masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgI’m not checking the forecast today. Fool me once…
It all starts with starting pitching, and Bud Norris’ struggles pretty much took the Orioles out of yesterday’s home opener. The bullpen also shoulders some of the blame, allowing four runs in six innings, plus the three inherited runners who scored after Norris came out of the game.
The Orioles totaled five runs and 13 hits, which should be plenty good on most nights.
“Any time the other team pulls ahead that early, that big of a lead,…

I’m not checking the forecast today. Fool me once…

It all starts with starting pitching, and Bud Norris’ struggles pretty much took the Orioles out of yesterday’s home opener. The bullpen also shoulders some of the blame, allowing four runs in six innings, plus the three inherited runners who scored after Norris came out of the game.

The Orioles totaled five runs and 13 hits, which should be plenty good on most nights.

“Any time the other team pulls ahead that early, that big of a lead, you know you’ve got your work cut out for you,” said first baseman Chris Davis. “But I thought as an offense, we did a good job of hanging in there, putting some runs up. Some guys came out of the bullpen and threw some well-needed innings. It was the first game of the series, we’ll go out there (today) and try to even them up.

Chris-Davis-disappointed-sidebar.jpg“You always want to win the home opener. You have a good crowd, everybody’s going to be fired up. To not just lose, but to get beat up, it’s tough. But we can still salvage the series.”

At least the Orioles aren’t forced to play a doubleheader. The silver lining from yesterday is that the black clouds didn’t bring heavy showers and force a postponement.

“Everybody kept saying it was going to rain, rain, rain,” said center fielder Adam Jones. “It was good that it didn’t so we can get the game in. It’s good when you get the game in. Obviously, when you have delays, you get the fans, they get the sales to go up a little bit in certain areas.”

Must be the nachos.

“Yeah,” Jones said with a grin. “Nachos and Boog’s.”

OK, he meant beer. I get it.

“When things start on time, everything syncs in and it was a great opening day,” Jones said. “Obviously, we wanted to win, but our effort level was there. We just didn’t score enough runs.”

How exactly does a team get in a regular season rhythm after playing mostly day games in spring training – with many regulars limiting their travel – flying home and having a workout?

“It’s different because once you go from spring training, obviously you see the lineups, a lot of guys don’t play in road games, so when the season starts you’re playing every day,” Jones said.

“I think that first week you just get sore because it’s back-to-back, you’re playing nine and I’d say the second or third week or the end of April, a lot of guys just get into that groove and just go for it.”

Manny Machado continues to play third base at a high level, but he’s hitless in his first 12 at-bats.

machado-disappointed-white-sidebar.jpg“Manny’s swinging the bat well and he doesn’t have much to show for it,” Davis said. “It’s unfortunate, but I’ve seen him hit some balls on the button.

“I think Manny’s biggest thing is just getting back into the rhythm of the game. Having surgery and being out so long, you’ve just got to keep your emotions in check. He’s done a good job of that. He comes in every day, puts in the work and eventually the results are going to be there for him.”

We’ll find out today whether Ubaldo Jimenez can remain effective and continue pounding the strike zone now that he’s done with the Grapefruit League.

Jimenez is 3-3 with a 4.63 ERA in nine games (eight starts) against the Blue Jays. The current group is batting .197 against him.

Jose Bautista is 2-for-26 against Jimenez. Justin Smoak is 1-for-12.

Aaron Sanchez, the Blue Jays’ first-round pick in the 2010 draft, has allowed two runs and two hits in 4 1/3 innings in three relief appearances against the Orioles. The current group is 0-for-10 against him, with Caleb Joseph having the most at-bats with only three.