Initially, I was planning on going to just Saturday’s Baltimore Orioles’ game at Nationals Park, but my buddy called me on Thursday to tell me that he was going on Friday, and I ended up going with him.
On Friday night, I sat in the second row of the right center field bleachers, which were very good seats to see the break of the pitch and the strike zone, and the seats got really fun in the later innings once most people were a just the correct amount of rowdy — not too loud to the point that one’s ear starts bleeding, but loud enough that it was fun.
The action out on the field was fun, too. The Orioles grabbed a quick 4-0 lead, David Hernandez picked up his first win since the dark ages, and Alfredo Simon quickly retired the side in the ninth inning to preserve a 5-3 win. Speaking of Hernandez, he can be extremely maddening to watch pitch, even when he only gives up one hit, like on Friday night. He walks a lot of batters, there’s a ton of three-ball counts, he works very slow with runners on base, and is inefficient with his pitches. He’s the typical young pitcher with good stuff that can’t command it and ends up throwing 110 pitches after five innings.
Then, on Saturday, I think I might have found the best bargain at Nationals Park — first row above the visiting bullpen in left field for $26 a pop. I hovered over the bomb squad Orioles’ bullpen and was in home run territory. A very fun seat that I recommend — Row L in section 102 or 103.
The game was moving along swimmingly for a little while. The Orioles got a 2-0 lead early, I saw Josh Willingham hit a home run to the Navy Yard metro station.
I even saw Adam Jones hit a ball to deep center field, with Nyjer Morgan dropping the ball up against the wall, only to think that the ball had ricocheted off his glove and over the fence for a home run. Alas, in Morgan’s frustration (slamming his glove to the ground), the ball sat right behind him on the ground as Jones circled the bases for a two-run inside-the-park homer.
They say when you go the park, you’ll see something that you’ve never seen before. Well, I had never seen that before, so there.
My buddy and I had struck up conversations with a Nationals’ fan to our right, who was quite the character. He compared himself during his playing days to a present day Rod Barajas. His exploits also included lying to his wife about being a vegetarian, saying that Mike Gonzalez ends his delivery by doing a handstand, and being as perplexed as I’ve ever seen a baseball fan (he was attempting to figure out how Garrett Atkins could be so bad). Then it started to rain and he left for cover. We soon did the same, watching the game under cover from right center field.
Ty Wigginton, my buddy’s favorite Oriole, made it 6-3, Orioles, in the top of the sixth inning with a blast to left field. Then it all went downhill from there.
With runners on the corners with two outs in the top of the sixth inning, Brad Bergesen, who had given up three runs to that point, was allowed to hit even though the Orioles had a chance to extend their three-run lead and Bergesen was at 99 pitches.
I didn’t particularly mind the move by Dave Trembley at the time because I’m a huge proponent of pushing your pitchers past that magical 100-pitch point. A pitch count absolutely should not be the determining factor of taking a pitcher out of a major league game, and the young pitchers of the squad have to learn how to pitch past 100 pitches.
Then again, I mostly watch American League baseball, so I’m probably not the best source of information on what do in a situation such as this, where there’s better options on the bench to drive in runs, but it’s only the sixth inning of a ballgame and the bullpen has probably been overworked of late.
With an overworked bullpen, Trembley had to have thought he was better off trying to get another effective inning out of Bergesen rather than going for the extra run offensively and subsequently, go to the bullpen early on and rely on Mark Hendrickson, the only rested Orioles’ reliever, to get the Orioles through the rest of the game.
Trembley let Bergesen hit, who didn’t drive in any runs during his at-bat, and in the following half-inning, proceeded to give up three hits –two singles and a triple — that were hit right on the nose. Bergesen could not record an out, giving up two runs and leaving an inherited runner on first base for Hendrickson, who loaded the bases, while recording one out. Hendrickson then gave up a two-run single to Adam Dunn to surrender the lead, but induced an inning-ending double play to avoid further damage. Bergesen’s final line: 5.0 innings pitched, 11 hits, six runs (all earned), one walk.
The Orioles then went nine up, nine down to end the game courtesy of Sean Burnett (seventh inning), Tyler Clippard (eighth) and Matt Capps (ninth).
Pretty typical loss for the Orioles. No one could have been particularly surprised that the Orioles fell apart in the sixth inning like they did.
Once Clippard entered the game, every Orioles’ fan had to have a bad feeling. The Clippard-Capps combo has been lights out all year, and it was again today. Both pitchers attack the hitter, pounding the strike zone with fastballs.
The Capps save was just salt on the wound. The Orioles had a chance to pick him up in the offseason as they searched for a closer, but decided to give Gonzalez a two-year, $12 million deal. The Nationals rolled the dice and signed Capps, who was horrible with Pittsburgh last year, but had previously been a very effective closer. Capps is 16-for-16 in save opportunities. Gonzalez is in Sarasota rehabbing.
All in all, a very fun weekend for me at the park. Maybe I was too greedy in hoping for the Orioles to win both games, though.