Baltimore Orioles: Hyun-Soo Kim brings Birds back to tie

Hyun-Soo Kim got his first hit as a member of the Baltimore Orioles and sparked a 7th inning rally that brought the O’s back to tie New York.

You knew that eventually the Baltimore Orioles were going to cease the consecutive losses – even though it is only spring training. However what you probably didn’t think was that it would come in the form of a tie, and that it would come in a rally sparked by Hyun-Soo Kim. More on that later; however while a tie certainly isn’t a win, it’s not a loss either.

Tyler Wilson got the start for the O’s, and while he allowed a couple of runs in the first inning he also minimized the damage. Wilson’s line: 3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K. New York would get both of those runs in the first inning; one off of an RBI-double by Castro, and the other on a fielder’s choice by Hicks. However as I said, Wilson minimized the damage which bodes well for him as he moves to attempt to find a spot on this roster – most realistically in the ‘pen.

However the Orioles weren’t really in the mood to get down on themselves after a couple of first inning runs this afternoon. Adam Jones came to bat in the last of the first and knotched an opposite field home run – that was probably wind-aided. However it counted, and it cut the NY lead to 2-1. 

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Castro would double New York’s run total in the fifth with a two-RBI double which gave them a 4-1 lead over the O’s. As we went into the later innings, New York seemed to have an answer for everything the Orioles threw at them. Their fielders were in position for every strike off of Oriole bats, and every high drive was knocked down by the wind. Then we hit the last of the seventh…

…after Joey Rickard opened the frame with a single, the Birds recorded two

quick outs. Then Paul Janish reached on a fielding error, which jarred the door open a bit for the O’s. Following a walk, the bases were loaded. That brought Hyun-Soo Kim to the plate, and he legged out an infield RBI-single to get a run across and to cut the NY lead to 4-2.

Steve Tolleseon would immediately knotch a two-RBI double to tie the game following a pitching change, which is exactly how it ended after ten innings – tied at four. Kim had been under a bit of pressure in terms of not being able to record a hit to this point in spring training. Remember folks, wins and losses aren’t important at this stage. However let’s say that he picked a “would-be clutch moment” in a “would-be game” to get his first hit. 

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This leaves the Orioles still looking for their first win of the spring. However it breaks a “would-be nine-game losing streak” if you will. Dylan Bundy pitched the fifth inniing this afternoon, and while he gave up two runs his off speed pitches looked incredibly sharp. He admitted in an interview with MASN that he came into the game focused on working on his off speed pitches, which does in fact give fans some insight as to how these games are managed. 

Next: Baltimore Orioles' Chris Davis is proving the strikeout wrong

Pitchers often are told to work on this pitch or that one exclusively in spring training, which means that the results on the scoreboard aren’t always what fans would like to see. But Bundy felt decent about the outing, which means that he did what the coaches asked him to do.