Chaos erupted in the seventh inning on Tuesday night in Arizona, so much so that one could be forgiven if the baseball game was overlooked. The top of the inning included a disputed check-swing call, the subsequent ejections of Arizona’s pitcher Merrill Kelly and manager Torey Lovullo and reminiscent of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First?” skit, a nearly ten minute crew review of a play on the field.
Oh, by the way, the Baltimore Orioles lost 4-3 to the Arizona D-Backs.
The umpire crew should not use the game in any video resume. Home plate umpire Brian O’Nora had a questionable strike zone at times, crew chief Laz Diaz drew Arizona’s ire with his no swing call on Tyler O’Neill and third base umpire Mike Estabrook failed to signal catch/no-catch on a line drive to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Additionally, Diaz appeared clueless as the crew attempted to sort out the play to Gurriel, Jr.
The seventh inning began with a Cedric Mullins (2 for 4, 2B, R, 2 RBI) double, the team’s first hit since the first inning, which was a 2-RBI single by Mullins himself. O’Neill (0 for 2, BB, HBP) walked with the help of the check-swing call and Gary Sanchez (0 for 2, HBP) loaded the bases when he was hit by a pitch following a Heston Kjerstad (0 for 4) line out. The chaos began with the Jackson Holliday (0 for 3) line out to Gurriel, Jr. No signal was made on the play and fortunately Mullins tagged up at third base, which allowed his run to count but O’Neill did not tag up at second, however. The crew review determined that the catch was made (Holliday was out), Mullins run did count and O’Neill was doubled up for not tagging up at second base.
Adley Rutschman (1 for 3, R, BB) and Ryan O’Hearn (1 for 3, R) both scored on the Mullins first inning single and their hits, combined with the pair of Mullins hits, were the totality of the Orioles offense.
Starting pitcher Charlie Morton (0-3) allowed 4 runs on 4 hits (HR), walked 5 and struck out 4 over 5.0 innings and was tagged with the loss.
Once again, the bullpen did the job by keeping the D-Backs off the scoreboard. Sadly the bats did little to help Keegan Akin (1.1 IP, H), Bryan Baker (0.2 IP) and Seranthony Dominguez (1.0 IP, 2 BB, K).
Adding insult to further injury, it was announced that Zach Eflin will be shut down from throwing for about a week due to a lat strain.
2025 Record: 5-7
Next Game: Wed. 4/9 @ 3:40 pm in Arizona vs. D-Backs