Baltimore Orioles, Buck and the bullpen: An explanation for a rough week
By Nate Wardle
Another day, another terrible start. The Orioles were up 5-0 and Kevin Gausman gave it all back. So, the Birds then turned to Richard Bleier, who proceeded to let in three more runs in 2.2 innings.
Mychal Givens left up a home run to light-hitting catcher Drew Butera, which would eventually be the winning run. The Orioles scored in the ninth but left the tying run on third and winning run at second and Herrera had his third save in three games.
This one isn’t on the usage, everyone was used as they should be. This is on the effectiveness, or lack of effectiveness, from the starter.
Add it all up and you get a 2-4 week. Sure, the offense was somewhat limited, which has been a season-long issue. But, I put this dismal week on the pitching.
The last two games featured starts that were too short, period. Gausman needs to get it together. Tillman gets a bit of a reprieve, for now.
Before that, you had two games where Vidal Nuno and Alec Asher are pitching in the eighth inning of games that you are either tied or winning. That should not be. Asher has been a pretty good pitcher for the Orioles, but I don’t think he is a setup guy. Nuno shouldn’t be an Oriole.
A bad week for Baltimore’s Birds, and the blame goes to Buck, the bullpen and the rotation.