Game 77: Wild Pitch Seals Victory

It was a grueling series against the White Sox these past three days, with several missed opportunities resulting in a plethora of runners left on base.  Monday was a huge moment for the entire team as they battled back against the Sox to win on a Chris Davis walk off homerun to take game 1.  Tuesday, Jose Quintana rendered the offense ineffective and the O's continued to struggle with runners in scoring position.  It seemed like they were destined for a series loss last night in the rubber match as Hector Noesi dominated through seven innings.  I couldn't even count the amount of double plays the team hit into this series and it was really starting to become frustrating.  Nelson Cruz especially, whose pitch selection seemed to decline with RISP.

Thankfully he would atone for his shortcomings in the 8th inning, as the Orioles once again got runners on to start the bottom of the 8th.  Nick Hundley singled back up the middle, as did Markakis and before you knew it, Chris Davis had worked a long walk to bring up Nellie with the bases loaded and two outs.  The Sox bullpen had been shaky this entire series so Robin Ventura brought in the one pitcher who had pitched well the first two games, Javy Guerra.  He would also be the 4th pitcher in the inning, attempting to patch together a crucial hold.  Guerra's numbers are solid for a waiver pickup but there is one deceiving stat that played in the Orioles favor.  After crushing lefties all season, Guerra's success against righties was no where to be seen, as hitters were batting well over .300 in 2014 against him.

The at-bat started with two balls off the plate that Cruz thankfully took.  You could tell that Guerra wanted nothing out over the plate to start out this at-bat yet he couldn't get Nelson to nibble.  On 2-0, everyone in the stadium was expecting fastball and so was Cruz, barely missing a dead-red fastball, fouling it back to screen.  He would miss on the next pitch as Guerra hung another over the heart of the plate and Nellie crushed it to right-center field, carrying to the wall.  It would drop over the outstretched glove of the right fielder to tie the game as the fans erupted once they knew it was gone.  I wouldn't have said Cruz was truly struggling at the plate but simply not able to come through in key situations like earlier in the year.  That all changed with one swing and the Orioles were once again granted new life.

After both teams threatened to break the tie, and a lengthy rain delay, the Orioles were finally able to push across a run in the bottom of the 12th on a wild pitch as the Orioles had 1st and 3rd with no one out.  David Lough, pinch running for Hundley - who had a great game last night - scored after almost scoring the play before on a line drive by Nick Markkais, only to be held up by Bobby Dickerson...plus he slipped rounding the base.

For the O's it was their 3rd straight series win and with the Jays losing, they were able to shrink their defecit to 1.5 games yet again. Ubaldo Jimenez was the starter but he pitched well although allowing 4 runs, as he once again was not able to receive any sort of run support.  The worst in the AL for games that he starts. The bullpen, a combination of O'Day, Webb, Brach, Matusz, Britton and Hunter held the Sox scoreless for 6 innings and seems to be regaining their old prowess in the late innings.

Next, the O's welcome the Rays to town for a day-night doubleheader on Friday as they look to continue their success against the struggling team.

Game 61: O's Lose Control of Strike Zone

First off, I'm briefly mentioning the Machado incident in this recap for the purpose of writing an actual opinion article later today.

Sitting in the stands at yesterday's game I was extremely optimistic after watching Baltimore dismantle the A's on all aspects of the game Saturday night.  All the momentum they had seemed to gain was immediately dashed as Ubaldo turned in another miserable start at home.  Although he didn't allow a hit through the first two innings, Jimenez scattered pitches all around the plate, gradually increasing his pitch count with each batter. It appeared that Jimenez could only throw his fastball for strikes and it eventually got him in serious trouble. As for A's starter Scott Kazmir (circa 2008), he pitched a beautiful game, commanding the strike zone and effectively punching out several Orioles hitters with his fastball. Once again, the O's were able to get runners on but weren't able to cash in on these opportunities like the last two games.

Things started to unravel in the 3rd inning as Jimenez immediately walked the bases loaded. Fans were already calling for a new pitcher and the A's didn't even have 2 hits yet. You can sense that most Oriole fans have given up on the Ubaldo experiment and many seem to be counting down the days until we can get him off the payroll. Personally, I think this was just another case of Ubaldo pitching at Camden Yards.  This season, Jimenez's numbers at Oriole Park are atrocious while his stats on the road are above average. Over time, he'll be able to work out the kinks at home (fingers crossed) and can become the effective starting pitcher that we signed him to be.  Anyways, back to the game, as it was getting out of hands very quickly. With the bags full, Jimenez was finally able to get a pitch over the plate for a strike...except for the fact that John Jaso hit it 400 feet to dead center for a grand slam. Although it was reviewed and ruled a ground rule double, Brandon Moss would clean up the mess as he took Ubaldo deep for an actual grand slam, no review necessary. Jimenez's day was finally over and Buck turned to bullpen for mop up duty. Brad Brach was the first of two pitchers to finish the game and also had a hard time finding the strike zone. Although it wasn't as severe as Ubaldo, he also walked the bases loaded in the fifth causing Showalter to spell TJ MacFarland for long relief. Already 7-0, MacFarland gave up a hit and fielder's choice and a double to ultimately put the game out of reach in the top of the 6th.

Kazmir cruised through two more innings to finish out his day, relieved by Fernando Abad (....). MacFarland was one of the few bright spots for the Birds yesterday as he pitched 4+ innings of 1-run relief.  Steve Pearce collected 2 hits and that's about it...At least, the Jays and Yankees lost so we didn't lose any ground in the East. Unfortunately that's all the analysis I can muster from yesterday's game but if you thought it was bad to watch on TV, imagine being there.