Baltimore Orioles: Jonathan Schoop Proves to be the Difference

Sep 2, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop (6) is congratulated by Nelson Cruz (23) after hitting a solo home run in the second inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

A second inning solo home run by Jonathan Schoop with the Baltimore Orioles leading 4-0 proved to be the winning run in what was a 5-4 victory for the O’s over the Cincinnati Reds.

But Schoop not only damaged the Reds with his bat, he made three terrific defensive plays to keep Cincinnati from gaining additional scores, particularly on the final play of the game.

After a two-hour rain delay, the Baltimore Orioles came to bat in the bottom of the first inning and did something we seldom see from this team: they strung together a series of five singles to score four runs.

After Nick Markakis AGAIN led off a game with a single, the new Oriole in the lineup—Alejandro De Aza—would get an infield hit to put the first two runners on base. They were followed by RBI singles by Nelson Cruz, Chris Davis, and Caleb Joseph. Jimmy Paredes also knocked in a run on a groundout in that sequence.

If I had told you even a month ago that De Aza would be in left field and Paredes at third base for the Orioles in September, would you have believed it? But again, even as predicted yesterday in this blog, a Dan Duquette acquisition would come through in his first game with critical hits. De Aza would get a second hit in the fifth inning, but would be caught attempting to steal third base.

Bud Norris and the Orioles seemed fully in control of this game. Norris had excellent stuff with all his pitches and gave up zero runs in six innings. But it again, as in recent days, was the bullpen who demonstrated some signs of rough edges. The incredible and unhittable Darren O’Day allowed the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning on a walk, throwing error on Paredes, and HBP. This brought Jay Bruce to the plate and a grand slam that made the pending laugher into a one-run game.

In giving up four runs (three earned) in two-thirds of an inning, O’Day saw his ERA go from 0.91 to 1.34. This is why a somewhat high ERA of a reliever doesn’t always tell everything. One or two bad days can blow it up in a hurry… not that 1.34 is blown up.

But the excitement wasn’t over. Zach Britton got the first out, but then gave up a double to Ramon Santiago. And an infield chopper by Billy Hamilton put runners on the corner. Todd Frazier then hit a hard ground ball to Schoop’s glove-side, where he tagged Hamilton and threw to first for the double play … game over. Earlier, Schoop had made a diving stop and throw to first to rob Frazier of a single; and he also made a great running catch behind first base. Schoop really was the difference-maker on this evening.

If I were a Cincinnati Reds writer rather than an Orioles blogger and editor, I would be coming out of my skin about the stupid base-running play in the ninth inning by Billy Hamilton. To simply run into the second baseman fielding the ball is to literally run into a double play. Yes, he attempted to avoid the tag – unsuccessfully – which is the way it always is if the fielder is in the direct line of the basepath. Here is the play…

The correct play for the baserunner at that point is to stop dead in his tracks. This makes the second baseman either come and tag him, and thus fail to get the runner at first; or if the infielder throws to first, the runner can likely gain second base before the throw and tag.

On this evening, it disallowed the tying run to score and gave the win to the Orioles. Thank you Mr. Hamilton, though a professional player should know the game better than that; but he is not the first I have seen make this blunder.

The victory gives the Orioles a 9.5-game advantage over the Yankees who lost to the Red Sox 9-4 on Tuesday night. At 70-66, the Yankees might have a better chance of finishing below .500 than catching the Birds.

In the MASN postgame program—probably missed by most folks who had to be in bed—a statistical graphic was displayed that illustrated how all five O’s starters are under an ERA of 4.00.  The last time this was true for the Orioles in the month of September was 1984!  That is an amazing stat.

Game two of the series, and game 10 of the homestand (now 7-2), begins tonight at 7:05 with the Orioles’ Miguel Gonzalez (7-7, 3.61) going against Dylan Axelrod (0-1, 1.64). This is only Axelrod’s third start in the big leagues this season. He beat the Orioles once in 2012 when with the White Sox, giving up only three hits and one run in 7.1 innings.