Baltimore Orioles Lead the Battle for the Bottom on Opening Day

After two innings of holding the Red Sox at bay, the Baltimore Orioles showed us who they are and it didn’t come as much of a surprise.

No, this isn’t a complaint about the Opening Day Baltimore Orioles game. It’s just a sign of what is to come.

In a battle for the bottom, the Orioles showed the MLB world that they might just win it. The team suffered the biggest loss on Friday night, with a disappointing score of 13-2.

The First Big Blowout of the Season

Compare this to the other bottom dwellers, the Tigers, Mariners, Marlins, and Giants, and the O’s were the only team to give up double-digit runs. The Tigers and Mariners both lost by 6, and the Giants by 8.

After watching bits of the Tigers and Mariners games, I was honestly surprised that the Orioles lost by as much as they did. The Central and West teams struggled out of the gate and never really got their footing. But, they didn’t give up as many as the Orioles.

They Hit How Many Doubles?

Every single Orioles pitcher struggled on Friday night. Tommy Milone looked good through two, but once the wheels fell off, they really fell off. He made it through two innings before giving up four doubles and a walk in the third inning. I’ve seen jokes about Murderer’s Row, but the pitching Friday was more like Doubles-in-the-Gaps Row – after the Red Sox hit eight of them last night.

After the third inning, it didn’t get any better. Cody Carroll came in for relief and could not find the strike zone. He walked the first two batters, gave up a single, then walked the next one. Brandon Hyde then replaced him with Travis Lakins to face JD Martinez, who then hit his second double of the game.

That was when I put my MLB.TV app to use and changed the channel. Eventually, I came back to see the score at 10-0 and that was all I could take. Now that I’m reliving this game in writing, I need more coffee.

On a side note, the MASN broadcast with its varying sound quality was unpleasant. And, after the MASN announcers continued to talk more about the Sox that the O’s, I switched to the Boston broadcast which had better sound quality and play-by-play, too.

The Wee Bit of Offense

The Orioles were able to score runs in the sixth and seventh, but it didn’t help because they gave up three more in the sixth. Anthony Santander gave me a couple of points in my fantasy league, and Rio Ruiz hit a home run.

Defining Facepalm Moment

While there were several facepalm moments, one in particular stuck out to me as the one that might just define the team for the 2020 season. It happened in the top of the fourth. The team was working so hard to manufacture a run, and things were – sort of – going in their favor. After Santander flied out, Jose Iglesias hit a double. Then, Renato Nunez worked so hard to move the speedy shortstop, and he was able to do so on Rafael Devers throwing error. With Iggy in scoring position and ONE out, Chris Davis hit into an unassisted double play at first.

I know Davis is a good guy, but that moment just defined how much his contract (which is no fault of his) and his issues at the plate have held the team back.

Next. Be Grateful There's O's Baseball in 2020. dark

Well Orioles family, we get to have this party against in a few hours. The team faces the Red Sox at 1:35 ET. This time we get to see if Alex Cobb can do better than Tommy Milone. Cobb faces Martin Perez, who has a history of ups and downs. Let’s hope the score is a bit closer today.

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