Baltimore Orioles drop a wild game to Toronto

The pitching across the board for both teams didn’t faire too well at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Unfortunately for the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto’s was just a little less shaky, and they ended up winning a wild game by the score of 10-7. Chris Tillman struggled from almost the very first pitch of the game, and was never able to get his good stuff going. Tillman’s line: 2.2 IP, 6 H, 7 R (3 earned), 3 BB, 1 K.

With a runner already on base in the first, Dalton Pompey sent a shot towards the flag court in right field which appeared to careem off the scoreboard. However upon further review by the umpires, it was correctly called a home run. However Adam Jones put the Birds right back in the game in the last of the first with a two-run homer of his own. That put the fans on notice that it was going to be a long day.

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Toronto took the lead back, 3-2, on a Kevin Pillar homer in the second. One inning later with the bases loaded, Travis Snider‘s three-run error broke the game open (for the moment) in Toronto’s favor. Devon Travis sent a line drive towards Snider in right, who attempted to take two steps in towards home plate to field the ball – and ended up having the ball go over his head. He got a glove on it and made a valiant attempt to catch the ball, but at the end of the day Toronto had three additional runs that ended up being huge. To his credit, Snider took full

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accountability for his actions after the game with MASNsports’ Steve Melewski:

"I misplayed it. That is a ball that has to be caught. Especially, Chris pitched his backside off for us and gave us a chance to get out of that inning. That is one of those things you have to continue to work at and get better. In that situation, you want to come up with the ball."

Toronto would take a further lead of 7-2 later in the inning on a Jose Reyes RBI-single, but then the O’s started battling back. Chris Davis and Adam Jones would add RBI-singles in the last of the third, although Toronto would tack on another run in the fourth on a Navarro sac fly-RBI.

But again to his credit, Travis Snider didn’t wallow in his earlier error. He came to bat with two on in the last of the fifth, and promptly deposited a three-run homer over the fence in left center. Errors will happen, because as Buck Showalter often says, we’re dealing with human beings. But Snider showed some exceptional grit in sticking in there and managing to make a very positive contribution in this game after making an unforced error.

Incidentally, Brian Matusz pitched two perfect innings in relief yesterday afternoon (with one strikeout). Of all the pitchers in the game he probably looked the best. Darren O’Day relieved Matusz in the eighth, and promptly allowed a base runner and then a two-run homer to Jose Bautista which effectively won the game for Toronto.

While I don’t make it a habbit of second-guessing Buck Showalter, O’Day has terrible career numbers against Bautista. Showalter said that he wanted O’Day to get a day’s work, however given his propensity to play the numbers I suspect that’s a decision he might like to have back.

A few things were also made of Bautista’s “celebration” at home plate after hitting the home run. Many readers know that I’m a guy who lives by the unwritten codes of the game. But I don’t think that Bautista did anything to show up O’Day or the Orioles (in that moment). He raised his hands towards the sky, which is something that players often do these days after homers. O’Day had previously almost hit Bautista, however if Bautista was angry at that one can imagine how the Orioles feel given how many of their hitters were plunked in this series.

I would remind fans that this Orioles team is 3-3; this in the wake of a 1-4 start in 2014. It’s very early in the season, so while you don’t want to lose games or series’, things are far from troublesome for this team right now. The Birds had the tying run at the plate in the last of the ninth, so they’re also continuing their trend of playing until the last out.

The New York Yankees come to town starting tonight for three games. Wei-Yin Chen will get the start for the Orioles tonight in game one, in hopes that he can right himself after a tough outing last week in Tampa. Gonazales will be opposed by Michael Pineda of New York. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

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