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BALTIMORE—Manager Brandon Hyde was hoping starter John Means could give the Orioles four or five innings on Tuesday. Instead, he got three, and the Orioles lost to the Oakland Athletics, 13-2.
Means allowed the first Oakland run on three infield singles, and after Josh Phegley reached on an error by third baseman Hanser Alberto, Marcus Semien hit a three-run homer to give the Athletics a 5-0 lead in the second inning.
Means was charged with just one earned run in his first major league start.
“I felt pretty good,” Means said. “I felt I was locating pretty well. I was getting soft contact for the most part. I had a lot of teammates come up to me and say they’ve never seen anything like that with all of those infield base hits. But I felt good. I felt solid. That’s all you can really look at it at this point.”
Evan Phillips, who was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk before the game to replace Nate Karns because of forearm tightness, pitched three scoreless innings in relief.
Richard Bleier, who’s still coming back from last season’s lat surgery, allowed four runs, a career-high, in 1 1/3 innings, and Miguel Castro gave up four in 1 2/3 innings. Castro committed two balks.
“I think Rich is still feeling his way,” Hyde said. “It’s been a while. He’s coming off a pretty major injury, and we’re just going to be patient with him. Still getting a feel for coming back off of injury, and I just think the shape of his pitchers, that’s what he’s frustrated with a little bit.
“Castro’s got such good stuff and when you throw 97-mph sinkers and you’ve got a 90-mph slider behind it, it’s really about being able to locate and pitching ahead. I think he gets side to side a little bit and guys may be able to pick him up a little bit early, but when he stays closed and he stays on top, that sinker is devastating. Just got underneath the ball too many times tonight.”
Bleier’s ERA is 14.54, and Castro’s is 11.57.
Cobb sidelined again: Alex Cobb was supposed to start today but instead he’s on the 10-day injured list because of back spasms.
Dan Straily will start in his place, and the Orioles will recall left-hander Josh Rogers from Norfolk to take Cobb’s place on the roster.
Straily was signed last Friday. On Sunday, he threw 44 pitches in relief and allowed five runs in 1 1/3 innings.
“He’s going to be limited because of the short notice, and he threw just a few days ago,” Hyde said.
Hyde hopes that Cobb can be activated as soon as April 16 since his time on the IL has been backdated to April 6.
Speed bumps: The Orioles had three triples in their 12-4 win over Oakland on Monday night. In their loss on Tuesday, aggression hurt them.
With the Orioles trailing, 5-0, Richie Martin walked and Jonathan Villar singled to begin the third inning. Joey Rickard singled to center, but third base coach Jose Flores sent Martin. Athletics center fielder Ramon Laureano’s throw home easily beat Martin.
Moments later, Rickard and Villar tried to pull off a double steal, but Rickard was thrown out at second, and Trey Mancini flied to center, ending a promising inning without a run.
“Those things happen,” Hyde said. “Obviously, it’s one that Flo would like to have back, but we’ve been preaching aggressiveness and Laureano can really, really throw. We know that. Unbelievable throw.
“I haven’t looked at the replay yet to see if Richie hesitated at all around third or what happened there. That’s going to happen again. That’s a really tough job in a tough position there. He’s got a really, really fast baserunner there at second. Looked like he had a good read, but I haven’t seen the replay on what happened.”
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Good morning Rich and the rest of you suffering "O"maniacs. Interesting take from Hyde on Castro--Great stuff,but gets too "side to side" resulting in control issues. Sounds like something that Brocail may be able to tame. This pitching staff is going to be a battle of attrition right to the end. Wasn't crazy about the idea of starting Means(at least not at this point) thinking it would weaken the bullpen. Well. Defense,speed and Mancini's pop--the offense in a nutshell. Wondering if Alberto's 2 errors in 2 straight games will have Hyde rethinking Ruiz' usage.
Orial, there are not a lot of bench options, and Hyde seems not a big fan of Nunez at third, so I don’t think so.
The Orioles ran themselves out of a potentially big inning in the 4th. They tested Laureano's arm who leads the league in assists and lost. Then Rickard is thrown out on a double steal with Mancini at bat. They should have had the bases loaded with no outs and Mancini up.
Losing Cobb our best pitcher really hurts. Plus the bullpen has been struggling. Castro has been a real disappointment. Hopefully Straily can bounce back tonight.
Yeah shouldn’t have sent Martin against that centerfielder. I got flashbacks from Bobby “windmill” Dickerson.
Yesterdays game was certainly surprising with Martin being sent home as team is 5 runs behind,Laureano's arm, and Mancini due up to bat with which would have been with the bases loaded and of course that double steal debacle.Obviously very questionable coaching in that situation by a very experienced staff and I don't really have a problem criticizing those moves.I will say that Hyde is a class act the way he handles all the questioning after the games and recognizes the problems and gives his take on them.Not sure if down the line his decision making process will be as content with the problems as he is at the present.I always thought Buck was a little stand offish and gave off a discerning glare if a reporter brought up a touchy subject or questioned one of his decisions.This guy looks approachable and pretty down to earth,seems very comfortable,and very supported of his players and staff.It is early on and he seems to be reacting that way.
He has to support his team, he’s the leader, if they see him panic, they panic, he can feel it, just can’t show it....
A newbie manager who was not a former MLB player does not get away with being standoffish or glaring at reporters.
That's the new breed Mgr/coach in sports these days--solemn,too the point,next question. No more demonstrative field leaders. We're gonna have to get used to it I guess.
I appreciate the aggressiveness on the base paths. There is still a lot for this team to learn and gain experience, and that includes the staff. The biggest mistake would be to not learn from plays like these.
2 thoughts from me this morning. First off, I'm starting to think the O's have found a serviceable major leaguer in Dwight Smith. Second observation, is that where Buck seemed to use Castro as an early game/long reliever, Hyde has inserted him in several late inning situations. Seeing as he isn't the most precise pitcher with his pitch location, I'm wondering if this is a mistake? I think I'd rather see him early which would allow him to find a rhythm ... AND eat up some innings ... which we already know he's capable of doing.
Yes BRR,No doubt about that on Smitty.That might be the name for him because the players and coaches,mgr.,etc. seem to call each other by anything but their real name.I had a feeling when they first picked him up after researching him and mentioned it to Mr Dubroff on here.He seems capable whether its' a righty or lefty.As far as Castro and a couple others they should be improving by now but seem to be going backwards.It is early yet so I guess we wait and see.
More injuries! Where is our Vice President for Nutrition and Conditioning?
Hahaha... good one!
Yes ! Excellent !
Beginning to wonder if the statistic heavy approach isn't causing paralysis by analysis for several of these guys. Bleier and Castro, both of whom looked to be at the very least serviceable relievers in '18, have been complete disasters. Dylan Bundy has exactly blossomed either. I'm of the mind that not everyone benefits from having large amounts of data heaped on them, some guys do better just by taking the ball and throwing it.
Agreed,gotta find some mid-ground, some guys may think the data is great, it may cause others to think too much...coaches need to find out what works best for the individual player & go with it.....
And sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
You are not just blowing smoke there! LOL
Hard to say how much data they are throwing at the players and coaches.
Brooks, I just saw photos of Chris Davis taking solitary BP with some ultra slow frame digital camera positioned practically up his backside, presumably to show him the minutia of his back elbow or something. Seems like that could be counter-productive.
It cannot be counter- productive because he can’t go any lower then where he is now.
Bhoffman1... yes he can. He can be GONE!
If he's gone, isn't that an improvement?
In other words tough luck for the birds and good luck for Cobb. I would much rather be rehabbing (especially in Sarasota) than be a part of the pitching situation that the birds are in right now.
Rogers there’s our AAA arms. As bad as mike wright is that’s why he’s still being given an opportunity. Rogers doesn’t have big league caliber stuff.