It was another no-show by the offense while Albert Suárez and Cole Irvin both got smacked around a bit on the mound.
The Orioles offense was nowhere to be found, and the pitching got knocked around as the Orioles lost 8-0 to the Cubs on Thursday night at Camden Yards.
There wasn’t much good news from this game, but it’s fair to say that Albert Suárez pitched better than his final line indicates.
The 34-year-old navigated the first four innings quite well. In that time, he allowed just one run—a Michael Busch walk followed by a Seiya Suzuki double in the third inning—and struck out three. Apart from hitting the lead-off hitter of the game, things were rather smooth
But it turned to ash in the fifth inning as Suárez got hit around a bit. Tomás Nido reached on an infield single that shortstop Gunnar Henderson did well to stop in the hole, but couldn’t hold onto. Nico Hoerner followed with a double that snuck past Jordan Westburg down the left field line. Busch drove in a pair on another double, this one into the right field corner. And Seiya Suzuki put the finishing touches on the inning with an RBI two-bagger into the left-center gap.
Suárez finished the fifth, but was done after that. Allowing four runs over five innings is not good. But the veteran once again featured his impressive fastball, which had a 28% whiff rate and averaged 95.5 mph on the radar gun. And it was the third time through the order that killed him. If/when he moves back to bullpen, he should continue to be a weapon for the O’s.
Speaking of the bullpen, O’s manager Brandon Hyde only had to ask one of his relievers to step in, which may represent the only other positive from this game. But it’s not as if Cole Irvin pitched well. He did not.
Over four innings, Irvin allowed four runs on seven hits, one walk, and one strikeout. He got three whiffs on 24 swings and gave up tons of extra base hits.
Dansby Swanson hit a homer. Suzuki tripled on a ball that went over Cedric Mullins’ head in center field. Ian Happ doubled into right field. You get the idea. It wasn’t pretty.
That said, there is certainly value in what Irvin provided. The Orioles will now have their entire bullpen at their disposal heading into a crucial weekend series. And with the all-star break approaching it’s possible that Hyde can be overly aggressive with the bullpen, knowing everyone will be fresh again when the real games resume.
It didn’t really matter how good or bad the Orioles pitched though, because the offense provided no support for the second straight game.
Chicago starter Justin Steele baffled the Baltimore bats for seven innings, and needed just 70 pitches to do it. The lefty surrendered only three hits, issued no walks, and struck out four. It took the Orioles until the fourth inning to get their first baserunner (Ryan Mountcastle double), and they wouldn’t get a runner beyond second base all game.
There is no shame in getting bested by a pitcher like Steele. He finished fifth in NL Cy Young voting a season ago, and he is in similar form through through the first half this year. But it is a hard pill to swallow when it comes as part of a sweep at the hands of what feels like an inferior opponent overall.
Drew Smyly and old friend Jorge López had little trouble out of the bullpen either. Smyly worked around one hit to pitch a shutout eighth, and López struck out two and walked one to wrap up the win. It’s nice to see López having success with the Cubs after his unceremonious exit from the Mets earlier in the season. It would be nicer to see him have the success against another team.
As for the Orioles, this was a bad series of baseball for them. They got outplayed in all facets of the game by a team way down in the standings. At the same time, the three starting pitchers that the Cubs sent out there are really good. That’s not an excuse, but it’s at least an explanation.
It’s no time to push the panic button because the series right in front of them is massive. If they go on and sweep the Yankees this weekend, no one will really care about this speed bump against the Cubs. And if the opposite happens, well…let’s not even think about it.
Game one of the series gets underway on Friday night at 7:05. The pitching matchup will be rookie Cade Povich (1-3, 6.51 ERA) against defending AL Cy Young Gerrit Cole (1-1, 6.75 ERA). See you at the Yard.