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ANAHEIM – The Orioles started their series in Anaheim hot, with three runs in their first two offensive frames.
Tonight, though, it was the Angels’ turn, as Baltimore fell 5-2.
Los Angeles recorded three straight singles to start the game, and in the blink of an eye, it was 2-0 Halos. After a few more baserunners and nearly 30 pitches, Kyle Gibson worked out of the remaining trouble, but the early damage had been done.
The O’s did the same to veteran Kyle Hendricks last night. But after three early runs, Hendricks settled in, because “that’s what a veteran pitcher does,” as Brandon Hyde noted last night. Gibson did the same for tonight's second and third innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth. We’ll get back to that.
"I think the teams have been pretty aggressive," Gibson said of his recent first-inning struggles. "So, best way to combat that is maybe use a little off-speed a little bit earlier or just execute a few pitches here and there a little bit better."
On the offensive side of things, Jackson Holliday led off the game with a sharp leadoff single, but the offense couldn’t get much of anything cooking. Their first runner in scoring position came in the third inning, as Jorge Mateo and Holliday walks put runners on. Adley Rutschman couldn’t plate them, and it remained 2-0 Angels.
"I thought we really expanded the zone against a starter that wasn't showing he had command," Hyde said after the game. "We let him off the hook multiple times."
In that third inning, Mateo advanced to second after a Jack Kochanowicz throw-over got by first baseman Nolan Schanuel. It was hard to tell exactly what happened, but Mateo was in some pain after his dive back into the bag. It was something on his right side, but from our view, it was hard to discern between pain in the hand, chest or shoulder. All we could see was the universal signal for “ouch.” He would remain in and finish the game.
To kick off the fourth, Baltimore was in business. A Ryan Mountcastle single and Ryan O’Hearn walk put some more runners on, this time with just one out. But Cedric Mullins grounded into a double play, and there went that threat.
More trouble for the O’s came in the bottom of the frame.
One out away from another smooth inning, Jo Adell took a Gibson cutter 435 feet to the center field rock structure for a solo shot. Then, after Kyren Paris reached base, Matthew Lugo’s first career hit was a triple over the head of Mullins to plate another. Just like that, it was 4-0 Angels.
Things didn’t get better for Gibson in the fifth.
The first three Angels of the frame went single, walk, walk, and that was all for the right-hander’s night. Gibson’s final line read four innings and five earned runs on seven hits, three walks and four strikeouts. Collin Selby did a nice job to navigate out of a bases-loaded jam and keep that line at just five earned, too. It wasn’t the next step in the right direction that Baltimore had been hoping for.
"I felt pretty good in the middle innings and unfortunately just got a little frustrated there in the fifth inning. For me, pitching frustrated never turns out well. So I should know better," Gibson said.
Playing frustrated is perhaps a common thread for the ballclub thus far.
The Birds showed some life at the plate in their half of the inning. Gunnar Henderson served a two-out single into left field, and Mountcastle pulled a double down the line to score him. That double was his fourth of the month and drove his batting average up to .300 since the flip of the calendar. Plus, it put the O’s on the board. But that’s all Baltimore would get from that chance as Mullins struck out looking with runners on first and second.
It has been a tough stretch as of late for the center fielder.
"There's some things that I'm kind of paying attention to mechanically that are a little off, just trying to tweak those within the game which can be difficult," Mullins said after the game. "Yeah, overall, body is feeling okay, not terrible. I've been grinding a little bit out there. But just trying to keep it going, keep the energy and focus consistent."
The O’s bullpen danced out of some trouble in the sixth, as Selby and Cionel Pérez combined to load the bases on three walks, but a Pérez strikeout of Taylor Ward got the Birds out of the inning.
There wasn't much to report after that frame, outside of a Ramón Laureano pinch-hit home run in the top of the ninth.
All in all, the Birds' bats mustered just six hits and plated two runs. After starting the series in Anaheim on such a positive note, the bats went quietly into Saturday night.
As has been the case in too many games this season, an O’s starter could’ve given up eight runs or three runs, and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. The offense just couldn’t get anything going, solid pitching performance or not.
"I think in competition it's hard to come from behind," Mullins said. "We have some moments where we can try to take advantage. It's hard. It's one of those things where, one day, it could all of a sudden click and you're looking back and you're like 'oh, we had those struggles and now we just figured it out.' Or, it's just a consistent grind and you're trying to figure it out throughout the season."
In the good games, Baltimore can look really good. And in the bad games, it’s not so good. There’s not too many new ways to write it.
Unfortunately for the Orioles, tonight's game fell into that second, much less fun category.
On the bright side, Zach Eflin makes his return to the big league mound tomorrow.
"We got a chance to win a series tomorrow and got to keep that in perspective," Gibson said. "If we win a series here, for the next few weeks we're going to be in a good spot. So, got to keep thinking about that win and keep that in perspective."
