Question for discussion: if the Orioles had tied the game and then Kimbrel gave up a walkoff in the bottom of the ninth, would this game have bothered you more or less?
This start reminded me of Grayson's start against the Red Sox in Baltimore, also a loss. He struck out a lot of guys when you looked back at the box score but just about everything in play was squared up.
Bregman finally hitting makes their lineup so much better. Once Kyle Tucker comes back their 1-4 is as good as anyone in baseball.
This was easily the most favorable pitching matchup of the series and it went sideways. Burnes is great but Blanco has been very good for the other guys. O's have hit Framber in the past but Suarez is a total question mark.
I wonder if the long periods in the dugout got to him. A long top of the third inning, and a really long top of the fourth with the pitcher injury and the umpire delay. Could that have contributed to the early fatigue? He really seemed to be spent after the Alvarez K.
I don't criticize Elias much, but not having a long man in the bullpen since Kremer went down and Suarez went into the rotation is a problem. No, Akin doesn't count, not the way he's being used.
Cole Irvin not being able to finish the fifth inning when he had an 8-run lead was not really commented on amid the euphoria of yesterday, but that was a really poor showing on his part and he really screwed the bullpen.