Baltimore Orioles: Wolf is always at the door for Tyler WIlson

Tyler Wilson turned into a hard-luck loser in a sense, victimized by the long ball and by what the Baltimore Orioles left behind.

Tyler Wilson was a hard-luck loser for the Baltimore Orioles last night – in a sense, that is. When you leave the bases loaded with a chance at taking the lead, when you leave 12 men on base, and when you strike out 18 times, you’re going to make it tough for your starting pitcher to win. Wilson’s line: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3 earned), 0 BB, 4 K.

Houston’s pitching isn’t overpowering and it’s not by any means superior. However as I’ve said previously, the Orioles are a fastball-hitting team. If you watched last night’s game, Houston pitchers (all of them) in essence pitched backwards. They utilized a lot of off-speed and breaking pitches that bottomed out of the strike zone. Obviously that’s a risky strategy because if an Oriole bat happens to catch the ball it could go a long way. However there’s another frustrating thing about playing a team such as Houston from the Orioles’ perspective: they just aren’t afraid to lose.

The Orioles uncharacteristically committed four errors in the game, and Houston took advantage. This illustrates how good the Orioles’ defense generally is, and how important a good defense can be. Opponents will always relish the opportunity to get fat on what you leave behind, even a team with a lackluster record.

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The Birds took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on a Schoop RBI-double. However Houston’s Springer lined an RBI-single to center in the third, and we were tied at one. One inning later, Rasmus reach base on an E1 charged to Wilson. That brought their massive catcher, Gattis, to the plate, and he smacked a two-run homer to left field. That gave Houston a 3-1 lead, and the momentum.

However the O’s got back in the game in the sixth inning. Chris Davis scored from third on a wild pitch, and Pedro Alvarez‘s subsequent RBI-single tied the game back up at three. Later in the inning however Houston intentionally walked Machado to load the bases, which was followed by Schoop innocently popping out in the infield to end the inning. From Houston’s standpoint that was the key moment in the game, as in the last of the inning they got the lead back at 4-3 on Valbuena’s solo homer.

And that was a wrap, folks. The O’s dropped the first two games of this series, and in similar fashion at that. They racked up the strikeouts, mainly because Houston used their aggression against them. As I’ve said previously, the good news for the Orioles is that the number of pitchers and teams who can successfully do that is few. While their record doesn’t indicate it, Houston is just one of those nimble teams that can give a good team fits.

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And to their credit, as I said they aren’t afraid to lose. If the O’s suddenly started looking for sliders and curves instead of fastballs and began spraying balls left and right in play, I’m not sure Houston would be overly upset at that. Years ago when it was the O’s who were overmatched against various teams, there was always an aversion to losing in a sense. Not that it should be considered acceptable, however if you’re afraid to lose and it gets too much into your mind, it’s going to negatively affect your play.

Having said that, Mark Trumbo hit the nail on the head when it comes to a team struggling as the Orioles appear to be doing right now (quote courtesy of Steve Melewski, MASNsports):

"It’s bound to happen. We’re going to struggle. We’re going to struggle again. You’d like it not to happen, but I think this shows kind of a lot of what the team’s all about in times like this, and I think I like what I see. Nobody’s getting down on themselves. We’re just going to keep this thing moving, and if we have to wear it for a little while longer, so be it. Eventually, everybody’s going to come out of it and play to their potential."

And struggles are going to happen in cases like this – on paper, the Orioles should be all over Houston. However the past couple of seasons they haven’t played well against them. Houston seems skilled at forcing the O’s to play their game. And at the end of the day, Houston ends up beating them with experience.

Next: Baltimore Orioles fall to Houston in extras

The Birds will try to salvage one game in this series this evening in Houston before going onto Cleveland tomorrow. Kevin Gausman will get the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Houston’s Lance McCullers. Game time is set for just after 8 PM.

Tyler Wilson turned into a hard-luck loser in a sense, victimized by the long ball and by what the Baltimore Orioles left behind.

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