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Baltimore Orioles, Darren O’Day bled to death by bloops

By Domenic A. Vadala

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The old saying is that a paper cut is the worst kind of pain – just ask the Baltimore Orioles and Darren O’Day about that tonight. The idea of course being that a paper cut produces a small amount of pain, however it nags and nags and nags. And that’s how things can end up going for the Birds if they allow them to; a small thing a second small thing, and a third small thing all start adding up. Before you know it, you’re bleeding to death – thanks to that paper cut.

Wei-Yin Chen was good in this game, and gave up his lone run as a victim of circumstance if you will. Chen’s line: 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K. One of those two walks was to Eduardo Nunez with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, which gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead. I say Chen was a victim of circumstance because he had Nunez struck out on a 2-2 count. The ball came off as right down the pike, however it was ruled ball three. Nunez walked in a run on the next pitch. 

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    • However Nolan Reimold and Manny Machado led off the last of the sixth with back-to-back singles that left runners at the corners. That brought Gerardo Parra to the plate, and he didn’t disappoint. Parra continued his hot hitting with a three-run homer, and the Orioles seized the lead at 3-1. Where as last night the O’s were slugged and power hit to death, it appeared that they used the same power concept to take the lead. However on this night Minnesota had a different idea in terms of figuring out how to beat the Birds.

    Rallies against the O’s always seem to start innocently enough – in this case Michael Sano walked to lead off the eighth. That brought Trevor Plouffe to the plate, and he popped a blooper towards shallow right field. Unfortunately for the Birds, Jonathan Schoop was unable to come up with the ball as it ticked off his glove, and Sano went to third. All of this was against Darren O’Day, who then proceeded to hit Torii Hunter.

    Courtesy of Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

    However to his credit O’Day recorded two outs in as many batters with the bases loaded. He then had an 0-2 count on Nunez, who blooped a two-RBI single to center field. The ball was just out of the reach of J.J. Hardy, and not quite deep enough for Adam Jones to make a play in center. So that scored one run off the bat, however to top it off Jones overran the ball just a bit. Hunter had already made the turn and was trying to score. However whereas the Birds had a chance to nail him at the plate previously, that slight mishap sealed the Orioles’ fate.

    And at the end of the day, the Orioles couldn’t muster a rally. So while he did give up that lead off walk (which came into score), Darren O’Day was very much bled to death by Minnesota tonight. It was almost like a repeat of the ALCS from last year, where we saw very similar results. And that has to be frustrating for a team like the Orioles.

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    The Birds are this team that’s trying to mash the ball on each pitch. However it seems that the antidote for their power is just to look for small ways to score runs. And that’s exactly how Minnesota’s defeated them in several games this year. They’re almost an incarnation of the old Tampa Rays – who would not only wear out your pitching, but who’s pitching would wear out your hitting.

    Speaking of last year’s ALCS, the O’s imperatively need these next two games, as they’ll be making a return trip to Kansas City starting Monday night. But first thing’s first; the series continues tonight, with Chris Tillman on the mound for the O’s. He’ll be opposed by Kyle Gibson of Minnesota. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

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