masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgBrian Matusz offered a simple explanation for the two home runs he surrendered in the third inning that turned a 4-0 lead into a 4-4 tie.

“I left the ball up, and when your team scores four runs in the second for you, you want to go out and throw up zeros – just go out and go 1-2-3, keep the momentum our way, and I just lost concentration and left the ball up,” he said.

“A lineup like that, they will take advantage of it. It’s a good hitting team.”

It would be understandable if the…Brian Matusz offered a simple explanation for the two home runs he surrendered in the third inning that turned a 4-0 lead into a 4-4 tie.

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“I left the ball up, and when your team scores four runs in the second for you, you want to go out and throw up zeros – just go out and go 1-2-3, keep the momentum our way, and I just lost concentration and left the ball up,” he said.

“A lineup like that, they will take advantage of it. It’s a good hitting team.”

It would be understandable if the Orioles’ four-run outburst threw him off his game.

“You should never look at the scoreboard and have that determine how you pitch,” he said. “You should go out each and every out and make quality pitches. So, the way I looked at it, I saw that I had a comfortable lead and instead of making quality pitches, I just threw the ball over the plate and left it up.”

Matusz also mentioned that he was “babying” his changeup – which is a lot different than changing the baby.

Sorry, it’s been a long day.

Here’s what Matt Wieters had to say about Matusz:

“They hit the two home runs and two mistakes that were probably belt high. When he was down, he was tough. They had a difficult time with him. But when you’re down, down, and you make that one mistake, it looks like a beach ball coming up there because they haven’t seen those types of pitches. When you get ahead in the count, you have to focus on making quality pitches.”

So…about that bunt…

“It’s the first bunt this year, but we do it every day in BP,” Wieters said. “Juan (Samuel) told me if it’s first and second, we’re probably going to bunt here. I just have to get the job done. We do it every day three times in BP. I just didn’t get it out there far enough.”

Asked if this was the first bunt of his professional career, Wieters said, “I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter if I have or not because I’ve done it before. It’s the same in BP as it is in the game. You’ve just got to catch the ball and get it down.”

And finally, here’s Luke Scott’s take on tonight’s loss:

“That’s why we’re in the situation that we’re in,” he said. “It’s been a collective thing. It hasn’t been for a lack of effort. We’ve worked hard, we’re playing hard, we’re trying our best. Are we pressing? Yeah. I wouldn’t expect anything less but to press in situations like this. We’re human and you can’t escape it. We’ve got to come here every day and play.

“It’s stressful. It’s been difficult for us, but it’s baseball, it’s life. Things like that happen. You’ve just got to continue to press on and press through it. I don’t like it and I don’t enjoy it, but you can’t give up.”