Baltimore Orioles’ Pitchers Played With Fire, Need to Improve vs. Kansas City Royals
The Baltimore Orioles have a lot of work to do now facing a 2-0 series deficit. If they want to help manager Buck Showalter advance past the Kansas City Royals and make it to his first World Series appearance, then their pitchers need to step up.
It was a high-scoring affair at Camden Yards this evening that featured a lot of runs and excellent base running, but the Orioles have been playing with fire a little too long and now have paid the price.
Mike Moustakas was one of the notables today, because his long ball in the fourth inning of Game 2 gave the Royals a lead at 4-3. He leads all other big leaguers in home runs this postseason, and that is quite remarkable — especially considering he spent 10 days in the minors earlier this season.
He also did not hit a single homer in the month of September, which is what you call timely hitting by the third baseman. Better pitching would have kept the home run from happening. The Orioles tied things up in the fifth on a fielder’s choice, but it was short-lived.
Baltimore’s relievers were able to hold the fort for a while, but then the wheels came off at the top of the ninth when Zach Britton gave up two runs and ultimately the game at 6-4. Alcides Escobar was the man of the hour when he drove in the first go-ahead run after Moustakas sacrificed the baserunner to second.
It all comes back to pitching, and the Orioles just did not have enough of it. If they don’t want to get swept, then they need to do a better job keeping Kansas City off of the bases.
The Royals would have counted themselves lucky at the start of this series to leave Baltimore with a 1-1 split, but now they will have a chance to close things out at home. As for the Orioles, they will need a miracle to get back into this thing, and it somehow feels worse that Cal Ripken Jr. was in the ballpark for that embarrassment.
Dave Daniels is a Prep Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter: @AllDave_AllDay, like him on Facebook here or add him to your network on Google.
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