Baltimore Orioles’ Decision to Bunt Critical in Loss

Jul 11, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles right fielder Steve Pearce (28) catches a fly ball hit byWashington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond (not pictured) during the sixth inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Washington won 7-4. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles lost 7-4 to the Washington Nationals at home on Saturday night, as Miguel Gonzalez imploded in the sixth inning.

Bryce Harper started the onslaught with a home run in the 6th, and from there two more singles before an Earl Weaver special, a three-run home run off the bat of Danny Espinosa made it a 6-4 Nats lead.

But, the Orioles had a chance to push some runs across in the seventh inning. Caleb Joseph, who homered earlier in the game, was walked on five pitches by Blake Treinen to lead off the inning. Then, Manny Machado worked the count for a walk, putting runners on first and second with no outs.

That brought up Chris Parmelee, who originally was not batting second. However, he was moved to that slot when Chris Davis was scratched due to a stomach ailment.

The Nationals had a mound visit, where they figured out how to pitch to Parmelee. Treinen’s first pitch was low and almost hit home plate. Parmelee bunted it down the first base line. In all, the bunt was pretty good. But with Caleb Joseph the runner on third, Wilson Ramos made a heads-up play and threw to third for the force out.

This seemed to take the wind out of the O’s sails, as Adam Jones, who struggled Saturday, was able to advance the runners to second and third, but Jimmy Paredes, batting fourth flew out.

What I want to do is critically look at the decision to bunt.

You have a young pitcher on the mound who is really struggling to throw strikes. There also are no outs, with Adam Jones on deck, and Jimmy Paredes coming up after him.

Despite some teams using the sacrifice bunts, most of the numbers show that they usually are not beneficial to a team.

Then there is the fact of the base runners. Caleb Joseph is not fleet of foot. And if you pinch run, you tip off what you are doing. Plus, the O’s were trying to give Matt Wieters the day off. Now, Manny Machado has speed, but he is the trail runner.

Personally, I don’t like the decision to bunt there, especially with the pitcher really struggling. But, I can understand why you do it with no outs, because if Parmelee can get it down, you have two in scoring position with one out.

The Orioles are one day away from ending the unofficial first half of the season. And I don’t think it could come soon enough. The O’s at this point are still watching their usage of Matt Wieters and Jonathan Schoop. After the break, that should be over with.

Chris Parmelee, in my opinion, is on his last legs as an Oriole. He is struggling mightily since the first week after being called up, and I think the team has other options they can use.

The O’s will be well within striking distance no matter what happens on Sunday. They currently are just three games behind the division leading New York Yankees. But, this team is scuffling, and has some tough decisions to make before the trade deadline.