Bob Haynie: The Orioles Hit The Road
After dropping two of three games to the Boston Red Sox at Camden Yards, the Baltimore Orioles will begin a six-game road trip on Friday in Detroit against the Tigers. The Birds will then travel to the Bronx to do battle with the Yankees. Needless to say, it's not an easy beginning to the 2014 campaign for the Black & Orange.
The Red Sox series had to be frustrating for Baltimore manager Buck Showalter and his club because the offense was kept in check by Boston pitching. In three games, the Orioles could only manage seven runs.
Yes, you give credit to Boston's arms. But the Orioles certainly didn't do themselves any favors at the plate.
For the series, they hit .219 with 26 K's. The powerful Birds could only muster four extra-base hits and Nelson Cruz had two of those. 3B Ryan Flaherty, playing for the injured Manny Machado, was 0-for-the home stand.
Orioles starting pitchers were somewhat shaky against Boston, as well. Chris Tillman, Ubaldo Jimenez and Wei-Yin Chen combined to pitch only 16.2 innings. In those innings, they allowed 24 hits. On the bright side, with the exception of Ryan Webb, the relievers were very effective.
Now it's off to Detroit to face a Tigers team that took two close ones from the Kansas City Royals to start their season.
After going 46-35 on the road in 2012, the Orioles dropped to 39-42 away from home in 2013. They were 2-1 at Detroit, however.
Let's see if the Birds can get these bats untracked over the next week.
We can't have people panicking already.
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