Baltimore Orioles: Andrew Velazquez Shines on Defense Against Blue Jays

One thing about the Baltimore Orioles is certain: the team plays better on the road.

And, it showed again last night as the Baltimore Orioles took their second consecutive loss at Camden Yards.

With the 10th loss of the season, the Orioles are still in third place in the AL East with a .545 win percentage. They moved to four games back from the Yankees. And, the Rays are still in second with a .609 win percentage.

The Orioles need to figure out how to win at OPACY, because they’ve got six more games to play before they hit the road and head to Tampa. And, overall, the O’s are 4-9 at home and 8-1 on the road. That, dear reader, is a significant difference.

The 7-2 loss to the Blue Jays came at the hands of the pitching staff. The defense can’t do anything when pitchers give up home runs, and that is exactly what caused the difference in the score. The first home run was at the hands of Alex Cobb. Randal Grichuk hit a three-run bomb in the third. The final nail in the coffin was a Cavan Biggio two-run homer in the ninth off of Dillon Tate. Those two home runs scored five runs. Without them, the game would have gone into extra innings with a 2-2 score.

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Sadly, the other problem was that the Orioles offense just couldn’t figure out Hyun Jin Ryu. In six innings, the O’s only produced four hits. The team’s best inning against Ryu was the fourth, when Anthony Santander hit a lead-off double and Pedro Severino knocked him in on an RBI single.

Then, in the ninth, the Orioles scored their second run on a Renato Nunez pop-up single that scored Cedric Mullins. Otherwise, it was crickets for the Birds on offense.

One major highlight of the evening was watching Andrew Velazquez play shortstop. He might have had a big O-fer at the plate, but on defense, he was on point. His acrobatic plays were reminiscent of players like Omar Vizquel and Jose Iglesias (without the quad injury). He had a handful of diving catches that should be must-see video for any kids who want to play shortstop. Enjoy this one courtesy of MLB.com:

The Orioles and Blue Jays face off tonight at 7:35 ET. Wade LeBlanc pitches for the O’s, and Nate Pearson for the Jays. Pearson was lit up by the Marlins in his last outing, but none of the O’s starters have ever faced the 23-year-old right hander.