May 4, 2017

G28: Orioles 8, Red Sox 3

Orioles - 001 520 000 - 8 17  0
Red Sox - 201 000 000 - 3  9  1
Kyle Kendrick (4-8-6-2-1, 69), pitching in his first major league game since October 2015, escaped trouble in the first inning, but gave up one run on a double steal in the third and five more in the fourth. Manny Machado's three-run homer snapped a 3-3 tie and propelled Baltimore to victory.

Two infield singles and a throwing error by Josh Rutledge put Orioles at second and third with one out in the top of the first. Kendrick got out of that jam by getting two pop-ups, Chris Davis to left and Mark Trumbo to first.

In the bottom half, Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez singled with two outs. Xander Bogaerts dropped a hit into right-center. Betts scored, Ramirez went to third, and the throw came into second base. The Orioles caught Bogaerts halfway between first and second and it looked like he would be tagged out in a rundown. Ramirez raced for the plate and scored - and somehow the Orioles suddenly had no one near first base and Bogaerts got back easily. Mitch Moreland flied to center, but the Red Sox led 2-0.

In the third, with two outs and runners at first and third, Machado stole second base. Christian Vazquez's throw was late and he probably shouldn't have thrown down to second at all, but he did, and that allowed Seth Smith to score on a steal of home.

Boston upped its lead to 3-1 on Dustin Pedroia's first home run of the season.

The Orioles loaded the bases against Kendrick in the fifth with no outs on singles by Jonathan Schoop and Hyun Soo Kim and a walk to J.J. Hardy. Kendrick got an out, but Seth Smith doubled to left for two runs. Adam Jones struck out looking, but Machado launched a 1-1 pitch over everything in left-center for a three-run dong.

Baltimore scored two more runs in the fifth against Ben Taylor as Hardy and Jones drove in runs. (The Orioles saw a total of 66 pitches in the fourth and fifth innings.)

Smith reached base in all five plate appearances, going 4-for-4 with a walk. He went 3-for-3 against Kendrick and is now 14-for-25 (.560) against him in his career. ... The Orioles' 17 hits tied a season-high by an opponent this season. The Orioles also had 17 hits in a 12-5 win on April 12.
Tyler Wilson / Kyle Kendrick
Pedroia, 2B
Benintendi, LF
Betts, RF
Ramirez, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Rutledge, 3B
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C
To make room for Kendrick on the roster, Marco Hernandez was placed on the disabled list.

Alex Speier notes that when pitching for the Red Sox on zero days of rest, Craig Kimbrel is 12-for-12 in save opportunities with a 0.00 ERA, 27 strikeouts, and no walks in 12.1 innings. (That's 27 strikeouts among the 37 outs.)

It seems that the Orioles are incapable of not whining:

Pitcher Kevin Gausman:
I didn't know who he threw out at first. Just complete bush league, to be honest. To throw me out in that situation after what Sale did yesterday. Throwing 98 behind a guy. On purpose. Everybody knew it, and you're going to throw me out for hitting a guy on a curveball. 0-0, in the second inning. I mean, it's pretty bush league. [So, not hitting someone with a pitch is somehow worse than actually drilling a batter?]
Manager Buck Showalter:
It's frustrating. You keep trying to do the right thing and take the high ground and the club keeps, it's frustrating. It's hard to keep turning the other cheek, but you're trying to.
Catcher Caleb Joseph:
Now, we're having to sit here and answer questions while the Red Sox are on their way home. It's malarkey. That's what it is. It's a bunch of malarkey. It's unacceptable. It's too bad. It's too bad. ... I am the most excited person to get the hell out of Boston.
Let's look at what has actually happened to each team in the last six games these teams have played:

Red Sox
Pedroia spiked in leg, missed three games
Barnes suspended for four games
Betts HBP
Bogaerts HBP
Orioles
Gausman ejected from game for hitting Bogaerts with pitch
That's it.* Outside of having their staring pitcher ejected last night - and he had a 7.50 ERA, so maybe replacing him wasn't all that harmful - absolutely nothing has happened to the Orioles. Manny Machado had a few pitches thrown near his body, but none of them actually hit him. (And that fact won't change no matter how many expletives he peppers his post-game comments with.)

*: In the game following the one in which Pedroia was spiked, both Jonathan Schoop and Marco Hernandez were hit by pitches. I did not watch the game (last Saturday) but since neither incident has been mentioned since they happened, I did not include them above.

In Minnesota: An Oakland fan brought a Dennis Eckersley puppet to the A's/Twins game last night.

2 comments:

Maxwell Horse said...

Don't forget last year when Showalter had his pitcher throw over Mookie's head, simply because Mookie was hitting them well. (It was the series when Mookie hit like 12 homeruns in 4 at bats). I think someone was ejected then, but that doesn't matter. The point is, everyone magically forgets this incident when they want to paint the Orioles in this saintly, pious light and want to feign outrage over the Sox these past couple weeks.

allan said...

Mookie Betts Hits Second Homer After Orioles Starter Throws Over His Head
NESN Website, June 1, 2016

The man did it again. Mookie Betts hit another solo shot in the second inning, giving him five home runs in his last seven at-bats. It's also the second straight game he’s homered in the first and second innings. This time, though, Betts' dinger was in response to Orioles starter Mike Wright throwing at his head.