Baltimore Orioles: Losses equally free of theatrics, pitching

If anybody thought Jose Bautista was showboating by trying to throw out the Baltimore Orioles’ Delmon Young at first base Tuesday night, let’s think about that. But not for long.

It’s something Frank Robinson did more than once, and something any quick-thinking right fielder would do with a slow runner, if the ball got to him fast on a turf base hit, which this was, or if the runner took a very wide turn. That wasn’t showboating, it was just a good play, regardless of the rest of Bautista’s night. But if that was the play that caused his shoulder injury that kept him out of Wednesday’s game, I’d file it under karma.

Bautista’s act of machismo after jawing with Young and Adam Jones caused an injury that was, at least ostensibly, the reason he was kept out of Toronto’s lineup Wednesday night. That reason became realistic when an MRI earlier Wednesday showed a strained shoulder, according to multiple sources, and Bautista was listed as day to day.

One other reason was that he was 2 for 29 lifetime against Orioles starter Ubaldo Jiminez. Option three was that the Orioles might deck him for real, if the Jays knocked Jones down for all the verbal sparring Tuesday night. Bautista stared at his home run off Bud Norris and flipped the bat before his leisurely jog around the bases. It all began with Norris throwing a pitch behind him during the at-bat.

At any rate, nothing came of it in Wednesday night’s game, a 4-2 Jays victory, featuring what has become a pretty standard lack of timely hitting or good pitching by the Orioles. Sometimes, experts chalk up a trend like this to a team pressing too much so early in the season.

On the way to being swept by Toronto tonight, Chris Tillman gave the team its eighth straight start of less than six innings, going 4 1/3 before leaving with the Orioles down, 6-0, in an eventual 7-6 loss. It doesn’t get any easier, as the club comes back to host the Red Sox in what is forecast to be some of the chilliest, wettest weather of the Spring.

Next: Baltimore Orioles vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Broadcast Info and Lineups