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Some final notes and quotes after Boston's comeback, 9-6 win over the Orioles.
There are clubhouse comments from Jake Arrieta, Ty Wigginton and Nolan Reimold.
Arrieta on facing Boston: "Those guys are similar to the Yankees where they see a lot of pitches, lot of veteran players that really work the counts. Felt like I was in a lot of deep counts. I felt like I did a good job at going 0-2 and getting ahead of some guys, but they fought their way back in some counts.
"A basehit here and there, following a six or seven-pitch at bat, really gets your pitch count up. I think that's what kind of hurt me tonight was a high pitch count."
Arrieta on not walking anyone: "That is something I've put emphasis on and I've needed to work on. The at bat to Kalish in the second inning, where he hit a double in the gap, I think I was too worried about not walking him rather than executing a pitch. I left a sinker elevated on a 3-2 count and just had the wrong mindset there."
Wigginton on losing the lead vs. Lester: "Every loss is hard. We went out there and we haven't had a whole lot of success against him. We put up some runs early and I think everyone was confident the bullpen would come in and shut the door. Some times it doesn't work out."
Wigginton on Lester getting better as the game went on: "Once he settled in, he was able to drop all his off-speed pitches for strikes. When you are facing a pitcher like Lester and he's able to throw four pitches for strikes, it gets tough."
Reimold on his first game back with the team: "Felt great, good to be back out there. It's been a long year, but I'm happy to be back here and want to finish the year strong."
Reimold on getting five early runs vs. Lester: "Yeah, score five off him, we'll take that. But it's a longer game than two innings and you want to keep adding on as many as you can, but it kind of fizzled out there after the second inning."
Some post-game notes:
*O's pitching had allowed just three runs with an ERA of 0.75 during a four-game win streak but gave up six runs in the 7th inning alone tonight and allowed 9 runs on 11 hits in the loss.
*The O's are now 7-7 on the year vs. Boston, 12-38 vs. AL East opponents and 28-39 at home.
*The O's gave up three homers tonight, the first time the O's gave up three or more in a game since August 16.
*The O's pen gave up 6 ER in the game after giving up 6 ER over 18 innings in the team's previous nine games.
*Nick Markakis was 1 for 4 and is now 11 for 39 (.282) during a ten-game hitting streak.
*Brian Roberts went 0 for 4 snapping a six-game batting streak, during which he was 8 for 21.
Steve-
You know we have never beat that bumb? SOOO frustrating. Because, the problem with bad teams, is, even with all the upside of the youth, and the solid vetarans, there are always going to be a few players that just are not that good.
Simon is not very good. Hendrickson, despite the occasional decent outing, is over a 5 ERA every year. That is not good.
Look at TB, SD, Tex. The good teams, all have dominant bullpens.
That is an area that HAS to be focused on this offseason.
I don't know if Koji is a re-up possiblility. The injuries scare ya, but, when he has pitched, he has been pretty dominant.
Gonzales and Hernandez. Aside from that, I don't know that there is 1 arm out there that will be good MLB players.
Steve-
Also, isn't it great to see Klein and MM do good?
Klein still hasn't given up a run. But, he has to be on like a 14ks per 9. I don't even know if he's been hit against.
Manny hitting 364 is nice too.
My question is this...why make Klein a starter? Do they not have confidence that they will find 5 top starters in the crop at AA thru MLB level?
See, Klein is dominant. The O's haven't had a Papelbon, Bailey, Bell, Mo, etc. That's what they really need.
Is it just because SP value is higher than an RP?
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It's because he has four pitches he can command above average and you always need starters. When you think you have ten, get 15. He could always return to a relief role later. - Steve.