BALTIMORE -- On a dark and stormy afternoon at Camden Yards, just about the only thing sloppier than the Baltimore Orioles during a 14-6 loss was the weather. But it was close.
At first, after the start of Saturday's game against the Kansas City Royals was delayed three hours and two minutes due to a steady soaking rain, it looked as if the Orioles were going to continue riding the wave of momentum from Friday night's emotional 14-8 comeback win. Heading into the sixth inning, the O's led 4-1 thanks a three-run homer from Adam Jones, his 26th of the season, and strong pitching from starter Chris Tillman, who allowed just two hits and a walk through the first five frames. That's when things started to fall apart.
After Tillman allowed a walk and a single to the first two hitters in the top of the sixth, Lorenzo Cain hit a sharp grounder to third that looked like a potential double play, but on the relay, the ball slipped out of second baseman Jonathan Schoop's hands, allowing Cain to reach safely. Later that inning, Mike Moustakas hit a bases-loaded single to center field to make it 4-4. Adam Jones, who has been bothered by a sore right shoulder, threw home, but the ball bounced off the pitcher's mound and skidded away for an error, allowing Moustakas to advance to second. Salvador Perez followed with a single that scored Moustakas and Kendrys Morales to give the Royals a 6-4 lead. The shoddy play continued in the next inning.
In the top of the seventh, leadoff hitter Alex Gordon hit a slowish chopper that looked as if it would've been a routine play for Schoop. Instead, reliever T.J. McFarland attempted an exotic no-look backhand stab with his glove that allowed Gordon to reach on what was ruled an infield single. The next hitter, Ben Zobrist, laid down a perfect bunt along the third base line that Machado barehanded. Despite having little to no chance of getting Zobrist, Machado rushed the throw, which sailed high over the head of first baseman Chris Davis.
At one point, Baltimore's sloppiness even spilled over onto the basepaths. With one out, Jimmy Paredes on second, and J.J. Hardy on first, Royals starter Yordano Ventura bounced a pitch that got away from catcher Salvador Perez. Hardy broke for second without realizing that Paredes had stayed put. Luckily, Perez threw down to second, which allowed Hardy, who was more than halfway to second by that point, to turn around and just barely get back to first in time.
After the game, Hardy downplayed the effect the lengthy rain delay might have had on the Orioles' ability to stay sharp. "Once we get in between the lines," the O's shortstop said, "it's all the same."
Despite the miscues in the field and on the bases, the Birds' sloppiest performance on Saturday undoubtedly came from its bullpen. A day after Baltimore's relievers allowed four runs in four frames in the series opener, a quintet of hurlers gave up 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings.
Said manager Buck Showalter: "I'm being nice when I say they weren't crisp."
Lefty T.J. McFarland got roughed up for five runs in just a third of an inning, four of them coming on a grand slam by Moustakas, who clubbed two homers and set a Royals franchise record by driving in nine runs.
"Bad pitch to a good hitter," McFarland said. "0-2, you don't want [to] throw a hanging slider down the middle. That's not your goal in that situation."
Earlier in the game, whenever Moustakas came to the plate, it was hard to tell if the sound coming from the stands was a collective "boo" from anti-Royal Baltimore fans or a mass "Moose" from blue-clad KC fans, of which there were plenty. But by the time Moustakas came up in the 9th inning, with most of the Oriole fans among the announced crowd of 35,000-plus already gone, and virtually all of the Kansas City fans remaining, it almost felt like a Royals home game. And it was easy to identify the moose call.
Still, after watching his team suffer through a hopeless loss that dropped them even further away from a second wild-card spot that's all but unattainable, the always-optimistic Showalter was able to find a silver lining.
"Our grounds crew did a great job."
