Baltimore Orioles, Miguel Gonzalez take it on the chin

Miguel Gonzalez was unable to make it out of the second inning as the Baltimore Orioles fell to Tampa, 10-3.

The Baltimore Orioles have ended up taking it on the chin in games two and three of spring training. In this afternoon’s game in Port Charlotte, FL against Tampa, Miguel Gonzalez got the start and was unable to make it out of the second inning. Gonzalez’s line: 1.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 0 BB, 0 K.

It begins and ends with starting pitching, as I’ve said many times. The O’s were unable to get starting pitching that sufficed this afternoon. However keep in mind that often times in these spring games pitchers are

working exclusively on one pitch or even on location. For what it’s worth, Gonzalez was up in the zone for most of his truncated outing.

Tampa got on the board early when Desmond Jennings launched an RBI-double to left in the last of the first. Former Oriole Steve Pearce would add one of his own a moment later, and Brandon Guyer‘s bloop RBI-single ran the score to 3-0 early on. Incidentally, that was all but a taste of how Tampa seemingly wins it’s games – especially against the O’s. They bleed teams to death slowly.

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One inning later, Jennings decided to torch the Birds again. His second RBI-double of the game gave Tampa a 4-0 lead, however that lead quickly went up to 6-0 after Corey Dickerson‘s two-run homer. Guyer and Brad Miller would add RBI-singles, and Guyer would also homer in the last of the fifth.

L.J. Hoes would get the Birds on the board in the top of the sixth with an RBI-double. Hoes would later score on Christian Walker‘s sac fly-RBI, and they would add an additional run on a Marte RBI-single in the eighth. Tampa would also add an RBI-single in the eighth. Of all the Orioles pitchers who saw action today, Brad Brach probably looked the best, pitching a scoreless inning.

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This is now two subpar outings in a row for an Orioles’ starter, which I suspect is going to lead a lot of people to question what will become of the Orioles’ rotation. However I would continually remind fans that not only is it spring training, but it’s the third game. Furthermore I would look at Ubaldo Jimenez‘s spring last year. He got better as the Grapefruit League season went on – and it carried into the first half of the regular season.

The point in saying that is that these games are very tough to judge. The offensive output is easy to explain – most of the regular players stayed back in Sarasota today. But the pitching should come around – and if it doesn’t, you can expect Buck Showlater to look for options in terms of bringing guys north. At the end of the day is a 10-3 loss in game three of spring something to worry about? No.

Next: Baltimore Orioles: Ubaldo Jimene with a tough first in loss

The O’s will travel to Dunedin, FL tomorrow for their first game against Toronto this spring training. They’ll send Vance Worley to the mound, who they claimed off of waivers from Pittsburgh. He’ll be opposed by Toronto’s J.A. Happ. Game time is set for just after 1 PM. Orioles’ reliever Brian Matusz is getting an MRI due to stiffness in his back.