masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgAt this point, what else could go wrong?
Last night, Boston pitcher Chris Sale threw a 98 mph fastball behind Manny Machado and was not ejected. Tonight, Baltimore’s Kevin Gausman threw a 77 mph curveball that hit Xander Bogaerts and he was ejected by a home plate umpire with an itchy trigger finger. There were no outs in the second inning at the time. That put the Orioles in a bind. They went on to a 4-2 loss to Boston.
Major League Baseball officials told the management of the Orioles and…

At this point, what else could go wrong?

Last night, Boston pitcher Chris Sale threw a 98 mph fastball behind Manny Machado and was not ejected. Tonight, Baltimore’s Kevin Gausman threw a 77 mph curveball that hit Xander Bogaerts and he was ejected by a home plate umpire with an itchy trigger finger. There were no outs in the second inning at the time. That put the Orioles in a bind. They went on to a 4-2 loss to Boston.

Major League Baseball officials told the management of the Orioles and Red Sox today that cooler heads needed to prevail in this series. Did their own umpires get the message? Home plate umpire Sam Holbrook was way too quick to eject Gausman.

Jones-Upset-Sidebar.jpgHolbrook didn’t seem to recognize the pitch was an off-target curveball or understand that you don’t throw at someone with a 77 mph pitch. Maybe a top Little League pitcher would do so at that velocity. What seemed to be a rough night for Holbrook continued when he ejected Adam Jones for saying something while walking away from the plate after he struck out in the fifth. The ejections were the first in the careers of Gausman and Jones.

It got messy for the Orioles and lefty Richard Bleier, who replaced Gausman, in the last of the fourth. Leading 1-0, Boston added three runs. Bogaerts reached on an error by shortstop J.J. Hardy, who later made a high throw on a play at the plate. Bleier gave the team four innings in emergency long relief and did a credible job. He allowed three runs, but just one earned, throwing 64 pitches.

Right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez pitched three scoreless innings in relief tonight, so now the Orioles need another starter and probably another roster move for tomorrow night. Tyler Wilson could be a candidate. You shouldn’t have to make a roster move because of an umpire’s poor judgement.

Meanwhile, the Orioles offense has yet to get cranked up. Tonight was the 10th time this year, and the second straight game, that they have been held to two runs or less. Four other times, they scored three runs. They began tonight ninth in the American League in runs scored, 11th in team batting average and 12th in OBP.

This road trip has been challenging for the Orioles. Their pitching staff was torched twice in New York and now they’ve been frustrated in Boston by more beanballs and tonight’s umpiring decisions.

They have less than 24 hours now to regroup to try and get the last game in this series before a homestand begins on Friday night.