Baltimore Orioles: Ubaldo Jimenez strong while bats sleep

Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a great game for the Baltimore Orioles, who couldn’t muster the offense to defeat Minnesota.

Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a decent game for the Baltimore Orioles last night in Minnesota. It amounted to a spot start out of the bullpen, and Jimenez hadn’t even appeared in a game in several weeks – July 8th to be exact. Yet he managed to put the Birds in a position to win. Jimenez’s line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 8 K.

Things started out well for the Birds in this makeup game. Adam Jones led the game off with a solo homer to left field, giving the O’s an early 1-0 lead. However an RBI-triple by Mauer in the last of the first tied the game, and we played on.

The O’s had a golden opportunity to take command of the game in the fourth – and they even got a hit with runners in scorping position. But they had two runners thrown out at home plate, which put a damper on the inning. As the offense has struggled the past couple of weeks, not being able to get runs home has been a motif. As I said, i fairness they did get a hit with RISP – they just had some bad luck.

But in that fourth inning they still did manage to take the lead, as Hardy finally singled home a run. However two innings later Minnesota’s Kepler sent a solo homer over the fence, tying the game once again. Ironically however, it was the Orioles’ bullpen for once that seemed to collapse. In the last of the seventh Minnesota got an RBI-single from Dozier, another from Kepler, and a two-RBI triple from Rosario. That sunk the Orioles and Jimenez’s grand effort.

All teams will go through phases where they can’t score runs – even a gifted offensive team like the Orioles. Fans obviously should know what they are capable of at the plate, and that at some point it’s going to come back. One would think at least.

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However they do need to snap out of this funk at some point in the very near future, as they head to Toronto this weekend. Furthermore they head home for three games after that with Texas, who can also score runs at will. The series this weekend is huge given the standings, and you get the feeling that when all’s said and done we’ll look back at this series as a key one – win or lose.

Next: Baltimore Orioles: Is instant replay worth the while?

The Birds headed north of the border after last night’s game, where they’ll open up the aforementioned series with Toronto. Kevin Gausman will be on the hill for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Toronto’s Marco Estrada. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.