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Baltimore Orioles: Other side of the Bay Area is kinder

By Domenic A. Vadala

Jul 17, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Dylan Bundy (37) looks on as he gives up a home run to Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Brad Miller (13) during the third inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 17, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Dylan Bundy (37) looks on as he gives up a home run to Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Brad Miller (13) during the third inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Baltimore Orioles crossed the bay area and headed to San Francisco last night, where they found things to be a bit kinder than in Oakland.

Perhaps all it took to right the Baltimore Orioles was to cross San Francisco Bay. Out in the Bay Area  for a week, the Birds found the going tough the first three games in Oakland. However they won Thursday’s series finale, and then proceeded to cross San Francisco Bay over to play the Giants.

And in doing so, they got another decent start out of Dylan Bundy – who’s been “killing it” as a starter in the second half. Bundy’s line: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K. According to the numbers this wasn’t a quality start because Bundy didn’t go the required six innings. But it’s a quality start.

The O’s got an RBI-double from Matt Wieters, and an RBI-single from Adam Jones in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. One inning later Mark Trubo continued his hot streak and smacked his league-leading 33rd home run – a two-run shot. After three innings (or two-and-a-half) the O’s held a 4-0 lead, which gave them some breathing room. 

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    • San Francisco battled back ever so slightly in the last of the third when Span’s RBI-double got them on the board. However in the fifth Chris Davis would launch a solo homer, before San Francisco added on a token RBI-single in the ninth. The O’s wound up with a 5-2 victory…on the dock of the ‘Frisco Bay.

    It’s almost uncanny how a team as good as the Orioles can struggle so mightily against bad teams (such as Oakland). However when you put them against a team like San Francisco (who’s in a pennant race of their own), they step it up. And playing up or down to your competition is something that’s rampant across sports, so it’s not just the O’s. I’m just not sure why it happens!

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    One theory might be that baseball is one of the only sports where playing until the bitter end is a thing. Maybe not until the bitter end per se, but at least through August. If you’re on a bad team, you might still have some incentive to play hard given that trades through waivers happen all the time during this month. So if you play hard maybe you’ll get dealt to a contender.

    My theory of course is that you should always play hard, but that’s beside the point However the O’s found the San Francisco side of the Bay Area to be kinder than the Oakland side – at least at first. The O’s beat a good team in San Francisco last night, and for their sake they have to hope it continues for the remainder of the series.

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    And as the series continues tonight they’ll have their work cut out for them based on who the opposing pitcher is slated to be. Kevin Gausman will be on the mound for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner. Game time is set for just after 9 PM.

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