Baltimore Orioles lose first game against Detroit Tigers

After a pair of rain delays, the Baltimore Orioles lost the first of the four-game series against the Detroit Tigers.

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Chris Tillman was the most disappointing part of the story. He gave up five earned runs in the first three innings of the game.

Fortunately, he was replaced by Miguel Castro who stopped the bleeding by holding the Tigers to one hit in the six innings he pitched.

Troubles for Tillman

Tillman had the full force of his defense behind him. After getting into trouble in the second inning with two men on base, the defense recorded a rare 5-4-3 triple play. Manny Machado got it going making the catch and tapping third base for the force. A shortstop at heart, Machado knew to throw to Jonathan Schoop at second, who then fired to Chris Davis in time to get the batter.

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This was the Orioles second triple play of the season. The first came on May 2 against the Boston Red Sox.

Still, Tillman could not get the job done. His lack of command was evident, so Buck Showalter pulled him in the third inning after four runs scored without an out. Prior to the third inning, Tillman gave up a pair of home runs in the first to Ian Kinsler and Justin Upton. Unfortunately for Tillman, he did leave runners on base and one run did score after Castro took over on the mound.

Castro found his groove

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After the shaky start, Castro dominated the mound with help from his defense. Welington Castillo caught Jim Adduci trying to steal with his no-doubt rocket of a throw to second in the fourth inning. Castro eventually found his groove in the fifth inning facing the minimum batters from the fifth through the eighth inning. Richard Bleier pitched in the ninth, giving up one hit, but holding the Tigers scoreless.

Down by seven runs early in the game, the Orioles never gave up. They chipped away at the score, but couldn’t top the Tigers’ seven runs. The O’s got two in the bottom of the third and three more throughout the game.

Plenty of Orioles offense

Machado earned two RBIs in this game and had the most hilarious strikeout in recent memory. In his first at-bat, he swung for the fences and landed on his rear. In typical Manny style, he walked to the dugout with an ear-to-ear grin.

Adam Jones had a fantastic day against Tigers pitching going two for three with two walks. He scored one run. Tim Beckham also had a day going three for four and sending one out of the park to flip the Orioles home run counter to 9,995. Craig Gentry also did well, going two for four and scoring two runs both with the help of Machado.

Next: Previewing the Orioles vs Tigers series

This game may have been the last Tillman start as he continued to throw batting practice to opposing hitters. He gave up six hits and walked two. If he thinks the pitcher with the highest ERA wins, then he is the winner. In the last seven days, his ERA is a league “winning” 18.47. Now that the Orioles have Jeremy Hellickson, who currently has an ERA of 0.00 with the team, Tillman may no longer be needed. And, with Anthony Santander close to finishing his time on the DL, a roster spot needs to be made available. Tillman’s could be it.