Team Phungo made it out for our first
Orioles game of the year. It didn't go any better than the other
4 Phillies losses that I have had the pleasure of witnessing this season.
The Orioles led
4-2 going into the
7th when reliever
Pedro Strop came in and failed miserably. He was unable to strand the two runners
Jason Hammel put on, plus he added a few of his own. That was the end of what had otherwise been a decent O's outing. By the end of the inning the Orioles were down 4 and ended up losing
9-5..
Snapshots (click any pix to enlarge)
Nate McLouth singles in the first
McLouth got the O's started off strong, getting a leadoff single in the first and scoring on one of
2 RBI Grounders later in the inning.
The game really may have turned on two plays, one of which was
McLouth being called out by Joe West on a
Stolen Base attempt in the 3rd inning. I thought he was safe as did
Buck Showalter.
Buck Showalter and Joe West
Pedro Strop
Hank Conger reaches on a "Single" in the Angels big 7th inning
There were some big blows after
Conger bounced a single off of Pedro Strop's glove, but this play was pretty pivotal. Had Strop handled the ball or even completely missed the comebacker, I think it is likely the O's would have turned a Double Play which would have gone a long way towards getting out of the inning.
Instead no out was recorded and the top of the Angels order came to the plate. Regardless, Pedro Strop really didn't do much else in 1/3 of an inning. He couldn't find the plate and ended up giving up 4 earned. His
ERA balooned to 7.58.
Erick Aybar
Eric Aybar had one of the two big hits in the 7th inning. This is the swing Aybar had on his bases loaded triple. I was to upset at the time to remember it now. Three Batters later Albert Pujols
Noteworthies
Chris Davis
The AL Home Run leader hit his 21st dinger of 2013 in the 4th inning.
Manny Machado
The Current AL WAR leader was 2-5 with a double.
Brad Hawpe
The newest Angel
Mike Trout
No miracle catches for Trout who was back starting in center after
Peter Bourjos big catch on Tuesday Night. During the defesive replacement phase of the game Bourjos did come into play CF and Trout moved to left.
Albert Pujols
Pujols came a triple short of a cycle. He was a DH on Wednesday and he hasn't played the field much lately. It was very obvious his foot was bothering him and I observed the former MVP talking with
JJ Hardy at some point in the game. He appeared to be motioning towards his heal during the discussion. The O's didn't bother holding Pujols had first whenever he reached base.
A good Day at the Yard
Even with the Orioles taking the Loss, a day at the yard beats any day at the office.(
Pedro Strop v Erick Aybar)
Source
Baseball-Ref
