Series Results: Orioles 2-1
The Good
He almost did not make the ball club, but with shortstop J.J. Hardy out, designated hitter Delmon Young has taken well to the two-hole in the lineup in his absence. Inserted into the lineup on Tuesday because of his good numbers against Ivan Nova, Young went 3-for-6 with a home run and three RBI. That earned him a spot in Thursday’s lineup, and he picked up three more hits. Young is hitting .412 through the team’s first nine games. If the former playoff hero from Detroit can continue to catch lightning in a bottle, the Orioles offense becomes even more dangerous.
Rookie infielder Jonathan Schoop makes both the good and the bad lists this week after his three-run homer early in the third game against Yankee starter Masahiro Tanaka gave the Orioles an early lead, and proved to be the only runs the $155 million dollar man would allow. Schoop recognized a rare Tanaka mistake, a slider that stayed up, and crushed it.
Filling in for the injured Hardy at shortstop, Ryan Flaherty had a good series in New York, like most of the Orioles offense. Flaherty came into the series in New York with only one hit on the season through the first six games, but picked up four hits in 12 at bats against the Yankees with two doubles. Steve Lombardozzi, Schoop, and Flaherty all three had good offensive games in New York, and provided a lot of trouble for Yankee pitching in the bottom of the lineup. The 7-8-9 hitters were 13-37 (.351) with eight runs scored and five RBI.
The Bad
It’s embarrassing for a team to have a player picked off of second base, which makes it extremely embarrassing that the O’s had it happen in this series in consecutive days. New York catcher Brian McCann caught Schoop on Monday, and then Steve Lombardozzi met a similar fate in the second game. Both instances were unacceptable, and cost the Orioles potential runs. It would be a surprise if manager buck Showalter doesn’t focus on leading from second more in the coming weeks.
The starting pitching scuffled in game 1, as Ubaldo Jimenez struggled for the second consecutive start, allowing four runs through 4 2/3 innings on 109 pitches. Even worse, he allowed 12 base runners through those 4 2/3 innings, including five walks. Nobody will argue that Boston and New York have not been tough opponents for Jimenez, but the Orioles still cannot feel too good about his starts so far this season.
He got the job done, but closer Tommy Hunter kept things exciting in the third game. Hunter came into a game the Orioles led 5-3 and quickly allowed two hits to put runners on the corners with nobody out. To his credit he then induced a sacrifice fly off the bat of former Oriole Brian Roberts, and a double play off the bat of Yangervis Solarte to end the game. Hunter is 3-3 in save opportunities, but almost gave this one up in the ninth.
Closing Thoughts
The turning point of the series was in the rubber match, when left-handed reliever Brian Matusz came into a tie game in the bottom of the eighth inning with the speedy Brett Gardner on at third, and the dangerous Jacoby Ellsbury at bat. Matusz got Ellsbury to pop out in foul territory, and then after intentionally walking Carlos Beltran, got Brian McCann out as well. The series win was the Orioles’ first of the year and hopefully can offer them some momentum moving forward.
Looking Ahead
The birds will continue their stretch against AL East rivals, starting with the Toronto Blue Jays for a three-game set in Baltimore over the weekend starting on Friday. The pitching matchups are expected to be: Dustin McGowan vs Chris Tillman, Drew Hutchinson vs Bud Norris, and Mark Buehrle vs. Jimenez. The Orioles started the season 1-4, but have won three of their last four games, and are only one game back of first place in the AL east, where no team has had a dynamite start to the season.
