Orioles Mystified by Young Hurler, Lose Davis

Apr 25, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop

(2) steals second base safely in the second inning as Baltimore Orioles shortstop

(2) cannot handle the throw at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Game 22: Baltimore Orioles (11-11) 0 Kansas City Royals (11-11) 5 F

W: Yordano Ventura (2-1, 1.80)

L: Ubaldo Jimenez (0-4, 6.59)

MVP: Yordano Ventura 8 IP, 8 SO, 7 H allowed, 2 BB, 113 pitches, 75 strikes

The GOOD: Not a lot of good in this one, as this one was tough for Orioles fans to take.  As for the good, the Orioles defense played well for the most part, except for an error by Matt Wieters. And the error by Wieters was a low throw that often gets caught.

Matt Wieters, Nick Markakis and J.J. Hardy all had good nights at the plate.  They each had two hits for the Orioles, and gave them a few chances to put some runs up, but Yordano Ventura was just too strong.

Also, very good news from Frederick where Manny Machado went 3-4 with two doubles and triple.  I’d say Manny is getting healthy, and looking good doing it.  Jonathan Schoop had a great play at third base tonight, but everyone is ready to see Manny back with the Birds.

Ubaldo Jimenez started out struggling, but was able to right the ship until the 7^th.  He didn’t have a great start by any means, but it was probably his best so far.  He still needs to cut down on his walks though. The Orioles pitching only allowed one extra base hit, a double to Billy Butler in the ninth.  Everything else was singles.

The BAD: First, the injury to Chris Davis is very bad news, as a strained oblique will almost assuredly put him on the DL.  Who plays first base?  More likely than not, it will probably be a revolving door that includes Steve Clevenger, Nick Markakis and Ryan Flaherty.  But losing Davis is a huge loss for the Orioles’ offense.  No, he wasn’t hitting home runs like last year, but Davis was doing a great job of getting on base.

Adam Jones looks a little lost at the plate.  Adam goes through funks and will turn it around in a hurry I’m sure, but right now the results from Number 10 are not good.

Ventura has made a lot of hitters look bad, so while the Orioles struggled, they faced the young pitcher at his best so far.

What’s NEXT: The Orioles will try to rebound tomorrow night during Game 2 of the series against Kansas City.  Wei-Yin Chen (3-1, 4.91) will face former Orioles staff leader Jeremy Guthrie (2-1, 4.68). The Orioles will try to move back above .500 and keep pace as the AL East got closer tonight as the top three teams all lost.  Game time is once again scheduled for 7:05 p.m.