Wednesday’s 7-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins (60-62) marked the second consecutive series lost by the Baltimore Orioles. Since reaching a record of two games below .500 on August 5th, the Orioles have gone backwards, losing 5 of their 7 games since that date.
The Orioles started Wednesday’s game hot, establishing a 4-1 lead after their half of the third inning. In the first inning, Gunnar Henderson (0 for 3, R, 2 BB) walked, Pete Alonso (2 for 3, R, BB) singled and Jackson Holliday (0 for 4, RBI) hit into a force out at second base with Henderson scoring on the play; three batters into the game and the O’s had scored a run with one out. In the third inning, with Alonso and Tyler O’Neill (1 for 4, R) on base, Dylan Beavers (1 for 3, R, 3 RBI) launched a three-run homerun to right field.
Things went awry in the bottom of the third, however. Baltimore starter Shane Baz (4-12) saw the wheels come off by allowing four Minnesota runs. He had previously given up a run in the first inning on a Josh Bell RBI-single before allowing a double and three consecutive singles to open the home half of the third. A Luke Keaschall sacrifice later drew the Twins within a run. Victor Caratini tied the game at 4-4 with a RBI-single and the Twins then took the lead on an Alan Roden RBI-double.
The third inning was the end of the day for Baz, who threw 65 pitches (41 K’s) in allowing 5 runs on 9 hits while walking 1 and striking out 2. At the end of the day, Baz took the loss.
Cam Sanders relieved Baz in the fourth and gave up two more runs to the Twins in the fifth inning.
Meanwhile, the Orioles went 3.2 innings after Beaver’s Weaver Special without anything to show for it. They had runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh inning but failed to take advantage of that situation and then went three-up, three-down in the eighth.
Leody Taveras (1 for 4) opened the ninth inning with his seventh homerun of the season. Christian Franklin (1 for 2, 2 BB) then walked before Colton Cowser (0 for 1) lined into a double play and Holliday grounded out to the mound to end the game.
The bottom line now is that with 41 games remaining in the season and having to jump over five teams in the standings, this is not the time to win 1 game out of every three. It seems as though the Orioles didn’t get the email from President of Baseball Operations and GM Mike Elias that said, “We’re going to be playing for the postseason the rest of the way,” The next ten games (4 @ Tampa Bay, 3 vs. NY Yankees, 3 vs. Tampa Bay) should have alot to say as to the Orioles’ viability as a playoff team.
Next Game: Fri. 8/14 @ 7:10 pm @ Tampa Bay Rays
