Pitching woes paint trades in different light
A lot has transpired in the year since the Orioles made a pair of trades with the Atlanta Braves — one sending Brad Brach south for international bonus pool money, and a second dealing Kevin Gausman and Darren O’Day for four players and another, larger chunk of bonus pool money.
Perspective earned over that year, and the amount of hindsight taken to gain it, doesn’t do much to change the fundamental nature of those deals. They were and still are salary dumps. But considering the poor seasons those pitchers have had, there’s certainly room for reassessment.
On Saturday, Brach was designated for assignment by the Chicago Cubs after a difficult season there. Gausman was surprisingly placed on waivers and claimed by the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, ending what began as a great stint in Atlanta on a sour note.
Both Gausman and Brach pitched well down the stretch for Atlanta last year, but
The Yankees’ 32 home runs at Camden Yards in 2019 are the most by any team at a visiting ballpark in major league history, and two more games remain in this series. The home runs from Ford and Mike Tauchman, his second of the game, in the eighth made waste of a five-run Orioles rally in the sixth that starred Villar.
The Orioles also became the first team in major league history to allow multiple home runs in 10 straight games, just two weeks after becoming the first major league team to hit multiple home runs in10 straight games.
Jace Peterson’s first home run in the majors this season got the inning’s scoring started, cutting the Orioles’ deficit to 6-3. Hanser Alberto singled and Chance Sisco doubled ahead of Chris Davis’ deep sacrifice fly.
A batter later, Villar tied the game with his 15th home run of 2019. His Swiss Army knife of a celebration included stopping, staring, bat-flipping, skipping, clapping and looking into the Orioles’ dugout before completing his run around the bases.
Villar hits for cycle
Villar’s home run brought him a single shy of the fifth cycle in Orioles history, and he completed it by flipping an Aroldis Chapman fastball into right field in the ninth.
The cycle was the first by an Oriole since Felix Pie did it Aug. 14, 2009.
Villar struck out to begin the bottom of the first against New York’s Masahiro Tanaka, then tripled off him in the third. He scored a game-tying run on Trey Mancini’s subsequent single.
Villar then doubled in the fifth, giving him six multi-hit games in his past 11, but he got stranded at third to end the inning.
He started a double play with a diving stop in the top of the ninth, then was rewarded for the stellar defensive play with the bloop single and cycle in the bottom half of the inning.
Upon further review
His upbeat personality aside, Mancini is generally stoic on the field.
So, to see him fired up to the point of hopping out of Baltimore’s dugout to yell at umpires during the fourth inning Monday shows how frustrated not only he but also the Orioles fans among the announced 20,151 at Camden Yards were with a call at the plate.
The Orioles, in their first of 13 straight games against teams with playoff aspirations, showed an aggression on the basepaths with players who generally aren’t associated with such words. Two of their first 12 outs came at home, when either runs would’ve broken a 1-1 tie.
In the third, Mancini was thrown out at home trying to score on a one-out double by Anthony Santander. Although Mancini started rounding third as the ball got to Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius, thirdbase coach Jose Flores sent him, a decision that proved poor when Gregorius’ throw came in time to nab Mancini at the plate.
An inning later, Peterson and Davis reached via walks to be on the corners as Stevie Wilkerson came up with two outs. On an 0-1 pitch, Davis, who has no steals in 2019, broke for second. With catcher Austin Romine’s throw going high, Davis slid in safely as Peterson charged toward home. Gregorius threw back to Romine, and home-plate umpire Ed Hickox called Peterson out.
Hyde challenged the call, but a replay review upheld it, prompting Mancini to come out yelling in frustration before Hyde ushered him back into the dugout.
The controversial ending to the fourth preceded three New York runs in the fifth, when former Oriole Breyvic Valera hit a two-run triple then scored on another play at the plate, with Villar’s throw from short on a DJ LeMahieu grounder being too high to get an out.