Game 70: O's Power on Display, Down Tampa 7-5

Orioles got the benefit of Miguel Gonzalez returning from the 15-Day DL today in a crucial second game of the series against Tampa Bay.  Baltimore's had an extremely up and down season so far, neither gathering any win streaks or losing several games in a row.  After watching this team all season, it is about time that they go on a much needed winning streak to regain some ground in the AL East.  Yesterday, Orioles received the news that they have dreaded for weeks now, Matt Wieters being declared out for the season to proceed with his Tommy John Surgery.  Wieters, who has been out for nearly two months, officially decided to opt for surgery in an attempt to limit any further damage in 2014.

Honestly, as much as this loss stings, I would rather have Wieters long-term health solidified rather than remain in jeopardy for the future.  For now, the Orioles current situation remains with Nick Hundley and Caleb Joseph effectively splitting time behind the plate.  Collectively, they've started to hit the ball much better than a month ago while Joseph continues to stand out defensively.  I would say that the pitching staff would suffer due to Wieters' absence but the Orioles starters have posted 13 quality starts in their last 18 games.  Of course, there's nothing the O's can do to replace his bat at this juncture and there really isn't a pressing need with Steve Clevenger still down in AAA.

Anyways, back to the game, where Miguel Gonzalez struggled to find his command early on by allowing several base runners early but worked out of a second inning jam when Manny Machado made an effortless backhanded stop to turn two Yunel Escobar to end the threat.  Just another one of those plays that O's fans have become accustom to over these past few years.  Honestly, it's to the point now that I take these plays for granted when anything is hit in the vicinity of third base.  I guess it's our generation of Orioles fan's closest thing to watching Brooks Robinson out in the field.  The kid may have had his share of errors early in his return this year but he's back into the swing of things right now and we're glad to have him here (until the suspension kicks in of course). 

Orioles got an early rally going against Bedard, as Schoop led off the third inning with a single to left.  After a Caleb Joseph strikeout, Nick Markakis lined a 3-2 pitch into right for a single, as Schoop made a heads up base running play by taking third base in the process to set the table for Steve Pearce.  Facing a 1-2 count, Pearce would fend off a few pitches and battle back in the count to work a walk, loading the bases for Adam Jones.  Jones, facing the man he was traded for years ago (Seattle),  worked a deep count which led to a wild pitch on a 2-2 fastball that got away, scoring Schoop to give them an early lead.  Next pitch, Jones was hit on the left shin on a terribly placed change-up to reload the bases for Mr. Crush Davis.  Crush has still shown signs of a struggle at the dish lately, seemingly swinging over the top of nearly every pitch, increasing his strikeout totals.  Davis would lift an 0-2 pitch that was way outside to left field and heading towards the foul pole.  David Dejesus made an excellent effort for the ball and proceeded to slam into the fence as the ball skipped off the wall and nearly rolled to third base.  In the process, two runs scored easily but Buck would immediately come out of the dugout to argue if the ball had actually hit the foul pole instead.  After the umpires reviewed the call, it was ruled a grand slam, pushing the lead to 5-0.  Simply pure strength was the cause for that homer as he muscled that the necessary 315 feet to put it out in left field.  That's why you lift weights kids…

These 5 runs are the most that the O's have scored in a game since last Wednesday's 6-0 shutout of the Red Sox.  Up to this point, Baltimore wasn't cashing in on scoring opportunities.  Still, the MLB leaders in batting average with RISP dialed it up tonight and exploded for a huge inning to set the tone early for once.  It's great to jump out to these early leads, especially when Sean Rodriguez led off the bottom of the third with a moonshot off the left field catwalk to cut the lead to 4 immediately on one pitch.  The leads are ESPECIALLY important when Desmond Jennings hits another home run, back-to-back off Gonzo to make it a 5-2 game.  Both homers were absolute no doubters and just furthers the notion that no lead is safe.  Miguel would then retire the next three hitters in order to finish off the third.

The Rays would continue to chip away at the lead as James Loney would later add a two-run double in the 5th to cut the deficit to 1, and the five innings would be all for Miguel Gonzalez tonight but it was good enough to get him in line for the win.  He scattered 8 hits, 2 walks and 5 K's in his five innings of work allowing 4 earned runs and was saddled with a high pitch count.  After tossing up zeros for three straight innings, the Orioles offense added some much needed insurance as Steve Pearce homered to left off Brad Boxberger, to score Caleb Joseph to increase the lead to three.  After 1.2 innings of hitless relief from Ryan Webb, Brian Matusz would surrender another run as Yunel Escobar plated Zobrist on a Sac Fly in the 8th. It was another shaky appearance for Matusz, as he yielded another earned run in a third of an inning as Zobrist led off the inning with a double.  Darren O'Day would pitch a scoreless inning although he allowed the tying run to reach the plate in the bottom of the 8th.

After the O's couldn't push across a runner in the 9th, Zach Britton was once again called upon to seal the victory for Baltimore.  I didn't personally watch this inning due to playing pickup basketball, but from what my father said, Britton look electric last night.  The splitter was working phenomenally and on only 6 pitches, he induced three straight ground balls to put the Orioles back in the WIN COLUMN.

Gonzo would improve to 4-4 on the season as he battled throughout his five innings but still shown flashes of excellence in his first start off the DL. Britton notched his 8th save as Ryan Webb picked up his team leading 11th hold and continues to pitch well in the 6th and 7th innings.  As for Steve Pearce, our Orange Journalism Player of the Game tonight, he went 2-3 with his 5th homer of the season that padded the Orioles lead.  Hitting in the two hole once again, Pearce has proved to be a valuable piece of the bench, picking up where Matt Wieters left off when he was dispelled from injury.  He's currently hitting a team high .317 and seems to be playing his way into an everyday player.  The combination of Pearce and Delmon Young have created a formidable DH for the Orioles, a position that had plagued them since the days of Luke Scott.  This season, the O's DH spot has collectively produced the highest average as a position (.297), while hitting 11 home runs with a team high 42 RBIs.

This afternoon, young Kevin Gausman will look to propel the Orioles to a series win against Alex Cobb. Gausman, who's pitched very well since being thrust into the rotation, has shown fans a glimpse of what to expect in the future and hopes to build off his previous success today.

Game 64: Chensanity Shuts Out Red Sox

Wasting no time Wednesday night, the Orioles got off to a fast start in the first inning after being shutout 1-0 by Brandon Workman.  After Wei-Yin Chen retired the Sox in order, Baltimore struck first with an Adam Jones double down the left field line, scoring Steve Pearce as he drew a walk in the two spot.  Which means, Machado was moved down in the order to his recent "struggles". Manny has elected to appeal his suspension so he remains in the lineup but his struggles at the plate continue.  Chris Davis kept the inning going with a long fly ball to right field off of Rubby De La Rosa (phenomenal name) for his 10th home run of the season.  Plating Jones, the O's took a much need 3-0 lead as runs were very scarce throughout the first two games of the series. For Crush, this was a much needed slump buster as he's struggled during the month of June.  Davis' next at-bat sent a De La Rosa pitch deep to dead center field but was snagged on the warning track by Jackie Bradley Jr.  Although it would it was just warning track power, it's great to finally see Davis taking the ball to all fields as he was simply baffled by opposing pitchers in recent games.

Chen, who's been on a tear lately, took the mound looking to earn his team-leading seventh win of the season and got off to a great start. striking out 5 of the first 9 batters with an array of breaking pitches keeping his fastball elevated.  I've been thoroughly impressed with Wei-Yin's accuracy these past few starts and remains the hottest (pitching-wise) member of the Orioles rotation…my apologies to Mr. Bud Norris.  Chen finally allowed his first baserunner on a Pedroia single off the wall, only to be gunned down stretching it to a double by the cannon that is, Nick Markakis' left arm. The closest you could come to a perfect throw - well besides this laser beam last night.

Earlier today, Phil Hughes stifled the Blue Jays as the O's were presented with another opportunity to chip away at the division lead. Baltimore was able to take control early with an array of base hits from their entire lineup.  Nick Hundley, struggling heavily in the early of his tenure with the Orioles, singled twice in the first four innings, the latter drove in a JJ Hardy to extend the lead to 4-0.  Markakis almost squeaked across another run on an infield single but a replay challenge by John Farrell determined that Nick Hundley was indeed forced out at second.  After the close call, Chen gave up a line drive single past the shift to Big Papi, only to endure a another pop out from Mike Napoli and a tailor made double play to Jonathan Schoop to end the threat.

After stranding base runners in the bottom of 5th, Chen trotted out for the sixth inning with a shutout still in tact.  After allowing a leadoff base hit, he was able to strike out Jonathan Herrera once again and two pitches later, he got Brock Holt to ground into another opportune double play to end another threat.   His breaking ball bailed him out once again as Holt slapped at a low and away pitch to bounce into the 4-6-3 inning ender.  De La Rosa would also settle in for the remainder of his outing and would shut down the Orioles for 5.2 innings before he was relieved by Edward Mujica.  As the 7th began, the rain started to lightly fall and Dustin Pedroia once again singled off of Chen to start a potential rally.  He's been a thorn in the side of Chen during his brief career, hitting over .500 in over 25 at-bats versus the left handed pitcher.  Immediately after, Chen was amazingly able to force a third straight inning ending double play to keep the lead at 4.  Can't even express how impressed I was with Chen's outing tonight and walked a tightrope to navigate through the Red Sox lineup after dominating the early stages of the game.

After nearly 2 hours of rain delay, play finally would resume.  Didn't really mind as I was able to utilize my MLB Extra Innings subscription and catch up on action from the rest of the league.  However, Chen would be taken out for the 8th inning for Darren O'Day.  By far the best start of the season, he put his team in a position to win tonight's game and the series. Most importantly, Chen was extremely economical as he didn't issue a walk, scattered four hits and struck out seven in 7 scoreless innings.  This was all accomplished on 87 pitches, something that the Orioles desperately needed in this rubber match.  O'Day's only baserunner came on yet another throwing error by JJ Hardy.  Hardy, one of the most sure handed shortstops in the league, has had a rough June, with an inability to make routine plays he usually makes with ease.  However, O'Day was able to force three groundouts to himself to end the threat.  Darren continues his dominate season as he lowered his ERA under 1 for the season.

One Oriole that has severely cooled off is Nelson Cruz, simply being rendered helpless since the weekend of the Astros' series.  This past 10 days he's looked clueless at the dish, waving at pitches out of the strike zone and swinging through fastballs dead red.  Can't have too much complaints with Nelly as he's essentially carried our offense through the first 60 games and I know that he was bound to cool off eventually.  With a crucial 4-game series looming against Toronto, I expect Cruz to give the Blue Jays more problems.  Fortunately, he was able to add a leadoff single in the 8th as Gary Thorne threw on the patented reverse jinx (Barstool) by stating that he was hitless in his last 10 plate appearances. Chris Davis would proceed to rope a double down the first base line, picking up his second extra base hit of the ballgame.  O'a add another insurance run off an RBI walk by Schoop, putting the game out of reach.  As I write this live, I REALLY want Markakis to take Capuano deep for a grand slam.  I say this because Markakis is on the cusp of making the All-Star team and he's more than deserving to finally be elected to his first team. Top 10 in average and 3rd in hits, you really can't make any arguments against him.  Alas, Capuano walked Markakis, but he picked up another RBI.

Zach Britton would come on to pitch a perfect ninth inning to seal  the shutout and the Orioles were back in the win column, picking up another series win against a division opponent.  With Toronto coming to town, the offense will need to keep pace with one of the best in baseball.  Kevin Gausman makes another start tonight against the AL wins leader, Mark Buerhle. Gausman coming off his first career victory in the rotation will look to build off the success of last Saturday.