Luckily these spring training games don't count; the Orioles were outslugged today in Sarasota by the Houston Astros by the score of 14-8. Oriole starter Brad Bergesen appeared a bit dull from the outset, and he struggled against left handed hitters through his four innings of work. Still, Bergesen took a 1-0 lead into his final inning (the fourth) of work before giving up a run, and then a three-run homer to Bill Hall.
As I said, Bergesen seemed a bit off from the outset. He appeared to be releasing the ball too early which made for the ball being a bit up in the zone. This is not to say that Bergesen pitched horribly, because personally I didn't think that was the case. His slider and breaking ball were pretty spot on for most of his outing. However as has been said by numerous people with regard to various pitchers, if you can't throw a major league fastball you won't last at this level. Bergesen's fastball wasn't too far off, but it was far enough off to walk to give up four runs. Having said that, Mike Flanagan made a good point during the MASN telecast. He said that pitchers are told how many innings and/or how many pitches they'll throw in these spring training outings. When you pitch in a regular season game your goal is to get through as many innings as possible. In this case, when you get into that final inning, you almost go into cruise control. The fact that Bergy didn't get into real trouble until his fourth and final inning lends creedance to that belief.
The one bright spot for the Orioles today was Jake Fox. Fox started the scoring off in the bottom of the second with a solo HR, his fifth of the spring. Fox is hitting .341 on the spring, and is making a heck of a case to be the team's opening day backup catcher. Fox is also a very versatile player in that he can play several other positions. In other words, he wants to get into the games in any manner possible, and he's willing to grab the bull by the horns to do that.
Ideally you want to win every game that you play, however hopefully the O's can get their kinks of this nature out right here in spring training. More importantly than the result of today's game, Derrek Lee is expected to take live batting practice tomorrow, and hopes to get into some spring training games very soon (perhaps by this weekend). Brian Roberts' MRI showed nothing new on his back, however he's still trying to work through spasms. Luckily the O's don't see the 'stros during the season; and as I said above, luckily these games don't count!
Written by:
