vs. BLUE JAYS, 4/20

Baltimore Orioles (8-4, 1st +1.5) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (8-7, 2nd -1.5)

Streak / L10

BAL: -2, Lost 4 of 5

TOR: +3, Won 5 of 7

Game 2 (7:05)

(QS=1)Ubaldo Jimenez (1-1) 3.75 (1.50/.298), 14/4 (1HR)

vs.

(QS=0)R.A.Dickey (1-2) 6.75 (1.91/.313), 15/8 (1HR)

Ubaldo Jimenez: Jimenez is the only Orioles starter this season that has decent numbers against the Jays and there's not a whole lot of hitting going on against him with this lineup, but there's plenty of walks. Of the guys with at least 20 AB's, only Martin carries a .250 BA. I would have never guessed that Jimenez would be the only Orioles starter with a quality start until tonight (Wright) on the 19th of April, but that's exactly what's happened and it came against the Twins who have won four in a row after starting the season 0-9.

Splits & Sits

21 vs. left: .389/.476/.619, HR

30 vs. right: .241/.267/.300

Bases Empty: .385

RISP: .143

RISP w/2 outs: .000

Men on w/2 outs: .000

Man on 3rd, < 2 outs: .000

Career @ Camden Yards (26 starts, 1 relief)

(11-8) 4.29 (1.33/.247), 17HR

Career vs. TOR (12 starts, 1 relief)

(6-4) 3.89 (1.33/.213), 9HR

vs. Batter

Russell Martin (40 AB) .250, 2 2B, 5RBI, 8BB

Edwin Encarnacion (32 AB) .188, 3 2B, HR, 3RBI, 6BB

Jose Bautista (30 AB) .067, 2B, 6BB

Justin Smoak (20 AB) .100, HR, 2RBI, 10K

Josh Donaldson (17 AB) .118, 2RBI

Michael Saunders (11 AB) .364, HR, 2RBI

Kevin Pillar (10 AB) .300

Ryan Goins 2/8

Chris Colabello 3/7

Ezequiel Carrera 2/3, 2 2B, 2RBI

Troy Tulowitzki 0/3, 2K

R.A. Dickey: Since coming to Toronto from the Mets, Dickey has been a solid starter, but has been unable to recapture the success he had in NY. He has continued to throw 200 innings every year, though. Dickey has made three starts so far this season and has not pitched past the fifth inning yet. He allowed three runs on six hits in five innings against the Rays in his last start which is his best performance of the three. He has done pretty well against the Orioles especially at Camden Yards, but has been very hittable so far with 20 hits allowed in 14.2 innings and eight walks to go with them.

Splits & Sits

31 vs. left: .280/.387/.355

42 vs. right: .333/.381/.524, HR

Bases Empty: .333, HR

RISP: .227

RISP w/2 outs: .333

Men on w/2 outs: .333

Man on 3rd < 2 outs: .000

Career @ Camden Yards (5 starts, 1 relief)

(1-3) 3.09 (1.16/.244), 2HR

Career vs Baltimore (11 starts, 3 relief)

(2-6) 3.93 (1.16/.227), 10HR

vs. Batter

Adam Jones (25 AB) .120, HR, 2RBI

Chris Davis (25 AB) .240, 2 2B, 2HR, 6RBI

J.J. Hardy (21 AB) .238, 2B, HR, 3RBI

Manny Machado (16 AB) .313, 2 2B, 2RBI

Matt Wieters (13 AB) .231, RBI

Pedro Alvarez (12 AB) .167

Ryan Flaherty (11 AB) .182, S-HR, 4BB

Jonathan Schoop 1/7, S-HR

Nolan Reimold 0/4

Mark Trumbo 1/3, HR, 2RBI

Well, the Orioles continue to reinforce the idea that they simply cannot score without hitting home runs with the one dimensional offense this team has assembled. They stranded the bases loaded yet again in the fourth inning and in a game where hits didn't come easy, that turned out to be their best (and only) chance in the game to really bust it open and get Stroman out of the game early. However, the Orioles only made Stroman throw 16 pitches to get through the next two innings and it's one less inning we got to see Toronto's bullpen. After a 7-0 start, the Orioles have lost four of the last five games and they have lost them the same way they did last season; stranding runners, questionable starting pitching and too many solo home runs.

Mike Wright was able to get only the second quality start by an Orioles pitcher this season, but it wasn't pretty by any stretch. Tyler Wilson turned in two innings allowing two hits, two walks and one run and Givens still doesn't know how to handle lefties.

On the hitting side, it's good to see Wheat get his first home run and Reimold with the pinch hit walk as well. I know the team says that Jones had a stomach virus, but it sure does seem convenient considering he is having issues with a rib/core injury and Buck played dumb when initially asked about it before Jones sat out a bunch of games. It will be interesting to see if Buck is BS'ing again or not.

Toronto has now won three in a row and five of seven, but don't look like they will be tied for second anymore as the Rays just took a 3-0 lead in the top of the 10th. Drew Smyly started for TB and went eight innings allowing only one hit, two walks an 11 strikeouts. Boston still has only one hit.

But i would not feel so all alone!

From Roch:

Dickey has made three starts this season, going 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA and 1.909 WHIP in 14 2/3 innings. He hasn’t worked more than five innings.

::drool::

Surprised Adam is playing tonight.

For the Orioles

Joey Rickard LF

Manny Machado 3B

Adam Jones CF

Chris Davis 1B

Mark Trumbo RF

J.J. Hardy SS

Jonathan Schoop 2B

Pedro Alvarez DH

Caleb Joseph C

Ubaldo Jimenez RHP

I've been awake for 2 hours. I have no style yet.

But i would not feel so all alone!

Everybody must get stoned.

o

DOWN ON THE AAA-FARM

********************

0 OUTS:

K.J. GAUSMAN O (vs. AAA-Charlotte, 4/20)

IP:l 0

H:.. 0 l

R:O 0

BB: 0

SO: 0

Pitches: 000 (00 Strikes, 00 Balls)

2016 ERA: 0.00 (AAA-Norfolk)

*****************

PITCHES BY INNINGS

00 (00 Strikes, 00 Balls)

It will be good to see Kevin pitch against AAA players. He DESTROYED pitching for Frederick. 4 strikeouts in the first inning!

I get to watch the game tonight. I think there is no beer at home though...

4 outs anyways. My memory...

I get to watch the game tonight. I think there is no beer at home though...

You should fix that! ASAP!

That was not Gausman, it was Matusz. And it was last night.

Yes Matusz. D'Oh!

From Roch:

"It felt good to be able to get extended to four innings," Matusz said today. "Threw all four pitches. It was a positive outing. The strikeouts are great. But I think ultimately the key was just pounding the zone, throwing strikes and mixing and keeping hitters off balance. It was a lot of fun throwing to Jonah (Heim), one of our prospect catchers and being able to get on the same page and working it. It felt good."

Say it for goodness sake!

[video=youtube;UczpCIXfWic]

NSFW...

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b2SJ2LsPqKc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sitting back enjoying the holiday.

It'd be nice to be reminded of what this Orioles club can do when they're not constantly impeded by umpires.

Is that too much to ask for tonight?