Baltimore Orioles Take the Series in New York

Apr 9, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman

(6) is congratulated by Baltimore Orioles catcher

(32) after hitting a three run home run against the New York Yankees during the second inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Game 9: Baltimore Orioles 5 (4-5) New York Yankees 4 (4-5) F

W: Brian Matusz (1-0)

L: Shawn Kelley (0-1)

S: Tommy Hunter (3)

MVP: Brian Matusz – W, 2/3 IP, stranded a runner at 3B

The GOOD: Jonathan Schoop’s 3-R HR off of Masahiro Tanaka. Schoop made the Earl of Baltimore proud with the three-run bomb, and that kind of production from the 9 hitter is always welcomed.  Then there was the Orioles’ ninth inning.  An inning of beauty! The Orioles keep producing in the 9^th, and they tagged Shawn Kelley with numerous bloops to bring in two runs. Delmon Young turned in another solid game, going 3-5 with a double. Matt Wieters kept his hitting streak to start the season going as well. Eight of the nine Orioles that started had hits, only Nelson Cruz was hitless. Miguel Gonzalez did pretty well, save for the second inning.  More on that below.  But speaking of pitchers, how about Brian Matusz.  Comes in with a man on third and one out, and it is the speedy Brett Gardner. And he goes nowhere.  Ellsbury pops out in foul territory to Schoop and then Brian McCann hits it to Adam Jones

The BAD: Miguel Gonzalez’s two solo home runs allowed.  Yes it didn’t lose the Orioles the game, and it is always better that they are solo, but it is painful to watch them come right after the Orioles took a three run lead.  Also, the approach by several hitters was off tonight.  Nick Markakis decided he wanted to swing at the first pitch he saw from Tanaka in each at-bat. Because of it, he saw an average of less than two pitches an at-bat.  That is awful coming from your leadoff hitter.  Also, Tanaka used his nasty splitter to strike out the Orioles ten times, and several of those were on ugly at-bats.  None more so than Chris Davis, who with a man on swung at two pitches that bounced around the plate and then struck out looking.  In fact, it was only Steve Lombardozzi and Ryan Flaherty who did not strike out in the game.  The save wasn’t exactly clean or pretty, but it ended up alright!

What’s NEXT: The Orioles get an off-day on Thursday before they come back to Baltimore to take on the Toronto Blue Jays (5-4 and play the Astros tomorrow at 7 p.m.) The matchup will feature Dustin McGowan vs. Bud Norris, at least that is who I expect to start.  Neither one looked good in their first starts, as both have ERAs of 9 and over.  As of writing this, the Jays are in the lead in the AL East, and are the only team over .500.  Which is surprising, considering that their team statistics are not good for either the hitters or the pitchers.