Losing 5 of 6 to the Tigers; Time to beat Detroit
Oh, dear it’s that Cy Young award staff of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and David Price. No way can we win against that super pitching staff. Clearly not without Chris Davis, Manny Machado and Matt Wieters.
Nonsense. It’s the 2014 Orioles. Just simply a team that knows how to win. When the Tigers tripped us up this year it was prior to the Orioles catching fire and winning at a crazy clip. Hey we have good pitching, too. Chris Tillman will start game one. He’s a real bulldog on the mound and doesn’t seem to get flustered. Wei Yin Chen has been a big boost from the far East. He throws strikes. Bud Norris has been a boon from Houston. He gets people out. And Kevin Gausman is a flame-thrower.
Again the bullpen is every bit as good as KC”s. We’ve got the great closer in Zach Britton. Tommy Hunter has settled in as late-inning guy. Darren O’Day is brilliant in the 8th inning. And the Red Sox transfer Andrew Miller is tough.
Now what worries me is the the way we didn’t hit against Toronto on the last weekend of the season. One or two runs a game won’t work in the playoffs.
That was a lesson we should have learned from the juggernaut 1969 club. It should have swept the Mets right away in 1969 World Series but instead fell victim to the offerings of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and the not-so-good Gary Gentry. It was noted the likes of Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson and Boog Powell had not scored that much during the 69 playoffs.
So, Nick Markakis, take a few balls to left field. And Steve Pearce take a few balls out of the yard. Adam Jones needs to act like the MVP candidate he is. All we need from Nellie Cruz is a few bombs. JJ Hardy needs to stay healthy and drill the ball into the gaps. The catching tandem of Nick Hundley and Caleb Joseph need to protect their pitchers and add some timely hits.
Jon Schoop needs to step up offensively. These Birds will be fine. Go and beat the Tigers please. Is there anything in my book, “Tales from Orioles Nation,” on the Tigers? I recall one story of Frank and the Tigers. As in Frank Robinson had some big hitting sprees against Detroit.
