The first impression the Orioles made in the 2020 season was not a good one. They appeared at Fenway Park and were hit by the Red Sox with a final score of 13-2. It is unlikely that anyone, anywhere, would be truly surprised to see this result, although even if you expected something bad from this team, you probably had to wince at the sight of it all.
This is the most runs the Orioles have given up in an Opening Day game. That also seems appropriate for the start of the Orioles’ 2020 season. This team, like the two O teams that preceded it, seems destined to set some bad records, even if they only have 60 games to do it.
What more can you expect from a game that had to have an emergency backup for the Opening Day opener with just a couple of days’ notice, and when that backup opener was Tommy Milone, he hasn’t had an ERA for Below 4.76 since 2015?
The fairy tale version of the story would have caused Milone to do something like launch a full game, or even just a quality start, and lead the Orioles to victory. This is even truer because, during the game, the MASN broadcast played some prerecorded messages from the families of the players to the players, wishing them all the best in the upcoming season. Among the messages was one from Milone’s family.
All families wore masks to encourage the use of masks. So, as Milone’s little daughters showed off, posed, and made adorable faces for the camera, Milone’s wife said some nice words, including taking off the mask briefly “so you don’t forget about my looks,” and I thought to myself. inside. Man, I really hope he casts well while they’re watching, because I’m sure they were watching. He didn’t even want him to do it right because he wanted the Orioles to win, although of course they did, but because he wanted his family to see him do well if they were watching.
For two innings, Milone’s cunning left-handed arsenal that never went above 88 mph was able to dodge Red Sox bats and avoid significant contact. Two innings aren’t many innings, but it was enough where maybe, even if you’re a tremendous pessimist, you might have thought, “Maybe he’ll be fine.”
The third inning ended this little fairy tale. Elsewhere in MLB on opening day, Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks threw a full set of three hitters without throwing a pitch faster than 89 mph. Perhaps Hendricks used all the junk-ball magic for the day, because in Boston, the Red Sox were able to start hitting Milone, including four doubles who shot at almost identical locations in the left-field corner. Could a left fielder more mobile than DJ Stewart have been able to do something about it? We will never know.
This led to four runs scoring in the inning. Milone didn’t come out for the fourth inning, because when there’s a 12-man bullpen you don’t need to keep pushing a troubled starter.
Milone made a bit of Orioles history in the game by becoming the first player to use number 69 for the team. This was the lowest number an Orioles player had ever had.
A difficult start, no doubt, but the game was not out of control. This is the territory where you want a caster to come in and do something that can make an announcer say, “You stopped the bleeding.”
Manager Brandon Hyde summoned Cody Carroll to help him start the fourth inning. Carroll, who did not pitch at the MLB level in 2019 due to injuries, made his debut in the 2020 season on the second anniversary of the day he was sent to Baltimore along with two other players in Zack Britton’s trade with the Yankees. The bleeding did not stop.
Carroll did not pitch as a player who will remain on the Orioles roster for long. Even this bad team can do better than a pitcher coming in, walking the first two hitters he sees, giving up a hit to load the bases with no one, then running. That was Carroll on Friday night.
Hyde had seen enough. Carroll got the hook and set off with an ERA 2020 from infinity. His effectiveness was kept at infinity when Travis Lakins Sr., making his Orioles debut, allowed all legacy runners to score, plus two more charged to his own ledger.
In total, four pitchers entered the game for the Orioles. The best ERA at the end of the group game is 9.00. Lakins Sr.’s two innings only charged him two runs, though he scored six while he was in the game. David Hess entered for sixth and gave three runs. Hess went for three innings in total without allowing more, so his ERA was also 9.
Surprisingly, despite giving up 13 runs, the Orioles did not allow any home runs, so at least for the first game in 2020 their failure is in a different form than in 2019. The 2019 O’s, if they have forgotten, will they homered every 4 two⁄3 tickets throughout their season.
While all this predictable pitching was going on, the Orioles hitters didn’t do much to cover themselves in glory, either. Only six hits were scored throughout the game and they were 17-6. This despite facing Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi, who was also an opening day emergency backup, and whose 2019 season ERA was 5.99. They had a number of balls that burned, but they just went straight to fielders. Perhaps another day the BABIP dragon will be on your side.
After spring training and a summer camp filled with comments and stories about how Chris Davis gained 30 pounds of muscle and looked different, he went 0-3 in this Opening Day game, including an unfortunate play where he lined up a ball right at first base. , when the first baseman was standing at first base to hold a runner there.
This doesn’t mean Davis’ 2020 season is marked by an overall failure, but it would have been nice if he had accomplished something positive in the first game. “Well, that double lineout game had a muzzle velocity of 100.1 mph and an expected batting average of .590 on Statcast” doesn’t count.
Anthony Santander doubled over from the Green Monster, slipped for first base, and was then replaced in the game soon after. It was not immediately clear whether this was due to concern about active injury or simply preventive rest in what was already a clear outbreak at the time.
After that, Renato Núñez broke what was then a 10-0 laundering by driving Santander home with a double. A little later, Rio Ruiz connected to the Red Sox bullpen for a FUHR (Eff You Home Run) to secure the final score of 13-2. If you had Ruiz hitting the Orioles’ first home run of the season, collect your winnings.
The good news about all of this is that the Orioles only have 59 more games to play. The other good news is that it is July 24 and the Orioles are just one game behind the Eastern Leader of the American League. They will return to action in a short break as the second game of the season on Saturday is at 1:35 start time. Alex Cobb is ready to start with the O’s, with Martin Perez pitching for Boston.
