masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe Orioles are assured of being in first place in the American League East as teams shut down for the All-Star break. They hold a two-game lead with one more to play. The math doesn’t lie.
It also doesn’t do much for manager Buck Showalter, who can count how many games are left before the playoffs.
“It doesn’t matter at all, right?” Showalter said following a 3-2 win over the Angels before 43,288 at Camden Yards. “Just make our guys and fans be able to look at the paper or the Internet a…

The Orioles are assured of being in first place in the American League East as teams shut down for the All-Star break. They hold a two-game lead with one more to play. The math doesn’t lie.

It also doesn’t do much for manager Buck Showalter, who can count how many games are left before the playoffs.

“It doesn’t matter at all, right?” Showalter said following a 3-2 win over the Angels before 43,288 at Camden Yards. “Just make our guys and fans be able to look at the paper or the Internet a little more fondly. I might even look at it.

“Obviously, it’s the end game we’re after, but reality, it comes back to you that if the season were to end today three teams from the American League East are in. And two of them are a streak away from being right back in it. Tampa is getting ready to get all their people back before we play them. But we have to be ready tomorrow.

“I’d like to get a win before a well-deserved break for these guys.”

Schoop-Kim-Orange-Congrats-Sidebar.jpgThe Orioles (50-36) won today because Yovani Gallardo tossed five scoreless innings before allowing two in the sixth without recording an out. And because Mychal Givens tossed two scoreless innings, followed by one each from Brad Brach (6-1) and Zach Britton, who recorded his 26th save. And because Angels reliever Joe Smith committed a balk by dropping the ball while standing on the pitching rubber and allowing Jonathan Schoop to score the tying run in the seventh. And because Schoop delivered the go-ahead run with a single in the eighth that followed singles by Manny Machado and Chris Davis.

Machado scored the decisive run on his gnome day. Gnomebody does it better.

Caleb Joseph and Matt Wieters both threw out a runner trying to steal, with the latter cutting down pinch-runner Todd Cunningham to end the eighth.

Gallardo carried a shutout into the sixth with his pitch count at 78.

“It was good,” Showalter said. “Obviously, runs were at a premium today. A hot, sticky day. Shadows really favor pitchers on both sides. That’s another thing I’d eliminate is 4 o’clock games. Ball was carrying today, too, so I thought it was pretty impressive that only five runs scored. But Yovani was good and we’re going to need him next 76 games, I think. That was good to see.

“He’ll make the first start after the All-Star break. Give him an extra day and give Tilly (Chris Tillman) an extra day. Mike might have been the difference, Givens. As good as Yovani was, that shouldn’t go unnoticed, the job Mike did coming into that situation. Really good defensive game for us. Matt and Caleb threw out two guys that kept them from turning over their lineup in the ninth inning.

“Adam (Jones) made a great throw. Joey (Rickard) ran down a ball in right field. Jonathan made a couple plays like it seems like he does every night. It was a game we needed all of those things done to win.”

Showalter stayed with Gallardo for four batters in the sixth. The Angels loaded the bases with no outs on two singles and a walk, and Daniel Nava delivered a two-run single off the right field fence.

“If we’d had a left-handed pitcher down there, I would have gotten him a little earlier, but we don’t,” Showalter said. “Mychal’s not good against those guys, and I also thought Yovani … I asked myself, too. It’s just one, I thought he deserved a chance there, and we didn’t have a lot of options.

“I really was trying to keep away from the left-handed hitters with Mike, as evidenced by the first guy he faced.”

Left-handers were batting .413 against Givens before today, and he walked first baseman Ji-man Choi on four pitches after replacing Gallardo.

Schoop is batting .304 this season and .364 during an eight-game hitting streak. He’s got a .422/.467/.675 slash line in his last 20 games.

Showalter sensed that Schoop was ready to have a breakout season last year before injuring his knee in Boston. Surgery was avoided, but not the daily work to stay off the disabled list.

“There’s always a positive to be gained by something,” Showalter said. “Whether it be (Hyun Soo) Kim watching our games for a while and getting acclimated … Jon and Manny went through the same thing. I think they shared some of the same things. Sometimes, young players when they have something like that happen to them, they have to step back.

“I see Jon has to do exercises every day. We didn’t do surgery on that. He has to stay on top of this every day. Otherwise, it’ll creep back up on him because it’s the posterior and you can’t go back in there. If you go back in, he’s done, so you have to make sure he does a certain amount of rehab to stay on the field. That was not Branch Rickey sensing that. You guys are watching the same thing. Jon soaks stuff in and he’s taking two steps forward and one back. He’s gaining on it.”

Brach won his sixth game in seven decisions and lowered his ERA to 0.93 with 57 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings.

“He’d had two days off,” Showalter said. “So had Mychal, so had Zach. Regardless if we were ahead or behind, he was going to pitch as long as it wasn’t out of hand. Good things seem to follow him around in a lot more ways than one. He’s getting everything he deserves because it’s what Brad puts into it. Very competitive guy. Expects perfection every time out.”

Givens is working in tighter situations with Darren O’Day on the disabled list. He left the bases loaded in the sixth to keep the deficit at 2-1 and stranded a runner in the seventh by striking out Mike Trout.

“In some ways you come into that situation with nothing to lose,” Showalter said. “Nobody expects you to come out of it that unscathed so to speak. The strikeout of Trout was obviously a big out. He’s going to have to defend himself against left-handed batters better.”

Showalter doesn’t think a pitcher should be penalized with a balk call for simply dropping the ball. No advantage was gained. The runners weren’t deceived. But it worked in the Orioles’ favor today.

“I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often,” Showalter said. “In the whole scheme of things, I’m all about fairness. What advantage was he trying to gain? The balk, to me, I wish we’d re-examine it. Because a guy drops the ball or doesn’t step off at the exact time, what advantage is he trying to gain?

“I see a balk when you’re trying to keep a guy from stealing second or you’re able to pick him off with a bent knee move or whatever, but if you really break it down … I like to think we’d have figured out a way anyway. That’s not to say something different would have happened, but I’ve always felt that way about balks. If some guy doesn’t come to a complete stop with a man on third and two outs, come on.”