V332 Series Wrap-Up - Where Did the O Go?

The bats really let the Orioles down in a very frustrating series loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards. Tillman and Norris pitched arguably – probably – the best games of their major-league careers and the Orioles only managed to win one of them. 

Wasting Tilman's gem on Friday night created a debt that will need to be repaid. Without getting too philosophical, to contend, a team must win a game they should lose for every game they lost that they should have won. They don't want to be in a position where they need too many of those "miracle wins."

What I liked: Tillman showed that he is an ace. Again. Norris showed that he can be dominant at times. That's more than you need from your fifth starter. Clevenger called a fantastic game for Norris. Wieters continues to look strong the plate. Davis finally hit a bomb, and maybe that will get him going.

What concerns me: the offense is obviously not producing the runs that most anticipated it would produce, and not enough for a contendingball-club. Several of the headers-Jones, Cruz, and Davis come to mind-appear to be far too conscious of the homerun and pitchers are successfully using their aggressiveness against them. The resulst are short innings and an inability to consistently get to the soft part of the opponent's bullpen. I also must mention Jimenez, who has turned in three similarly ugly starts. He is a traditional slow starter, but needs to turn things around in a hurry. The organization has invested too much money for him to pitch like a fifth starter. Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone if the offense gets rolling by the time he takes the mound again and stakes him to an early lead and some confidence.

5-7 is not a disaster, but the Orioles need a series victory against the Rays about as badly as any team can 12 games into the season.

Markakis strikes out

The  of the game is the inability of the Orioles to capitalize on base runners and  huge errors which allowed two runs.

Tillman stands to lose this game by allowing three hits and no earned runs. 

The offense and the defense are letting us down. 

We have three outs left to snatch victory from the jaws if defeat but if we can't this is definitely a demoralizing team loss. 

Ugly inning

I have not seen an uglier Orioles inning in many years.  Two errors and two runs.  Worse, Tillman threw 12 extra pitches which will impact the bullpen later. 

We are definitely missing Hardy and Machado.  We have talent but not experience.  Poor throws, poor decisions. 

The inning thankfully ended maybe we can right the ship yet. 

Light crowd for the game

It is a light crowd for the first game back a Camden Yards. Hopes are high as Tillman retires the first batter with two pitches.  I like the start. 

Toronto Series Preview

Jer, any thoughts on the series starting tonight against the Blue Jays?

...

Jer?

...

Sigh. 

V332 Series Wrap-Up - What a Difference a Series Makes

I type this as I listen to the delicious Yankee Stadium boos following Chris Davis's sac fly in the top of the ninth, but more on that game later. First lets set the stage with a discussion of the first two games of the series. 

The deck was stacked against the Orioles in game one.  It's tough to beat any team in their home opener. Too much energy. The offense showed signs of breaking out, but was still struggling to adjust to Hardy being out of the lineup (see prior entry). Jimenez provided an improved performance, but needs to get that pitch count down.

Game two was beautiful. All the empty seats were nice to see. The O's pummeled New York 14-5. Everyone contributed. Fantastic performances by Young and Flaherty, who both needed it. Wieters showed us with a 100 mega-ton circus-bomb that Chris Davis isn't the only bird who knows the sound a baseball makes when it dies. Chen struggled mightily again, but the Orioles would not let the Yankees off the mat.

All that set the stage for game three's matchup with the Yankees new $175 million import.

Turn thee Tanaka...

Look upon thy death!

Schoop delivered a three-run shot that would have made Earl proud and allowed the Orioles to get into a close game late...where the better team usually prevails and it did here. A clutch double by Flash and some manufactured runs took the series for the O's (they never took one in New York last year) and achieved a 3-3 record on the road trip, which we would take every time at the Tigers and Yankees. Matusz gets a well-deserved victory for bailing the team out of trouble in the 8th.

What I liked: (1) I'll take 2 of three against the Yankees any way we can get it; (2) Delmon Young 6-11 in two games killed New York; (3) Wieters keeps hitting going 4-11 with 4 RBI and a homer in the series; (4) gutsy bounce back quality start from Gonzo despite not having his best stuff; (5) Schoop coming into his own.

What concerns me: I'm finally ready to throw something out here. Three series in, the starters are not pitching enough innings. Jimenez, Chen, and Gonzo left 11.1 innings for the bullpen to absorb in this series.  That's too many if it continues. I'm not a fan of the "quality start" as a stat, but it's worth noting that the Orioles have only two through nine games.

Mr. Duquette: You Gotta Fight For Your Right to Hardy

There are only two things you need to know about Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy. First, all of his home runs look exactly the same. For real. Identical. Google it. Youtube that shit. It's bizarre. It's like when salmon return after years to the same stream to spawn. How do the baseballs Hardy crushes know to always land in the same place? We may never know.

Second, Hardy's recent lower back issues have only served to show why Dan Duquette needs to move on extending him before he reaches free agency at year-end. Want proof? Fine! Here's our lineup against a RHP before J.J. got hurt:

Markakis RF

Lough LF

Jones CF

Davis 1B

Cruz LF

Wieters C

Hardy SS

Flaherty 3B

Schoop/Lombo 2B

And here's yesterday's lineup:

Lough LF

Markakis RF

Jones CF

Davis 1B

Wieters C

Cruz DH

Lombo 2B

Flaherty SS

Schoop 3B

Remember how the Orioles couldn't sustain any rallies yesterday despite appearing to be on the brink of breaking out several times? Well, batters 7 through 1 went 1-for-13 with a walk and four strikeouts. 

With or without Manny Machado, this team needs Hardy to lengthen the lineup. Get him locked up for the next several years at shortstop. He wants to be here and he's good for gold glove defense and 15-20 cookie-cutter bombs every year.