Tony-OH

The velocity was up on all of his pitches and he couldn't land the fastball or changeup for strikes. Just classic signs the emotions were running high and he wasn't able to contain those emotions. I've never seen such energy in the first inning from the fans. It was crazy and I can understand how hard it must've been to try and not get overhyped. That is where having a guy with playoff experience helps. It's not surprising that Hicks had a good game yesterday because he's been there. He could handle the pressure of the fans. Henderson has been very impressive considering he's facing a lot of lefties. Rutschman has been a disappointment. Mullins has been an absolute zero and is an automatic out right now. It's hard to play against a tough team when two of you better players are not producing. Add in a rookie pitcher, and it was just not a good combination.

Irvin in August and September including 4 starts: ERA: 2.43 Slash: .205/.252/.369/.621 Yet was sent to the minors over the last two week of the September and was not put on the playoff roster. He can give length and was pretty darn good in a relief role. Not a good choice at all by Elias and company. I don't know what computer program or situation that they thought Baker was a good fit against, but they went with a inferior pitcher in the biggest series of the year.

But that's my entire point. They are just white hot like the Royals, not that they are doing it the same way. They are in no way built the same way.

Because not having Bautista moves everyone back one spot. Maybe Wells is pitching in that spot instead of being saved for later? If Bautista is still in the pen, you also now have Cano available to come into a situation where a ground ball is needed instead of keeping him to close.

He failed miserably. It's not about velocity, it's about controlling his emotions and stuff. He did not do either. He'll learn from this, and I think one day he will be that ace that starts game one, but there is no other way to explain yesterday's start as anything but an utter failure. He's been very good since returning but this start reminded me of when he first came up and the moment was a little too much for him. I think going back to the minors helped him calm down, and when he started to control his emotions, he found his command.

I think Hyde is a good manager. Let me get that out there right now. Also, I don't think he has a ton of say in his roster and I also believe he's told by the analytics guy when to PH or who to use in what situations. It's just how baseball is done now. Removing Bradish so early in game one was a mistake in my opinion. Pitching Webb in a one-run game was a mistake. Having Baker on this roster is all was a mistake, so I can't fault him for trying to use him down 3-runs and hope to get an inning out of him. It's not his fault that the moment was too big for Baker. Now, bringing in Webb with the bases loaded was a head scratcher. Why would he not use Wells there? I know Wells has a penchant for giving up homers, but literally Webb put the game out of reach the game before by giving up a homer. He's a waiver claim who should be in a mop up role, not pitching in one-run games. But it all goes back to Elias not getting an impact bullpen arm at the trade deadline. He rolled the dice that his waiver claims and rookies and 2nd year players would hold up and unfortunately, a few have not. Obviously losing Bautista is showing it's head by having a guy like Baker on the playoff roster and Webb pitching in key moments.

It's become very obvious during these first two games that the Rangers offense is just white hot right now. I was looking up at the jumbotron yesterday and 5 of the 9 hitters in the lineup had OPS's over 1.000 at one point. Holy crap, Evan Carter has been unbelievable and Josh Jung and Cory Seager have been on fire as well. They also have a bunch of soft tossing lefties which is the Orioles kryptonite. It's just not a good combination and why we're down two games to none. Now saying that, having a bullpen with Baker and Webb in the playoffs is a failure of Elias to acquire an impact bullpen arm at the deadline. Flaherty obvious was a guy Elias thought would be a rotation piece in the playoffs, but his failures and Mean's injury put Rodriguez in game two and it was clear, the moment was just too big for Grayson. Oh, and pulling Bradish in game one in the 5th inning because Seager was coming up is ok IF you have a great bullpen. The Orioles do not. If you are pitching Webb in a one run game your bullpen is not a strength. Now part of that was losing Bautista, but I do still think Elias being unwilling to part with prospects for an impact bullpen arm has cost us in this series. BTW, someone is going to have to explain to me why Bryan Baker, who was not even very good in AAA and wasn't good enough to be on the Orioles roster for most of September, was the choice to replace Means. Why was Cole Irvin not the guy? Hell, I'll be honest, as bad as Fuji has been at times, I would have preferred him over Baker. Baker's inability to throw a strike was absolutely embarrassing for a major league pitcher in a playoff game. He came into a game down by three and absolutely led to the game getting imploded. Just a head scratching move that completely and utterly back fired on the Orioles. The Orioles haven't been swept all season so let's hope they don't break that streak on Tuesday. I'm not going to get down on this team after the season they had. I knew going into the playoffs this team had very little playoff experience and the moment was going to be too big for some. I was at the game and the energy from the fans was amazing in the first inning. I told my friend that if Grayson throws the first pitch at 100 MPH, that he's too amped up and that's not good for his command. Sure enough, he sat 99-100 the whole 1st inning. After the Orioles got 2-runs, the place was absolutely buzzing and I was wondering how he would handle all that energy. Unfortunately, he was not able to bottle his emotions up which should hopefully come with more experience. He certainly was no Mike Boddicker who was absolutely nails in his first playoff series as a rookie in 1983. Either way, there is little doubt that the Rangers are white hot right now. They remind me of the buzzsaw that the 2014 Royals were until they went to the World Series. The difference is the Ranger' lineup is legitimately good.

I was at the game yesterday and you have to give credit to the offense for scrapping for 6 more runs after being down 9-2 after 3 innings. That's complexly demoralizing yet they didn't go through the motions. I'm think you go with Gibson in game three then Kremer game 4. Rutschman and Mullins have really been zeros in the first two games and obviously the moment was just too big for Grayson. Hopefully a veteran like Gibson can calm things down.

“Thought it was a good time to take it. Didn’t happen. Hate that it didn’t happen,” Henderson said Seems to me that either Henderson or Hicks missed the sign, but unless Gunnar was just trying to cover for Hicks, it kinda seems like he went on his own with this quote. Hyde said it was a "miscommunication" which suggests the hit and run was on and Hicks missed the sign. Did anyone hear a Hicks quote on the situation?

Please use capital letters in the future, thanks. I'm not quite sure what you want Hyde to act like after a loss. Do you want him happy go lucky? I personally like the fact that Hyde was pissed after Henderson was thrown out because that tells me someone was wrong there. Either Henderson went on his own or Hicks missed the hit and run sign. This team has bounced back all season. They have been as mentally tough as any Orioles team I've ever seen and Hyde is a big part of setting that tone. BTW, the 1983 Orioles lost their first games in both the ALCS and World Series. That team ended up just fine. This was a 3-2 loss, and I can understand the emotion during a game thread, but good lord, it's baseball. Every team left is a great baseball team. Every team can beat any team on any given day. They're going to be ok.

What we saw in this game is a bullpen down a man and have to pitch Webb, and some youthful bad decisions. Gunnar is going to be a great player, but he's a rookie. He should not have a green light. That's a failure of coaching to make sure he knows this isn't some game against the A's in May.

That's a great point.

I think Gunnar ran on his own. Terrible decision.

Oy, Gunnar platoon problems are becoming an issue. Can't have that kind of at bat against a crappy lefty.

Gunnar needs to make them pay.

Heaney wanted that win.. Man has baseball changed in the post season.

You mean pop up?

Like that Mounty!!! He had a great PA the first time up.

Tony take 4 is on base again. Maybe somebody else can do something!

The one thing we didn't know is how the young players will be affected by the pressure. So far we know the hitters have not handled it well. They struggled down the stretch and now have pretty much crapped their pants to start this game so far.

Man it's like this entire team is hitting with broken bats.

Adverted disaster with that K.

Really got to get out of this with just two runs.

Bad pitch call by Rutschman on 1-2. Should have went 4-seamer inside.

Need a DP.