):

It felt like a game we were going to try to … We had first and third and nobody out in the fourth and didn’t push a run across, and that usually bites you here. We walked eight of their guys. That usually bites you. We were lucky to catch them with some of their key people hurt. Sometimes, you catch a break there. But our guys did what it took. As far as the atmosphere, they’ve done great things this year and we’re fortunate today. You usually don’t win those types of games.

The O’s now head home for the aforementioned huge series with Seattle. Chris Tillman gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Seattle’s Marco Gonzales. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

The Baltimore Orioles and every other MLB team is only as good as their next day’s starter. In last night’s case, that was Wade Miley. And last night Miley wasn’t very good – in one inning. And that’s all it took. Miley’s line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 4 K.

Out of six innings pitched, Miley struggled in the second. But he struggle just enough to where Tampa pounced. And that’s all it took. Tampa used three singles in the second inning to load the bases with one out. They then got on the board with an RBI-single by Smith, and a sac fly-RBI by Sucre.

The death blow however was a three-run homer by Beckham, which busted the game wide open at 5-0. However Miley settled down after that. But the damage was done. Although, the Orioles were able to make a game of it.

They got on the board in the fifth on a sac fly-RBI by Machado. One inning later Trey Mancini smacked a solo homer, and suddenly the Birds were within three at 5-2. In the eighth Welington Castillo‘s two-RBI single brought the Orioles to within one at 5-4.

The O’s had the tying run at third in the ninth inning, but were unable to capitalize. And while it begins and ends with starting pitching, the Orioles also left nine on base – many of which were in scoring position. You have to capitalize when you get guys on base.

And that’s really how Tampa won this game. They got a boat load of guys on base in that second inning, and they were able to bring them home. Now in fairness the Orioles did capitalize on soe guys on base later in the game. They just didn’t do it enough times to win.

Save for that one inning, the Birds seemed to hold Tampa in Check fairly well. But that also shows you that all it really takes is a couple of misplaced pitches or even bad bounces to lose games. With the exception of that second inning, Miley probably pitched well enough for the Orioles to win the game.

But that’s a tough sell because you can’t just remove the second inning from the conversation. That’s not really how it works. All you can really do is move forward into this afternoon’s series finale and try to take two-of-three.

The aforementioned series finale is early this afternoon at Tropicana Field. Ubaldo Jimenez will get the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Alex Cobb. Game time is set for just after 12 PM.

Starter Wade Miley pitched 4.1 halfway decent innings for the Baltimore Orioles last night. Not stellar or superior, but halfway decent in that he put his team in a spot to win after giving up two solo homers and an RBI-single. Miley’s final line: 4.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R,  4 BB, 4 K.

However it was with two outs in the inning that Miley fell apart. After an IBB to intentionally load the bases, Miley gave up a bases-clearing triple to Heyward, who later scored on an RBI-single after Miley had departed. All of that with two outs.

Nine of Chicago’s ten runs came with two outs last night. Think about that for a moment; you get to two outs and you’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with regard to the inning. In the back of your mind you’re thinking, okay I recorded two outs, just one more and I can get back in the dugout. However that light at the end of the tunnel often ends up being an oncoming train for Orioles’ pitchers.

And it’s not just with two outs. Opposing hitters are thriving with two strikes, also. How many hitters do we see with 0-2 or 1-2 counts who find themselves able to battle back and draw the count full? And how many of those hitters end up walking? It seems like it happens quite often.

The question at hand is whether or not the tale of the tape is telling opponents that the Orioles handle themselves differently with two outs. And I’m not talking anything major; perhaps pitch selection at various points in the count, or maybe even the way that they position their defense. But one way or the other, the Birds struggle the most once they’ve induced two outs in an inning.

The overly-simplistic explanation is that the pitching staff is struggling across the board. Again, note my usage of the term overly-simplistic explanation. The starting staff is having it’s struggles, however often the first two outs of these innings are flying by. Pitchers will record two outs in very few pitches. So there has to be something that’s different with two outs – it just stands to reason.

And in fairness, Oriole bats didn’t really help matters last night. Caleb Joseph smacked a solo homer in the last of the fifth, followed two innings later by a Tejada RBI-single. Joseph would add on an RBI-single in the ninth – but that was the only scoring the Orioles could muster. You have to put up more than three runs in games against the defending world series champions.

The Orioles were in essence dominated by Jake Arrieta, who they brought through their farm system and then traded to Chicago in 2013. Many fans point to that as being such a horrible move, and of course they’ll use last night to back up that view. However Arrieta was your classic change of air guy in that he immediately thrived in Chicago. He had also run his course and gone as far as he was going to go in Baltimore.

The O’s will try to muster one game of three in this afternoon’s series finale at Camden Yards. Ubaldo Jimenez gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Chicago’s Jose Quintana – for whom they just traded with their cross-town rival. Game time is set for just after 1:30 PM.

Milwaukee in theory is a team against who the Baltimore Orioles and Wade Miley should have stacked up well. Of late the Brew Crew’s been a power-hitting club, which is of course what the Orioles are. However for yesterday’s purposes they turned back into a small ball team, which enabled them to hand it to Miley and his teammates early on. Miley’s line: 1.2 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 2 BB, 2 K.

Milwaukee put four runs up in the first inning before the crowd had even settled in. Three came on RBI-singles, and one on a force out which scored a run. That pretty much set the tone for the game, and afterwards Miley to his credit admitted that he never gave the O’s a shot in the game (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

A loss is a loss, man. I didn’t give us a chance. I pretty much blew that one early on. The first and second inning, let them get out to a big lead like that and set the tempo for the other team. That can’t happen. It can’t continue to happen. Some adjustments have to be made. I don’t know.

Milwaukee would add a sac fly-RBI in the last of the second, followed by an RBI-double off the bat of Pina. Ironically, the Orioles’ lone run of the day came as a result of a third inning groundout by Jimmy Yacabonis, who relieved Miley in the second inning. Go figure that one out; a relief pitcher who in essence is a farmhand  tallied the Orioles’ only run. But having said that, it’s worth mentioning that it was Yacabonis’ first big league RBI.

Milwaukee got that run back however in the last of the third on Suter’s RBI-single. Yes folks, even the pitcher got into the act. But this was no ordinary RBI-single. First off Suter played the old “butcher boy” routine and feinted a bunt. Instead he rolled over a slow grounder in the infield, which he beat out for a base hit at first base. The Orioles then threw to third base to get the runner Arcia, who over slid the base…

…and the sick thing is that they had Arcia out – twice. Once at third (where a good throw would have nailed him), and then again when he got up and stupidly tried to go home. I say stupidly because he was dead in the water, so says conventional wisdom. However on one of the rundown throws, Yacabonis stepped in front of a ball that should have been caught by the catcher Castillo. The momentary confusion was just enough for Arcia to swing his way around the pack and score without nary a tag.

That’s pretty much how things went for the Orioles yesterday. My personal opinion was that they had a legitimate case that Arcia was out of the base paths, however that wasn’t contested. Now one very positive note is that after that play in the last of the third, Milwaukee was kept off the scoreboard. The Orioles’ bullpen was strong yesterday, albeit in a losing effort.

The Birds will try to even the series this afternoon on the Fourth of July. Ubaldo Jimenez will get the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Milwaukee’s Jimmy Nelson. Game time is set for just after 4 PM.

Wade Miley giving up four runs in Toronto last night is what will probably stand out for most Baltimore Orioles fans. And perhaps rightfully so, as it all begins and ends with starting pitching. Miley’s line: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3 earned), 4 BB, 5 K.

However when you can’t put any runs on the board at all, you literally have no shot at winning. Let me say it again; if you can’t score, you can’t win. It’s as simple as that. Miley could have given up four runs, one run, or twenty…and he still would have lost last night. It wouldn’t have mattered.

Now in fairness, Toronto’s Stroman was dealing last night and then some. The Orioles appeared lucky to even get on base. And it was pretty fortunate for them that they started the game with a base hit to be honest. Because the way that Stroman was pitching last night had he strung together a few no-hit innings the Birds might have been pressing and scrambling at the end of the game so as not to get no-hit.

Toronto led the game off with a Bautista solo home run in the last of the first inning which gave them a 1-0 lead. Smoak added a solo shot of his own in the fourth, which ran the score to 2-0. But the game was put out of reach on a strange play later in that fourth inning. Bautista reached with the bases loaded on a fielder’s choice to Janish at short with two outs…

…however there was no guarantee that a run was going to score. All the O’s needed to do was record a force out. Janish’s flip to second was wayward, which allowed a run to score and Bautista to reach. Schoop’s throw to first was then bobbled by Mancini, allowing a second run to score.

Toronto took advantage of the Orioles’ mistake there, which unfortunately came as a result of rushing the play. Janish made a great play and had one shot at getting the out. But then in trying to save another run, Schoop and Mancini mangled the second part of the play and the run scored anyways.

After the game Janish credited Toronto’s Pillar (the base runner) for hustling to second base, which caused the rush on his and Schoop’s part (quote courtesy of Steve Melewski, MASNsports):

Obviously, the ball was smoked. My read on the play was as hard as the ball was hit, we had a force at second. You have to give credit to (Kevin) Pillar. Obviously, we’re not holding him on there and he has the ability to get a significant lead. And he beat the ball to the bag. It was a bang-bang play, kind of a split-second decision. I guess, in retrospect, it would have been good to pump fake to second maybe and go to first. But that is happening so fast, it’s a tough play. You have to give him a little bit of credit for beating that ball to the bag. Most guys are not going to do that.

The series concludes this evening at Rogers Center in Toronto. Ubaldo Jimenez will get the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s J.A. Happ. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

The Baltimore Orioles have never played well against Houston – at least since the ‘stros have come to the American League. It’s somewhat reminiscent of games with Tampa from years ago. Houston has hitters that refuse to give in at the plate, and will sit there fouling pitch after pitch off to stay alive. That eventually wears down your pitching. On the flip side, their pitching in turn seemingly wears down your hitting.

As a power team, the Orioles are impatient at times. And in reality, there’s nothing truly wrong with that. However as a result they’re suseptible to pitchers who are good at fooling hitters – like Houston’s Keuchel was last night. Wade Miley found himself in a struggle early on against Houston’s lineup, who as I said fouls off pitch after pitch – after pitch. Miley’s line: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 K.

The way that Houston wins games is by getting little one and two-run leads early on and hunkering down. Sure enough, they got an RBI-double by Altuve, and an infield RBI-single by Correa in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Correa single had a shot at being an out, but it was hit so hard that it careemed off of Chris Davis‘ glove at first. By the time the Orioles recovered, the runner was safe and the run had crossed the plate.

The O’s were able to attempt a comeback in this game, unlike Friday night’s, however. Welington Castillo‘s RBI-single in the third cut the lead in half at 2-1. But the last of the third brought several elongated at-bats, which drove Miley’s pitch count up. Sure enough one inning later, Springer took advantage of that and smacked a two-run homer which ran the Houston lead to 4-1.

The Birds would net a second run following a Davis triple in the seventh, when he (Davis) was able to score on a wild pitch. However Correa’s RBI-single in the botto of the inning put the lead back to three at 5-2, which is how the game ended. The best the O’s can do now is salvage a game in this series this afternoon, and they’ve now lost six straight games.

I’ll never understand how teams dedicated to in essence piecemealing runs together here and there can defeat a power lineup like that of the Orioles. After Houston took a 1-0 lead on Friday night, I tweeted that it might be all they needed. Sure enough, they won the game 2-0. Somehow it defies logic.

Adam Jones was out of the lineup last night with a sore hip and ankle. He apparently sustained these injuries in Detroit, and they had progressively bothered him. The Orioles are hoping that a day or two out of the lineup will help him to heal without having to send him to the DL.

The series concludes this afternoon at Minute Maid Park. Alec Asher will get the start for the O’s (with Jimenez now in the bullpen), and he’ll be opposed by Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr. Game time is set for just after 2 PM.