Baltimore Orioles: J.J. Hardy injured

The Baltimore Orioles might have lost shortstop J.J. Hardy in yesterday’s loss to the ChiSox.

You had to know that it was a matter of time before injuries would begin to pile up for the Baltimore Orioles; yesterday it was J.J. Hardy. Hardy was lifted after the last of the fifth because he fouled a ball off of his foot. The O’s are calling it a “contusion” at this moment, however Hardy will undergo a CT scan later this morning.

Of course closer Zach Britton suffered a sprained ankle in Saturday’s loss to

Chicago, although he’s still listed as day-to-day. The Orioles caught a break in the sense that today is an off day, and furthermore Britton was saying that the pain was more centralized in one spot by yesterday morning. However Hardy is probably a bigger concern at this point, especially seeing that the conventional wisdom is that Britton will avoid the DL.

Ubaldo Jimenez suffered from a tough fifth inning, as the Orioles fell and split the series at two games each. Jimenez’s line: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 3 K. Jimenez had walked a tightrope for most of the day, getting out of a bases-loaded situation with nobody out earlier in the game. 

Call to the Pen

One thing in which the Orioles struggled all series was getting Chicago’s Lawrie out – he hit three home runs against them this weekend. The ChiSox squared up several balls on Jimenez in the fourth inning, however with the exception of Lawrie’s homer (which gave Chicago a 1-0 lead), they all resulted in outs. They weren’t squaring balls up in the fifth inning, yet they produced a big inning. That’s baseball.

The Orioles yielded a run on Sanchez’s force out with the bases loaded, and then a second on an RBI-single by Abreu. Cabrera then sent a soft fly ball into left field, which fell for a bloop single – scoring another run. However Chicago got a bit selfish, trying to send a second runner home. And he was gunned down at the plate.

Add in another soft single to center which netted two runs, and Chicago led 6-0. The Orioles would add an RBI-single by Nolan Reimold in the last of the sixth, but Chicago also added a sac fly-RBI in the ninth to run the score to 7-1. Again with the exception of the Lawrie homer, Chicago bled and blooped the Orioles to death yesterday. While Jimenez wasn’t really on his game from the beginning, it’s one of those deals where if the outfield is playing just a bit more shallow…things might have been different. 

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However the bigger concern is Hardy’s health, about which we’ll find out more today. Buck Showalter was already hinting after the game that he had a preliminary idea of what the issue was (quote courtesy of Rock Kubatko of MASNsports):

"I do know, I’ve got an idea. Right now, it’s a contusion. He fouled a ball off his foot and it got real stiff and sore quickly, so he’s going to get some more detail. I think it’s a scan tomorrow to see the extent of it."

That sounds like the thinking in the Orioles’ clubhouse is that Hardy could have a broken bone in his foot. That would be something that would undoubtedly end up being a DL situation for the shortstop, who of course is an integral part of the Orioles’ infield defense. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Next: Baltimore Orioles: Zach Britton injured in loss

I would presume that Ryan Flaherty would be recalled if Hardy went to the DL, and the Orioles would have the liberty of doing so earlier than the ten days the rules state since it would be the result of an injury. Obviously we don’t know for sure that would be the corresponding move, however that’s what I’m predicting. Again luckily for them, today is an of day.