August started out with an up and down road trip for the Birds, starting things off against the first place Guardians out in Believeland:
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| Photo: USA Today |
To Cleveland for Four
After leaving Baltimore on a high note, the Guardians quickly quashed the Orioles spirits in the first game of this foursome. Trevor Rogers was making his debut in the orange and black and the result wasn't ideal: 5 earned on 6 hits and 3 walks over just 4.1, struggling in every facet against a lineup they could very likely encounter in October. Welcome to the team.
Albert Suarez and Jacob Webb, unsurprisingly, were none better in relief, each giving up jacks to Jose Ramirez and Bo Naylor, respectively. The bullpen foreshadows this team's undoing more and more with each passing game.
The lineup looked poised to at least hang early, with Gunnar Henderson delivering an RBI double in the top of the first. After Cleveland put up 5 unanswered, Anthony Santander tacked on a solo homer to cut the lead down. But Ben Lively brought his best, quickly extinguishing any hopes of a comeback as the Guardians took the opener: 10-3.
Game two felt virtually identical. Ryan Mountcastle put the O's up one in the second after a fielder's choice plated Ryan O'Hearn, but then the floodgates opened. Dean Kremer didn't bring his best stuff to Ohio, surrendering 4 earned runs before being pulled after the fifth. However, he exited with the team only down three, well within striking distance.
Until Gregory Soto that is. 4 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks, while recording just 1 out. The Phillies transplant hasn't had a strong impression in Birdland, as this unfortunately won't be the last time we drag his name in this report.
That was it, 8-1 in the blink of an eye. Even a respectable three-run rally in the seventh could only pull them within half of the lead. Gut check moment, as the Orioles lose 8-4.
Zach Eflin to the rescue! Mike Elias' best trade pickup thus far was solid once again on Saturday, allowing just one bad pitch, which Angel Martinez parked into the right field bleachers in the bottom of the third.
It was all Baltimore from there, flipping the script on the pesky Guards. Eloy Jimenez and Colton Cowser tied things up with RBI singles in the top of the fourth before Gunnar provided one of his own to take a one run lead the following inning. An offensive explosion in the eighth put four more on the board, thanks to a two-run Adley Rutschman triple, an RBI double by O'Hearn and a run scoring single from Jackson Holliday.
Turns out some good, ole fashioned small ball was all the Birds' needed to get back on track, recording fifteen hits on the evening. 7-4 Orioles win.
The final showdown of this series featured Corbin Burnes squaring off with Gavin Williams. Baltimore struck first, via an RBI double by O'Hearn in the opening frame. An Adley sac fly and Jimenez single would build the lead up to three before Cleveland was able to cut it to one on a hit and an error.
Then came the home runs. Bombs away Jackson Holliday and two-run Henderson shot put the O's ahead 6-2, but Josh Naylor refused to go down without a fight, knocking out a three-run dinger to make things interesting. But Baltimore's bats were relentless, with a run-scoring Mountcastle single proceeding two RBI hits from Rutschman before it was over.
Another 15 hit night for the good guys, as they manage an unlikely split of this four game set. 9-5 Birds.
First Two in Toronto
The biggest storyline out of this first showdown north of the border happened before the game. News of Grayson Rodriguez being scratched less than an hour before the first pitch spread through Twitter like a wildfire, ruining evenings across Maryland. That injury seems like a relatively minor one all considered, but let's see him back on the mound before we exhale.
It was Albert Suarez got the rock on short notice, pitching admirably as he allowed just 2 hits through 5 shutout innings. Burch Smith came in and gave up a bloop single with two outs, prompting him to be pulled in favor of Gregory Soto...who proceeded to surrender 5 runs before recording one out. Seems like that acquisition isn't going to work out. Call it a hunch.
But this was just the first incident of Brandon Hyde shooting himself in the foot on the analytics front. With the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth, down 5-1, the manager elected to pinch hit Austin Slater for Jackson Holliday, who'd homered (again) in his previous at bat. The reasoning was that outfielder hits well against lefties, despite a .193 split on the year affirmatively suggesting otherwise.
That decision was hard to stomach, but Slater at least managed a run scoring walk. Ramon Urias was permitted his scheduled at bat, with which he struck out. And then Hyde replaced Colton Cowser, in the midst of a 17-game hit streak, for Coby Mayo, who'd yet to record a career hit. Predictably, Mayo went down swinging, and Santander couldn't deliver with two outs.
It was an inexcusable sequence to watch from a manager that's had a few questionable decisions of late. A sequence that'll be hard to forget anytime soon. 5-2 Jays in the opener.
Last night we had the Jackson-Tater show. Santander kicked off the game with a two-run dinger to put Baltimore up first thing. Trevor Rogers struggled early on, allowing 3 Toronto runs on 5 hits through the first two innings. He'd settle in from there though, only allowing 2 more through his final 3 frames.
Rogers was unable to register a decision though, as the heroics didn't start until the seventh. Trailing by one run, Holliday, the hottest hitter on the team crushed a two-run shot to right to put the Orioles ahead 4-3. Santander then hit his second of the day, from the opposite side of the plate, to add some insurance before Eloy put it away with a two-run double. An emphatic come from behind win, something that seemingly has only been happening against us of late.
7-3 Baltimore, with rubber match today at 7:07. Dean Kremer vs. Kevin Gausman
Concluding Thoughts
-This bullpen is a legitimate liability. Seranthony Dominguez's ceiling seems to be "okay", Burch Smith has been a nice find, Gregory Soto is terrible, Kimbrel's inconsistent, Jacob Webb's deceptively bad and now hurt-- pushing Bryan Baker back into the mix. This group will derail our World Series aspirations, unless something miraculous and unexpected happens. Get well soon Danny Coulombe!
-The Grayson injury is disastrous. As mentioned above, even with the relatively positive prognosis, this isn't something that's going to feel better until G-Rod is back gassing things up on the mound. And that's bad news for a staff that's already been ravaged by injuries. If you'd have told me the day after Kyle Bradish's no-hit bid that in less than 3 months our rotation would be Burnes-Eflin-Rogers-Kremer-Suarez, I'd have had no feasible road map to that egregious scenario. Yet, here we are.
-This isn't a call to fire Brandon Hyde, by any stretch, but this last week significantly downgraded the confidence many had in the manager. The overreliance on analytics is interrupting momentum that many young guys are starting to build-- a sentiment that may not be entirely new, according to the recently departed Austin Hays. An early playoff exit would really amplify some of that negativity.
-What do we make of a potential Anthony Santander extension? It's a conversation that would've been much cheaper to have last year, but Santander undoubtedly has asserted himself as a mainstay in this lineup as well as in the field. Mike Elias can't pay everyone, and the Orioles have a ton of massive financial decisions to make over the next few months, but it'd be tough to watch the homegrown Tony Taters walk. He'll be in line to make no less than $20 mill a year after the season he's having.
AL East Standings
1. Baltimore Orioles (68-47)
2. New York Yankees (68-47)
3. Boston Red Sox (61-52)
4. Tampa Bay Rays (57-56)
5. Toronto Blue Jays (52-62)
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@Choppinglines
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