For Baltimore Orioles, Continues to be About the Pitching
By Nate Wardle
Aug 1, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Kevin Gausman (39) pitches during the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Saturday night was another great team win for the Baltimore Orioles, but the game was about much more than Gerardo Parra‘s first game as an Oriole.
The game started with Kevin Gausman sending the Tigers down 1-2-3, which is quite a feat considering that Jose Iglesias and Ian Kinsler are hitting close to .500 against the Orioles this year.
That allowed the Orioles to come up to the plate and not be trailing for the first time this series. And they took advantage. Manny singled, Parra received a standing ovation and then lashed a double to right, and with no outs the O’s were in business.
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They would go on to score two runs that inning off Anibal Sanchez, and never look back.
The defense in the game was great as usual, especially by J.J. Hardy. Matt Wieters started at first base for the second time in his career, and he looked just fine defensively. Absolutely no issues there, including some nice stretches for throws at first.
But, as I like to preach, it is all about the pitching, and particular for the Orioles, the starting pitching. The last two nights, Wei-Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez were…well pretty awful.
Kevin Gausman, on Saturday, was not. He was dealing for the second straight game, the only blemish a two-run home run by Nick Castellanos. Gausman went seven strong innings and helped rest a fatigued bullpen.
The only bad news on the day came on the injury front. Mike Wright is on the DL, and could be out a month with a leg strain.
Chris Tillman‘s ankle is improving, but he likely won’t be making Monday’s start. That means the O’s have to call someone up, and about the only option is the best option, Tyler Wilson. I would expect to see him start Monday in Oakland.
Sunday, Ubaldo Jimenez will take the mound and hope to carry over Gausman’s momentum.
Hopefully he can keep it going and help bring the O’s a big series win.
And, on Saturday, the Rays lost, the Jays lost, the Yankees lost, the Angels lost, and the Twins won. So the O’s are two games out of the first wild card, one game out of the second wild card.