Around the Diamond

The O’s and Dodgers completed the first game of a day/night doubleheader in a game that had a little bit of everything. Poor pitching, defense, and untimely hitting. Then very good pitching, defense, and timely hitting. Making mistakes, capatilizing on mistakes… let’s take a trip AtD.

Box Score

First Base

Jason Hammel struggled today. If you can find a bigger undertatement, my hat is off to you. He took 51 infuriating pitches to give up 4 ERs* over the first two innings. After that, he gradually got better, putting some efficient innings together toward the end, allowing him to limp through the 6th without allowing more runs. It was an ugly 113-pitch effort, but it got the job done. He kept the game close enough to let the bats bail him out, and he didn’t totally hose the bullpen. If this were Tommy Hunter, we’d have to call it a “bulldog” kind of day. Thankfully, it was not.

We need more from our “ace,” but I’m hoping this is one of those days where you build on the fact that you can get by and set yourself up to win without your best stuff. Really, that’s the best I can do in terms of silver lining.

He turned his fortunes around enough that I felt bad for him when Strop blew the lead in the 7th. He avoided completely imploding, and could have gotten a win.

Second Base

‘Who the Hell is’ Steve Pearce is really heating up. And by “really heating up,” I mean “not hitless on the season.” Seriously, it’s good to see us get some production from the DH spot (1-3 with an RBI). Even better, Pearce’s seat was starting to get hot, with his strikeouts mounting, and Russ Canzler tearing it up in Norfolk. His bat is starting to resemble what Buck envisioned when he brough Pearce north with the club: a right-handed, professional hitter with power potential. Hopfully, this game is something Pearce can build on moving forward.

Third Base

Here comes the asterisk. Hammel didn’t get any help with those 4ERs* from his defense. Nolan Reimold’s play in left was atrocious today. The worst was allowing a “double” in the first inning, but he took poor routes to balls all day. I’m sure Showalter will publicly excuse him by saying the sky was “a challenge, for both sides” or something. But really, a major league outfielder needs to be able to handle that challenge. If Reimold can’t, he makes a great DH. The starting pitching staff has proven to be too delicate to withstand poor defense.

Home Plate

Pedro Strop is getting very difficult to defend. At times he resembles the Filthy McNasty pitcher we came to know in 2012, and in the World Baseball classic. This season, his ugly appearances have been marred with those “bad luck” hops that sometimes happen in baseball. Today it was a seeing-eye, broken bat single that unravelled him. Strop has all the tools, and can be an incredibly lethal weapon in the bullpen. He’s also got to get it back on track.

Brian Matusz is making himself indispensible in the bullpen. He has yet to allow an inheirted runner since his demotion to the ‘pen in 2012. Today, he proved his mettle again, bailing out Strop, the Orioles, and my mood. Today’s double header will require a spot start later in the week (Wednesday?), but I would argue that Matusz is not a candidate. Not because I’m worried he’ll blow it, because I would much rather have him when the game is on the line.

Summary

This game had a very Buckle Up Birds feel to it. What I mean is that it’s the type of game we absolutely would have lost in 2011, and the type of game that we would have thought “there’s no way we lose this one” in 2012. It wasn’t perfect, and it sure wasn’t pretty, but the team pulled out another game where they refused to roll over – no matter how many excuses the circumstances gave them. The 2013 Orioles have unfinished business… from last season and from Game 1 of this day/night double header.

Game time is 7:05. Buckle up.

Around the Diamond – O’s 7, Dodgers 5