After Jurrjens quickly retired the side 1-2-3 in the first, the Orioles jumped all over Tampa in the last of the inning. Nate McLouth started things off with a single, and was moved to second by Manny Machado. Nick Markakis‘ RBI-double scored McLouth, and the Orioles had an early 1-0 lead. With the count at 0-2 Adam Jones sent a home run into the left field grandstand that I think might have reached Pimlico race track (where they were about to run the Preakness Stakes). That was followed up by Chris Davis‘ home run and suddenly the Orioles had given Jurrjens a 4-0 lead.

However as the Orioles ultimately found out in a big time manner, Tampa has the propensity to come back. Tampa’s three-run third inning which included a home run by Matt Joyce brought Tampa back to within one. Orioles fans are used to seeing the Orioles come back on teams, however as I’ve said previously Tampa is probably the original “play ’till the last out” team. The thing that frustrates a lot of teams about Tampa is that they seem to do everything right in that they force you to throw the ball over the plate and they hang in there until they get the pitch that they want. This comes from their manager, Joe Maddon, who is probably one of the more underrated managers in the game. From the Orioles’ standpoint that can be very frustrating to watch, however Maddon and his players force the opposition to stand up and respect them (and they don’t go away until you do). That’s probably good life advice as well as sound baseball advice.

After the game Jurrjens said that he wanted to work on his command a bit, as well as going deeper into the game. Tommy Hunter came in to start the sixth inning, and as he’s consistently done this year Hunter was lights out. Orioles fans have to be careful not to forget the likes of Hunter and even Pedro Strop, because in focusing so much on results sometimes the performances of middle relievers get lost. Sportscaster Mark Viviano appeared on MASN’s Wall to Wall Baseball program yesterday afternoon, and he equated middle relievers such as Tommy Hunter to offensive linemen in the NFL. People only really recognize them when they make a mistake, and when that happens people’s attitudes are “cut him.” Hunter bridged the gap very well yesterday between the starter and the back end of the bullpen by pitching 2.2 innings. Brian Matusz came in to get the final out in the eighth, and closed Tampa down with two pitches.

The other frustrating thing about the Tampa Rays is that they take what they can get and they seem to appreciate it. With Jim Johnson on in the ninth to close out what was looking like a 6-4 Oriole victory, Kelly Johnson stepped to the plate with one down. Johnson promptly sent a solo home run into the seats to cut the lead to 6-5. Johnson then issued two consecutive walks to put the go-ahead run on base for Tampa. Again, Tampa’s a team that takes what they can get; Joe Maddon has no issue taking a walk because it’s virtually as good as a base hit, and any man on base is just another opportunity to score a run. A single to left field by Dan Jennings loaded the bases; again, Tampa’s a team that takes what it can get and nothing more. Jennings’ single was a blooper that fell into no-man’s land in shallow left field. With the game on the line, many base runners would have taken off running from second base. Instead, Lobaton waited and made sure that the ball fell in and appeared perfectly content standing at third base.

Courtesy of Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Joyce was the straw that broke the camel’s back, as his double with the bases loaded scored two runs and suddenly Tampa had a 7-6 lead (at which point Jim Johnson was pulled). They would go on to score three more runs and defeat the Orioles by a 10-6 final. This was Jim Johnson’s second consecutive blown save, which also snapped the Orioles’ 109-game win streak when leading after seven innings.

Let’s be frank about this; you can’t blow leads like that, especially at home and against AL East opponents. However the good news and the bad news is that this was probably more mental on Johnson’s part than anything else. That’s bad news because mental issues are tough to needle through. However it’s good news because Johnson still has that lights-out stuff that we’ve seen in the past. The best way for Johnson to right the ship would be for the Orioles to call on him in a non-save situation this afternoon so as to let him pitch in a non-pressure situation. You don’t want to use your closer when you have a five or six run lead, however if that pressure isn’t there it might help Johnson to relax on the mound a bit. And once he gets a positive outing under his belt he can start to recover from this bump in the road.

The O’s will try to salvage one game against Tampa this afternoon, and hope that Chris Tillman can act as a stopper in this four-game losing streak. He’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Matt Moore…who go figure, is 7-0.

The fact that the Baltimore Orioles were in extra innings to begin with is somewhat noteworthy. The Birds called up Josh Stinson from triple-A Norfolk to make what amounted to a spot start, and they came away with a mixed bag of results. Stinson’s line: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 3 K. You might be asking where the “good” part of the mixed bag is. Stinson threw only 76 pitches in that 5.2 innings, and while he gave up four home runs he also recorded a lot of outs very efficiently. I also felt as if he shrugged off the fact that he had given up a homer very quickly in that he refocused himself right away and got the next guy out. Immediately following the game Stinson was optioned back to triple-A Norfolk, and the Orioles are expected to make a corresponding roster move today. Whomever it is will be next Monday’s starting pitcher, so my money is on either Steve Johnson or Zach Britton.

The O’s took an early 1-0 lead on Adam Jones‘ RBI-double, plating Nate McLouth. However Toronto’s home run parade began an inning later as Arencibia smacked a two-run homer. Before Stinson would depart the game he would surrender five runs, all on homers. Jose Bautista, Juan Encarnacion, and Rajai Davis would all join the party. However Oriole bats got Stinson off the hook for the loss. With the Birds trailing 5-2 in the last of the seventh, Nolan Reimold was able to score from first (following a walk) on Ryan Flaherty‘s double. That chased Toronto started Brandon Morrow from the game, and brought the tying run to the plate. That run was in the form of Nate McLouth, who not only plated Flaherty but also managed to steal second base in the aftermath. McLouth probably would have scored on Manny Machado‘s triple as it was from first, but the fact that he was already in scoring position didn’t hurt.

The last thing that the Orioles probably wanted just before a west coast trip was an extra inning game. However they had a golden chance to win it in the 10th, but couldn’t do it. With two outs Manny Machado was on second with Adam Jones on first. J.J. Hardy smacked a single to center field; third base coach Bobby Dickerson sent Machado home, and he was gunned out at the plate by center fielder Rajai Davis. If hindsight is 20/20, I’m sure that Dickerson wishes had hadn’t sent Machado. However generally a run’s going to score from second on a single. Furthermore being an extra inning game and the Orioles being the home team, all it takes is one run and the game’s over. So Bobby Dickerson did the right thing by sending him; it took a good throw to get him at home plate, and Davis made a good throw.

Courtesy of Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

With Johnson allowing the go-ahead run in the 11th, the Orioles snapped a streak of 17 consecutive wins in extra inning games (dating back to last year). That’s certainly noteworthy, however it was bound to happen at some point. The Birds finished the homestand with a 6-3 mark (or “holding serve at 6-3″ as Buck Showalter said), taking 2-of-3 in every series. You’ll take that no matter who you are. The Orioles are playing good baseball right now, and they’re going to need to continue to do just that as they head to the west coast. They open up an 11-game road trip out west tonight; they’ll play four in Oakland, three in Seattle (where they’ll meet up with old friend Robert Andino), and four in Anaheim. As we know, Oakland has long been a very tough place for the Orioles to play, and it’s widely considered one of the worst ballparks in baseball. The fact that the Orioles will be going out there with no day off in between is equally unnerving; they’ll basically be playing tonight’s game at 10 PM if their body clocks are to be believed.

On that note, Orioles fans are in for some late nights as we move forward; tonight and tomorrow night’s games will begin at 10 PM eastern time, as will the games next week in Seattle and the first two in Anaheim. However this Saturday and Sunday’s games will be at 4 PM eastern time (1 PM local time starts in Oakland). The Orioles will send Jason Hammel back to the mound tonight in hopes that he can once again provide some decent innings for the Orioles. He was hit around pretty good in his last start against the LA Dodgers, however one benefit to Oakland’s park is that it’s a pitchers park. Foul balls that would be in the fifth or sixth row at the yard (if not further up) are outs in Oakland. This is really a key game for the Birds because as I said above Oakland has been a tough place to play, and they’ve had no day off in between. Furthermore, Oakland (and Texas) was in the mix with the O’s last year in the playoff standings, so any one of these games could mean something much bigger come September. Hammel will be opposed by Oakland’s Jarrod Parker.

Oct 11, 2012: Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Jim Johnson pitches against the New York Yankees during the 13th inning of game four of the 2012 ALDS at Yankee Stadium. The Orioles won 2-1 after 13 innings. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles signed Jim Johnson and Jason Hammel each to one year deals for an amount at the midpoint of their submitted requests and the team’s offer, avoiding arbitration for both pitchers. Then they signed Darren O’Day to a two-year extension, avoiding arbitration with him.

The Hammel signing kicks the can down the road, since they will need to offer him a multi-year at this point next year, if he is as productive for a whole season as he was in the first half last year.  The only downside of Johnson’s deal is that there is no way he will come close to 51 saves this season. You still want him closing games. And if anything happens to him, injury or otherwise, that’s why you need O’Day. When Pedro Strop hit a rough patch over the last two months last season, O’Day stepped into the setup role and re-solidified it.

So the long-awaited, unofficial end of Winter – the day pitchers and catchers report – is Tuesday, to the great relief of fans everywhere. It is almost an anticlimax. Many of the starters, position players or otherwise, have been working out at the Orioles’ complex in Sarasota for a while despite not having to be there yet, including Matt Wieters and Brian Roberts. This is a credit to their drive to improve on last year, in Wieters’ case, and to just plain be a full-time player again, in Roberts’ case.

Jair Jurrjens falls into the latter category, too, if his damaged knee satisfies the Orioles that it is sound enough for them to finalize his contract. Conjecture is that he’ll get an incentive-laden contract low on guaranteed money and be stashed at Norfolk, unless he throws like the second coming of Jim Palmer during Spring Training and wins a spot in the rotation.

The first workout is Wednesday, and position players report Friday. Let the workouts begin. More to come.

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