Elrod Hendricks pitched well in this loss (Blue Jays series review)
OK, we lost 2 of 3 from the Jays. That was not good but before we figure out what went wrong, let’s look back to the year 1978. It was a good year for the Birds (90 wins). However on July 26, the last-place Jays hosted Baltimore. A pair of now deceased left-handers started on the mound. It was Mike Flanagan for the Birds and Tommy Underwood for the Jays. And Baltimore had a good start as the “Big Bopper” Lee May singled in a run.
Flanagan stopped the Jays in the home half of the first. And that was the extent of the good news.
Otto Velez opened the Jays second with a double. Flanagan didn’t get another out. Velez doubled again in the first. Nine runs went up on the board. In the next three Toronto at-bats, the Jays added 15 runs. Only the relief work of outfielder Larry Harlow and catcher Elrod Hendricks stopped the Jays’ attack. May had a big day with 2 homers and a double. The O’s scored 10 runs and lost by two touchdowns. Final score; Toronto 24, Baltimore 10. Oh, gosh.
So back to the present. What happened to our offense? We were shut down in the opener by Dustin McGowan who hadn’t pitched effectively in the Majors since 2011. And there are no excuses. Baltimore had owned this hurler in the past. In 13 games against the Birds, McGowan was winless in three games and his ERA was nearly 7 runs a game.
The good news was Chris Tillman was brilliant again.
There was more non-hitting on Saturday. Only some late-inning Orioles magic pulled this one out. Saturday’s hero was Bud Norris who again gave the Birds a strong pitching effort. Youngster Jonathan Schoop broke the offensive silence when he doubled in the seventh giving us a 1-0 lead. It held up until two outs in the ninth. Tommy Hunter lost a save and Norris a win when Colby Rasmus went yard.
Steve Lombardozzi came to the rescue when he tripled in the 12th. David Lough spayed a hit to left to bring in the winning run in the 2-1 loss.
Sunday was kind of a disaster. Ubaldo Jimenez did not pitch well and we got squashed 11-3. No it’s not time to find another pitcher. Jimenez will find it. The good news here is Chris Davis finally cracked the code for his first homer of the season. Matt Wieters followed that shot with his third homer of the year.
