Around the Diamond – Rays 8, O’s 7

Around the Diamond – Game 2

Well, game 2 of the 2013 season is in the books, and as could be predicted, the Orioles will not be going 162-0. This game certainly had plenty of ups and downs. Try not to listen as the national media boasts that the O’s bullpen is regressing to the norm already. Or that they’ve lost every 1-run game this season. Har har.

Box Score

First Base

Chris Davis: you cannot stop him, you can only hope to contain him. Seriously, what can you say about him so far this season? He came one bag shy of hitting for the cycle tonight. He has 2 HRs, 2 2Bs, and 7 RBI. He is so locked in that it doesn’t matter who he faces – he’s got both lefties and righties figured out right now. AL Player of the Week candidate.

Second Base

Wei-Yin Chen had an uneven game. He allowed too many baserunners, and danced out of trouble by inducing double plays. After getting his pitch count under control, he ran out of gas in the 6th inning, getting pulled after 5.2 and 84 pitches. The starters have got to go deeper into games. Especially the “workhorse” of our staff (Chen was the only starter to go more than 120 innings in 2012).

Third Base

The shift giveth, and the shift taketh away. After making Buck look like a genius last night, the Rays fought back against the shift. Matt Joyce laid down a bunt, and Kelly Johnon followed by hitting a ground ball right where the shortstop should have been. Unfortunately, the ball went through to the outfield, and the Rays scored its first go ahead runs. It will be interesting to see if Buck continues to utilize dramatic infield shifts as the season continues.

Home Plate

Don’t look now, but the vaunted Orioles bullpen looked very mortal tonight. The ‘pen blew two leads, and gave up 6 runs in 2.1+ innings. Let’s review:

• Luis Ayala served up a game-tying three run homer to Shelly Duncan. He got beat by a guy named Shelly. I’m not sure which I’m more upset about. Result: 3 runs.
• Strop reacted to the pressure of allowing hard-luck singles (see Third Base) by uncorking a wild pitch, giving up a double, and bloop single.  Result: 2 runs
• Tommy Hunter struggled to find the strike zone in the bottom of the 9th (his second inning of work), and Matt Joyce made him pay with the walk-off. Result: 1 run, loss.

Summary

Just like Game 1 was no reason to buy playoff tickets, Game 2 is no reason to step off the ledge. Two games in, let’s avoid knee-jerk reactions, thankyouverymuch. We’ll take the fight that the offense showed, as well as the ability to drive in runs with 2 outs. We’ll pass on the shaky bullpen routine, though.