Wednesday Afternoon June 21: Orioles send the MLB WHIP leader to the mound to try to sweep the Rays

[Hank Scorpio]

One of those hanging sliders is going to go to the moon.

[Billy F-Face3]

I had to hold my breath. On that pop fly.

[spiritof66]

1 minute ago, SemperFi said:

So is the IF defense.   E on Wells, Mateo forgets cutoff (had a throwback to first), Gunnar breaks on the grounder instead of covering third.  What an awful inning!!

The bad throws and dropped balls are annoying, but they're going to happen, especially at the Trop. What gets me is the fundamental breakdowns and poor judgment. 

[SemperFi]

1 hour ago, Fiver6565 said:

Anybody have a theory as to why this game is at noon?  Even for a midweek day game that’s an odd time. It’s certainly not for the TV ratings!

Having lived there the demographics for the Rays are very different than most of MLB.  The Rays draw poorly weekday nights much better on weekends and day games largely driven by retirees and location of the stadium.  Their fan base is in Tampa north of St Pete, an awful place for an awful stadium.  

Fascinating that the Giants came so close to moving there 30 years ago, shows what a new stadium in a good location can do. 

The attached (although dated) shows population with 30 minute drive time instead of lump market areas.  There is a strong correlation between shorter drive time and attendance.

https://community.fangraphs.com/the-importance-of-the-30-minute-population-radius-on-mlb-attendance/

[Billy F-Face3]

Ok got the 3 outs in the bottom of the 3rd to prevent the Rays from scoring. I'll take that! Now let's score some runs, Orioles! Begin with good At Bats. 

[Bemorewins]

7 minutes ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

And we are facing a rookie pitcher.

He might be a rookie, but I can easily see him becoming their next ace. It's amazing how they can consistently reproduce high level/elite pitching.

[SemperFi]

3 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

The bad throws and dropped balls are annoying, but they're going to happen, especially at the Trop. What gets me is the fundamental breakdowns and poor judgment. 

Me too, I can stand physical errors (O'Hearn, Wells) but the mental ones like Mateo forgeting to line up irritate me-most people won't catch that but Palmer did-if he throws back aginst the runner it's an out and a saved run.  Little things matter.

[vab]

Hays is turning into a hitting machine. 

[spiritof66]

2 minutes ago, SemperFi said:

Me too, I can stand physical errors (O'Hearn, Wells) but the mental ones like Mateo forgeting to line up irritate me-most people won't catch that but Palmer did-if he throws back aginst the runner it's an out and a saved run.  Little things matter.

I tend to think the Orioles make a lot of those mental errors (on offense and defense), but that may just be the product of my seeing them for so many innings. 

Are there data somewhere comparing the numbers or costs of teams' mental/fundamental errors? 

[Frobby]

Hicks has done a good job in Mullins’ absence, but he really plays a deep CF.  I’ve seen several balls drop in front of him that Mullins would have a chance to catch.  

[Hank Scorpio]

He is out but they won't change the call, IMO.

[Hank Scorpio]

Well that is a nice surprise.

[Hank Scorpio]

Way to pull it together, Tyler Wells. Atta boy.

[FlaO'sFan]

I was surprised they called him out. This year it seems that when plays are closer than an inch or less they are letting the call stand, even though in slow motion it appears the call should go the other way.

[Billy F-Face3]

Way to battle Tyler! Nice resiliency! Loved the pickoff move.