Bob Haynie: Tillman Has To Be The Stopper For The Birds
The Orioles lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-5 on Monday night in Chavez Ravine. The loss was the Birds' fifth-straight and trimmed their lead in the AL East to two games over the Boston Red Sox.
Despite early leads of 3-0 and 5-2, Baltimore pitchers could not maintain their advantage on the scoreboard. The Dodgers kept chipping away and earned their 10-straight win at home.
Starter Yovani Gallardo threw 95 pitches as he lasted only four innings for the Orioles. His poor outing was just the latest for manager Buck Showalter's beleaguered rotation.
On the current road trip, the rotation ERA is an unacceptable 7.91. The Birds are now 2-5 on a trip that started with a sweep of the Padres in San Diego.
On Tuesday night, the Orioles will turn to right-hander Chris Tillman to stop the bleeding. Tillman is 10-2 with a 3.71 ERA and is a possible candidate to represent the AL in the upcoming All-Star Game.
The month of June, however, was not a strong one for Baltimore's top starting pitcher. Even though Tillman went 3-1, his ERA for the month was 5.19 and opposing hitters posted a .300 batting average against him.
Over his last three starts, Tillman has gone 14.2 IP with 21 hits, 14 earned runs and he has served up four bombs.
With their lead in the division dwindling and the All-Star break looming, the Orioles could really use a strong outing from a starting pitcher. Based on his past performances with the Birds, Chris Tillman needs to be the man to get the job done.
