BALTIMORE— For the seventh time in 10 games, the Orioles were held to just one run. Their 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night guarantees a losing season. They’re 22-31, and have lost the first four of a five-game series to the Rays.
In the bottom of the first, José Iglesias doubled with one out, DJ Stewart walked, and Ryan Mountcastle singled to load the bases against Charlie Morton. After Pedro Severino, who hasn’t driven in a run since August 30th, struck out, Chance Sisco was hit by a pitch, scoring Iglesias.
The Orioles didn’t score again.
“Charlie Morton’s on the mound, and he’s done a lot of good things … Those type of really good pitchers, you try to get to them early before they find their rhythm,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We only got that one off him, and he found his rhythm after that. We’re having a tough time scoring runs.”
Yoshi Tsutsugo homered to lead off the third, his eighth, and the score was tied at 1.
In the top of the third, Joey Wendle led off with a drive to right field that DJ Stewart had trouble fielding. Wendle was on third with a double and error. After Mike Brosseau struck out, Kevin Kiermaier bounced to second. Hanser Alberto threw home, and Sisco applied the tag.
Tsutguo walked with one out in the fifth, and Randy Arozarena homered with two outs, his fifth, and Tampa Bay led, 3-1.
Cedric Mullins singled to begin the Orioles’ fifth and, after Valaika struck out, Stewart walked. Mountcastle and Severino struck out to end the inning.
Morton allowed one run on five hits in five innings.
López worked six innings, giving up three runs on eight hits.
“I want to be a starter on the MLB level,” López said. “The most important thing is to keep consistent every outing. That’s what I’m trying to show everybody.”
With solid outings from Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer and Bruce Zimmermann’s debut this week, the Orioles appear to have some intriguing possibilities for next season.
“Six strong innings for him, and I think he’s definitely put himself in position to be a starting candidate for next year,” Hyde said.
In the eighth, Arozarena led off with a single off Phillips, stole second and ran to third when Sisco’s throw was wild. With one out, Wendle grounded to second and again Alberto nailed the runner with a throw home.
Aaron Loup recorded two outs, and Aaron Slegers allowed just one hit in 2 2/3 innings. Ryan Thompson retired the last two batters.
Mountcastle and Austin Hays each had two hits.
Iglesias injured: Iglesias was hit by a pitch in the second inning and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. He was replaced by Pat Valaika. Hyde said Iglesias has a bruised left wrist.
“You never know when someone gets hit in the wrist or hand area,” Hyde said. “You’re hoping for the best.”
Hyde said Iglesias’ injury would be re-evaluated on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, Andrew Velazquez, who was batting .152 ,was optioned to the alternate site at Bowie, leaving the team with just three bench players.
Hyde said the team needed to add reliever Evan Phillips.
“We wanted the extra arm to give guys a little bit of a breather down the stretch, and the way Evan threw the ball a couple of days ago, we’re looking forward to getting him get back out on the mound in a big league stadium.
“We play a lot of close games. A lot of these guys are piling up quite a few appearances. It would be nice to give these guys a break here and there.”
Phillips pitched two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and striking out four.
Struggling hitters: Hitting coach Don Long said the Orioles are facing a lot of top-shelf starters. In the past 10 games, they’ve faced New York’s Gerrit Cole and Masahiro Tanaka, Atlanta’s Cole Hamels and Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Morton.
“You look at the competition they’re facing,” Long said. “You have some really good established major league hitters who against that type of pitchers aren’t really looking like they’re established major league hitters.”
Inexperience against these quality pitchers hurts.
“They’re facing a lot of these guys for the first time,” Long said. “You can talk about what they do. You can describe the action of their pitches. You can watch all the video you want from a center field camera perspective, but until you set in the box against them, you may not know what it’s going to look like.
“I think that with a lot of our guys, they’re still trying to establish who they are at this level, and a part of that is when you go against some of the best pitchers there are, you’re looking at that as a measuring stick for yourself.”
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Yes, as disappointing as it is to see the team struggling after some brief success you can see there is talent in certain areas. And pitching certainly appears to be one and Jorge L’opez looks like he can be added to the mix. He may be one of those diamond in the rough guys you you come up with once in awhile. Rich, what is his status with the Birds contract wise?As for the hitting no doubt they have had to face some quality starters but I am impressed with Austin Hays as he seems to be starting to really adjust.I also think Mountcastle is going to be a solid performer on this team.Mullins continues to surprise me with his bat, though not taking up so many hits he is making much better contact than before.They can really use his glove so hope he continues to improve.They certainly need to improve defensively and on the bases and also need some more pieces but I think next year may see a bit more improvement.
Nice take, Tony. You get the picture.
Lopez is under club control, Tony.
Next year will see a boat load of improvement. Gotta shore up the infield though. Looking forward to seeing if Martin can contribute.
That’s right buug, don’t forget about Richie.! Don’t give up on my Reggie?
Has anyone noticed how early on announcers said what a speedster Hays was on the basepath, I’ve seen him thrown out 3x, seems to lack confidence & I noticed he doesn’t have as big a lead as Mullins takes, also, DJ has really struggled defensively the last week, maybe the honeymoon is over...all total MUCH more fun to watch these guys play....go O’s...
If DJ chubby isn’t hitting HR’s , what good is he ? Almost time to DFA ! Sorry DJ...
If you followed Stewart in the minors, you'd know he's a very streaky hitter. I just commented this past week how much better a defensive player he was that was reported. He's done some good stuff out there. However, as we witnessed these past couple games, it looks like the outfield walls are his Kryptonite. I'm certainly not ready to give up on him. He can hit.
BTW .. he's not chubby. He's a rock You certainly wouldn't call him that in a dark alley.
Yeah I've noticed CPs. His base stealing certainly needs to be refined. But he does have the wheels.
Agree, doesn’t look chubby, more like a brick s***house...go O’s...
No no no gentlemen, Stewart is chubby now and a young man as he gets older in this league he will continue to gain weight like most humans, he has got to be careful of his food intake!
His fielding does not look that natural or comfortable in the outfield, I did not follow them in the minors because I can barely find all the time I need to watch them in the majors on TV, and don’t confuse muscular brick house with a weight problem!? I don’t see him being a long-term fit in Baltimore when you have Mullins, Mount Castle, Santander, and Austin? He can stay in the minors for a little bit longer , but we need to trade Chubby?
I agree with spw44, his weight will become a problem long term.
Won’t argue long term, but this isn’t long term...go O’s...
Lots of "stout" guys have played beisbol very well. Witness the Bambino.
Morning all. Yes has been a sobering 2 week span. Quality pitching can do that. What's up with Iglesias? Seems like you have to hold your breath every time he comes to bat. Amazing how much Severino has bombed. Concerns about 2021's offense are rising. That's where development will NOW have to come from. Nunez,Alberto,Severino,Ruiz running out of time. One more year for each.
The infield is a struggle. The picture sure would be a lot better if Mountcastle could play 3b. Anyone know if it’s a done deal that RM will absolutely *never* play 3b?
He’s fine in left field or first base.
Agree with Rich, don’t see at 3B, Stewart in right has become a challenge this weekend; I think it’s also affecting his bat.
Severino did the same thing last year. Started off hitting above .300, then crashed. There's a reason the Nats gave up on him.
Should’ve cashed in on Severino while the getting was good...go O’s...
Remember one thing about Pedro S., He is a great teammate and has a fantastic attitude, and you want a catcher to be able to be positive and smart.! Pedro needs more seasoning, but I think he is our guy behind the plate for the next 3-5 years?
3 to 5 years? Bwahahhaahahahaaa Uh ... yeah...right.
I understand that some guy named Adley is on the way.
As a back up to Adley, agree, as long as they don’t play the Mountcastle game with him...go O’s...
Hitting has definitely fallen off, that can be expected but guys are striking out more; last year Hanser struck out 50 times in over 500 AB’s, this year he has 28ks in just under 200 ABs. This is just one example but at the beginning of the season we were putting the ball in play now this last week we have struck on average one per inning.
Hanzer is a hyper spaz at the plate, pretty good on defense - but not spectacular like R. Alomar was? Are we sure Alberto is the answer? Good person/human buuutttt?
I don't think anybody considers Alberto the long term answer. But we need to define long term here? He'll do until we can find a 2nd baseman that can field AND hit decently. That may take a couple of years, who knows?
Alberto would be a great bat off the bench (long term) to send in against lefties.
In all defense, not too many Robby Alomars out there...Alberto is a nice guy, seems more a role player than a starter though, great guy off the bench vs lefties...go O’s...
The great majority of Alberto's at bat last year were again left handed pitchers. That's not the case this year as he's in the lineup every day, to include right handed pitchers. I would imagine this has a lot to do with the increase in strikeouts.
So what you’re saying is, once we get the infield solidified, Alberto can become our full-time utility infielder and pinch hitter.? Hhhmmmmmm, Not bad, not bad at all?
More like a right handed Terry Crowley.
Looking at the major league standings this morning, the American League overall is +1 against the national league after 50 games per team. Pretty good balance. The AL East is +3 and the NL East is -3. The NL West is the class of the majors and the AL Central is a close second. Because this schedule does not really tell you much, I expect, and we can all hope and expect, that next year will be even better, but it’s hard to forecast. We are playing a totally unbalanced schedule this year. The suggestion that the American League East is the best division has been blown up this year.
Don’t expect to see the Red Sox, with Sale back, as doormats next year. IMO, the AL East is still the beast in MLB.
First time up, Iglesias has a great at-bat and smashes a double. Next time, he gets drilled with a fastball and knocked out ot the game. For the second time within less than two weeks, not one, not two, but three Orioles get drilled by opposing pitchers in a single game. Still, no word of protest, not even a demur, from anybody. What's going on? Either they're all taking one for the team to get on base, or opponents are confident umpires don't think the O's are good enough to get a fair shake. As I wrote before, the recent batting skid began halfway thorugh the second Mets game when the O's started getting plunked. Cheap, and dangerous, intimidation doesn't belong in the game. In the past, except for Earl Weaver, player retaliation was the rule; in today's game, umpires are supposed to police it. At any time, managers, team officials, and media are expected to call attention to it.
I’ll agree, I kind of referenced this a while ago, Hyde had opportunities to stick up for his guys & doesn’t/didn’t, but argues a check swing that wasn’t a swing & gets tossed, another Crash word of advice, they’re just kids scarem, or show so fire for them...go O’s...
Hit by pitches have been way up the last two years. Pitchers are throwing harder, and with less control. I don't think they're intentional.
Unfortunately now you don’t have to hit a batter to be suspended...commish is over stepping his boundaries...go O’s...
For a team on a losing streak, the O's have had a pretty good run of pitching ... In 7 of the last 10 games, they held opponents to 3 or fewer runs.