Welp. Here we go again. The Orioles’ offense was again MIA, leading to another ugly loss. They flailed helplessly against Twins’ starter Pablo López, looking lost and terrible. Cade Povich got through six innings, but one big meltdown inning doomed him. And the relief pitching highlighted another big flaw.
The Twins easily took game one of the series, 9-1. Let’s break things down by category.
Starting Pitching
Povich’s pitching line is pretty ugly. 6 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR. His already poor ERA of 5.16 went up to 5.55. And yet, Povich was the most (only?) encouraging part of this game.
I know you can’t just toss out an inning. But let’s pretend you can. If you put together innings 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, things were good. Through the first two innings, Povich faced only six batters. Carlos Correa reached on an infield single and was erased on a double play.
In innings 4, 5, and 6, Povich retired nine batters in a row, and he looked in control. If his final pitching line had been 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, we would all be pretty impressed!
But alas, the third inning. Things fell apart and fell apart fast. With one out, Povich gave up hits to the eighth and ninth batters. That turned over the lineup for Byron Buxton, who doubled, and Ryan Jeffers, who poked a single through the right side. Ty France flew out but Correa came to the plate and jacked a two-run homer. Just like that, 5-0.
The inning was extended on an error by Coby Mayo (he had two in the game), but Povich got the last out and didn’t allow another baserunner in his outing. But the damage was done.
I found Povich’s bounce back after his terrible inning to be impressive. I’m not sold on him being a major league pitcher, but I’d sure rather watch him out there taking his lumps than see Charlie Morton or Kyle Gibson.
Offense
They played like garbage. In five innings against López, the Orioles struck out 11 times. The umpire consistently called a strike that was a bit outside the strike zone on the third base side, but I don’t think that was much of an excuse.
Jackson Holliday singled in the second inning. In the fourth, Gunnar Henderson walked and scored on a double from Ryan Mountcastle. Heston Kjerstad singled in the eighth inning. Adley Rutschman and Ryan O’Hearn walked in the ninth but neither Mountcastle nor Holliday could get them in.
That is the extent of the offense, which was completely lifeless.
Every batter struck out at least once. Mayo and Cedric Mullins struck out thrice each. Henderson, Holliday, Kjerstad, and Dylan Carlson struck out twice each. As a team they struck out 17 times.
Relief Pitching
One of the more perplexing moves of the off-season was Mike Elias’s choice to cut ties with Danny Coulombe and keep Cionel Pérez. Both are lefty relief pitchers. Coulombe had two great years for the Orioles from 2023-24. Pérez was very good in 2022, mediocre in 2023, and bad in 2024.
Coulombe re-signed with the Twins, the team he on before the Orioles. In 14 games coming into today, he has not allowed a run. He was allowed six hits and walked only one. Pérez entered today with an 8.79 ERA in 12 games.
As fate would have it, both pitchers appeared in tonight’s game. Coulombe looked great. He faced the top of the order. He struck out Mullins, struck out Henderson, and got a groundout from Adley Rutschman. He threw 11 pitches.
Pérez was victim of Mayo’s second error in the game and walked the number nine hitter. He struck out a guy in the middle. He was pulled from the game and both of his runs came in to score on a Buxton homer allowed by Matt Bowman. His 8.79 ERA is up to 9.20.
Just baffling.
Also, Matt Bowman? Time for him to go.
Defense
Coby Mayo is not making the best impression on his call-up. He booted two balls and struck out three times. I’m in favor of him continuing to play because it has to be figured out what he can do. But woof.
The other guy who struck out three times was Cedric Mullins. He has been ice cold at the plate since getting off to a scorching hot start to the year. But one thing that never slumps for Mullins is his defense. In the third inning, Mullins made a nice leaping catch on a fly ball from Ty France for the second out of the inning. Things could have been even worse for Povich without that play.
And in the seventh inning, with two outs and the Orioles down 9-1, Mullins made a fine diving catch on a Royce Lewis fly ball. The game was over for the Orioles, but seeing that effort lifted my spirits a bit.
Jackson Holliday also made two nifty plays in the field, in addition to getting a hit in his sixth straight game.
Another Loss
The O’s picked up their third straight loss. Since winning their series against the Guardians on April 17th, they are 5-11. Charlie Morton is starting tomorrow, so don’t expect things to get better.
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