The return engagement of Orioles pitcher Wei-Yin Chen from a long disabled list stint provided a crucial salve to the Orioles’ wounds and a touch of hope after a dismal stretch in which the team lost six of eight games.
Chen was very strong in the O’s 6-1 win against the Texas Rangers, with glimpses of his 2012 form to boot, holding the Rangers to just three hits, with four strikeouts and only one run allowed in seven innings of work. Chen did something so few Orioles starters have been able to do lately – keep the ball down, keep runners off the base paths, consistently get outs, and most importantly pitch seven innings.
The latter accomplishment is especially impressive considering the bullpen’s status of meandering disarray in which a collection of pitchers have seemed to Ping-Pong from role-to-role, day-to-day in a far cry from 2012’s more defined late-inning formula of Luis Ayala or Pedro Strop and Brian Matusz to Darren O’Day to Jim Johnson.
With Chen, problem solved; though he had help from a lineup that also seemed to waken from its slumber. Third-baseman Manny Machado, with Orioles great Brooks Robinson in attendance, paid tribute to the Hall of Famer with three hits including a run-scoring triple in the third, marking Machado’s 36th multi-hit game of the season.
“It’s good to get a win for Chino on his day back,” said Tommy Hunter, who pitched the last two innings for the Orioles. “The significance is getting a win.”
I asked Hunter if O’s manager Buck Showalter had said anything to the team after the string of losses.
“No, Buck’s not like that,” Hunter said. “He let us do our thing and go play. He doesn’t say much like that to us.”
Whatever the motivation, O’s hitters seemed far more focused on getting their pitch than in previous games.
“They were a lot more selective [at the plate],” said Showalter. “They had what, seven walks?” (They did, leading to much of the scoring).
In fact, the third inning surprisingly featured Adam Jones in one of those walks, only the player’s second since May 18th – a much-discussed topic on sports talk radio and on this very site – plus a run-scoring wild pitch from Rangers starter Josh Lindblom.
The Orioles’ bats came alive again in the bottom of the fourth with a Brian Roberts single that was nearly a home run (and should have been at least a double), and number nine hitter Nolan Reimold’s deep blast just inside the left-field foul pole for a three-run homer. The shot gave the O’s a 6-0 lead at that point which had to be very satisfying after two disappointing, eight-runs-allowed contests against the Rangers on consecutive nights.
Despite stranding 10 runners on base, the O’s constantly threatened throughout the game, and scored runs in bunches, which they hadn’t done since their previous homestand. With 10 hits, including 2-4s from Reimold and Jones, the O’s finally seemed to put things together.
But it was clearly Chen who was the star of the game.
“I am happy to do a good job,” said Chen through a translator. “Baseball is a team sport… I support my team.”
Though, as Showalter mentioned afterward, the O’s can’t pitch Chen “every game,” the optimism seemed alive in the O’s clubhouse after the game as several players, including Chris Davis, joined in a lively doubles Ping-Pong game that seemed to get more exciting by the minute.
Surely this was a welcome sight for a team that really needed the lift Chen gave them, and a winning feeling they hope won’t soon disappear.
