Brandon Morrow had a good, if slightly patchy, start. He battled into the 8th inning, but balls were up and he allowed the Orioles to climb back into the game.
Morrow was so in the zone that he denied DeRosa a high five:
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| @ScottJohnson48 |
And after giving up homers to Markakis and Jones to end his night, Morrow took it out on the sunflower seed dugout thing, which obviously had been cruising for it all evening. You gave up homers and now you've made a mess in the dugout out, too.
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| @BlueJayHunter |
Notice DeRosa didn't try to get a high five this time.
I do love how no one looks at Morrow. DeRosa is all "I'm just going to enjoy my water, and maybe get some seeds a little later."
“I had good stuff, but I threw the wrong pitch in a couple situations and got hurt … I kind of had my sights set on finishing the game. It was frustrating for me to go out and give up the two home runs without getting an out there. It’s a good win but it put a sour taste in my mouth,” Morrow said.
Manny Machado was the most bothersome Oriole for Morrow, going 3 for 4 (all doubles.) The kid, who has been compared to Ripken and Cobb, is hitting .318 with a .508 slugging percentage while leading the majors in doubles, which is ok, I guess, if you are into that sort of thing.
Joe Maddon, manager of the Rays, is into that sort of thing. “I really believe he is the lynchpin of that whole successful run that they've had down there. This guy, for me, since he’s come on board they're an entirely different team. His defence has really brought them together.”
You mean it isn't the genius managing of Buck Showalter? How could I have been so deceived?
Brendan Kennedy of the Star compared Machado to the Jays own talented third baseman, Brett Lawrie. A rival scout had this to say:
“(Machado) has a maturity that’s beyond what Lawrie has. Machado has a way of controlling himself a lot better than Lawrie.”
He goes on: "They're both terrific players, any club would die to have them. Emotionally, it looks like they're wired differently and right now that seems to be helping Machado more than Lawrie.”
“(Lawrie) looks almost like he’s too intense, like he has difficulty controlling himself. Whereas Machado, it seems like it comes easier to him.”
This is interesting because it's usually the Latin guy who is criticized for being too emotional, and here it's the white kid who is called the hot head compared to the cool and calm Latino. Of course, should Machado start to struggle, that calm control may get him labelled as lazy or indifferent (the other fun labels for Latinos) by frothing beat writers.
Brett Lawrie also has to hear it from this guy writing to Griffin's mailbag:
You became incensed? You bought two flex packs, for the first and last time? Why have the Jays not addressed this with him? (even though you have no idea whether they have or they haven't.)
I'm not hitting below the Mendoza line, but I'd tell you to shut up, too. Because I know the investment of you purchasing two flex packs for the first and last time was great, but you really need to take it all less personally.
There are actually a few classic letters in the mailbag this week. I'm looking to Stoeten to do his duty and rip away.
The offense, after more or less taking the night off (minus Bautista) in the win the night before, came up huge. There were homers and bunts and bloop hits, and an Encarnación grand slam that killed the rally stone dead.
“You look at a game like [Wednesday]. José pretty much won the game for us,” Arencibia said. “And then you come back and different guys contribute today. So I think that’s a sign of when things get going. It’s a game of failure, so everyone’s not going to be on their best every night, so everyone has to try to chip in and try to squeeze as many runs as we can.”
Baltimore's Kevin Gausman, one of baseball's highest touted prospects, made his big league debut. Armed with a big time fastball and a unneighbourly changeup, Gausman worked five solid innings but coughed up the lead, left the game trailing 4-3 and took the loss. Bright future, this one, with lots of donuts.
Between Gausman and Machado, among other guys, the Orioles look to be good for a while so a beat down like the Jays dished out last night was satisfying indeed.
















































