Baltimore Orioles: Nothing Wrong with Trumbo or Jimenez

Jun 2, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez (31) pitches during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

Solid pitching from Baltimore Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez along with three-hit support from Mark Trumbo gave the O’s a 7-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night.

So, who would think that there is anything wrong with the pitching of Ubaldo Jimenez? Well, just about everyone, probably including even his mother.

And who would suggest that there is something deficient in the hitting of Mark Trumbo? Well, a blog site called The Baltimore Wire did that just yesterday in fact. The writer at that site did finish by saying that the best thing that could happen to Trumbo was noting his falloff after May each year and writing about him performing poorly. This is the ultimate slump buster. And sure enough, the first pitch that Trumbo saw after this article posted was a ball he deposited over the wall for his first homer in over 50 at-bats.

Trumbo not only hit his 21^st home run, he followed it with a double, from which he would score what was ultimately the game-winning third run.

And a different Ubaldo was on the mound from the one seem most recently. To quote Lloyd Christmas in the movie Dumb and Dumber, “Just when I think you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this, and totally redeem yourself.” Just when you think Jimenez couldn’t pitch any worse and that he is essentially finished, he goes out and does something like six innings with two runs on four hits, and at least redeems himself to pitch another day.

Is Jimemez back in the rotation now? I don’t know, but I’ll pause while you compile a list of all the other alternatives. OK, that was long enough.

So, with Ubaldo and Trumbo all straightened-out for the rest of the year, there must be something we Orioles fans can worry about. After all, that’s what we do. So OK … here’s something: the O’s are three games under .500 on the road. And whereas they are 27-13 at home, that means that one-half of all home games have been played already. The Orioles have played more home games than anyone else in all of baseball. Only the Red Sox and Padres have an equal number. And only the hideous Minnesota Twins have played fewer games on the road – 30, compared to 31 for the Orioles. Unless the O’s can figure out how to win more road games, these are troubling numbers.