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Baltimore Orioles: A Shameful Loss to the Phillies

By Randy Buchman

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Jun 18, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Bud Norris (25) pitches against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

At the beginning of the four-game home and home series between the Baltimore Orioles and the Philadelphia Phillies, while rightly noting that the Phils were pretty much the dregs of MLB, we said that the O’s had to win three out of four games. And they did do this. But the Birds also dropped the final game 2-1 – sleep-walking through nine innings in the City of Brotherly Shove.

Is it “shameful” to lose to the Phillies – a team that had lost 19 of their past 22 games? Well, maybe it is a bit of an over-the-top statement, but really, this current Phils team is as bad as any I have seen in many years.

The Orioles simply looked exhausted from too much running around the bases of late. The Philadelphia pitching was good, but certainly not great. Manny Machado opened the game with a homer, but O’s fans could have turned it off at that point and not missed practically any other offense at all.

The Phillies’ two runs came on a Ryan Howard home run off Bud Norris in the sixth inning with two outs. Norris had pitched well, but from Howard’s first two times to the plate, it could be seen that he was on to Norris. We really needed to see Brian Matusz at that point, as there was no need to bleed Norris through that full inning.

But, when you only score one run, you can’t blame your starting pitcher for giving up two runs that cost you the game. And when your starter only gives up two runs in six innings, you probably should win the game.

It is good to see Norris pitching better, but it is still not quite “there” yet. These were the Phillies, you know.

On To Toronto

Much is being made of this series with Toronto – a team playing as well or better than the Orioles. It would be nice to take two games, and then two more in Boston. But if the O’s can get at least a split, it won’t be a disaster of a road trip.

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The Blue Jays are simply a powerful offensive machine. They are #1 in the American League in runs scored with 369. The league average is 277, and the Orioles are #4 with 294. The Jays have two more homers than the Orioles, with a batting average 10 points higher (.269 to .259 – third and fourth in the AL).

However, Toronto is #13 in pitching with a 4.18 ERA.  The Orioles are fifth with 3.73.  The Jays have also allowed the most home runs.

So this would seem to portend a series with high-scoring games. But anything can happen in baseball. After all, the Phillies beat the Orioles yesterday.

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