Baltimore Orioles and Ubaldo Jimenez’s hard luck

Ubaldo Jimenez pitched fairly well overall as the Baltimore Orioles fell once again in hard luck in Tampa.

Ubaldo Jimenez and the Baltimore Orioles have now played four games against Tampa this year, all of which were effectively the same type of game. In sum, pitcher’s duels. In the first week of the season Tampa wasn’t really Tampa yet, even though low-scoring affairs are their game. However now it’s a different story.

Part of beating someone is forcing them to play your game. And despite a few things actually going the Orioles’ way here and there, Tampa managed to do that. I’ve said this before, however Tampa wears down your pitching in games. Their pitching also effectively wears down your hitting. And at the end of the day when you least expect it, they somehow find some power in their lineup.

Jimenez had his struggles, but at the end of the day he was actually pretty good. Jimenez’s line: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 6 K. Jimenez was able to pitch out of two bases-loaded situations. However so was Tampa. As I said, the Orioles did have a few things go there way early on – they just couldn’t capitalize.

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Some people will ask how it’s possible that a team with as much power as the

Orioles can manage to get shut down yet again. As I said, Tampa’s always had the ability to force you into playing their game. If the game was a shootout then the Orioles would have won hands-down. But Tampa makes you play the game they play, and then beats you with experience.

Tampa took an early 1-0 lead when Jennings netted a sac fly-RBI in the last of the third. In all of the bases loaded situations in which the Orioles found themselves, Jimenez only yielded that one run. One inning later the O’s tied the game on Mark Trumbo‘s RBI-single. So we had a game in a sense, but again this was Tampa’s style of game. And when Kiermaier hit a deep shot to right field in the last of the sixth with a runner on base, go figure it cleared the wall and gave Tampa a 3-1 lead – they never looked back.

Tampa was also great in the field last night, specifically Kiermaier. It seemed that wherever the Orioles managed to hit the ball, it would find a glove. One very positive sign was Chris Davis hitting against the shift down the third base line, ending up with a double. I’ve always said that if guys could find a way to more effectively do that, teams will cease to play these shifts. Which in turn benefits the offense. 

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The Orioles have scored two runs in the last three games – hardly good enough to win. They’ve run into some good pitching as well, but no matter how good your starter is on that day it’s going to be tough to win with those numbers. As I said, Jimenez was actually fairly good last night. I felt that he put the team in a position to win, they just couldn’t produce the runs necessary to do so.

Adam Jones was back in the lineup last night after appeared to tweak his rib cage on a hard swing on Monday. That’s good news for Orioles fans, as the Birds need a healthy Jones actively participating. The likes of Davis, Machado, Tillman, and Hardy might well be huge presences in the clubhouse and on the field, but Jones is the leader of this team. 

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The O’s will try to salvage one game in Tampa in this evening’s series finale. Chris Tillman will head to the mound for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Matt Moore. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.