2014 Baltimore Orioles

[52520Andrew]

Well now I am hopeful for next year when we get some of these guys back, if only we were at full strength this year. Still some hope at least but it will be tough

[BmoreBird22]

He pinch hit yesterday.. Got a hit

I'd rather see Pearce there bottom of 9th but I understand the desire for young.

Because Delmon Young has been incredibly clutch in his postseason career.

[codizzle]

Well now I am hopeful for next year when we get some of these guys back, if only we were at full strength this year. Still some hope at least but it will be tough

It ain't over yet.. Games have been to close with us playing like crap to say that

But.. I won't be excited for next year until I see what we do with Davis/cruz

[Cville-Raven]

Hopefully we get better production top to bottom in the lineup. Markakis, Pearce, Hardy, and Flaherty were all pretty useless in this game; Schoop is also hitting worse than he was in the ALDS. 

[52520Andrew]

It ain't over yet.. Games have been to close with us playing like crap to say that

But.. I won't be excited for next year until I see what we do with Davis/cruz

True but we need to get better quick

Yeah same here but I think our management can get it done. Cautiously optimistic

[Cville-Raven]

It ain't over yet.. Games have been to close with us playing like crap to say that

But.. I won't be excited for next year until I see what we do with Davis/cruz

Yeah, we've been playing with fire and it's been biting us in the butt. Hopefully they learn from their mistakes. Playing from behind all the time is also not a recipe for success. 

[Purple Punishment]

The final thing I'll say. I saw our guys take a lot of first pitch strikes that were straight down the middle fastballs. Then we swing at crap for the following 2 strikes. Hopefully a day off to reflect will get us back where we need to be. They are not invincible. They can be beaten

[Cville-Raven]

The final thing I'll say. I saw our guys take a lot of first pitch strikes that were straight down the middle fastballs. Then we swing at crap for the following 2 strikes. Hopefully a day off to reflect will get us back where we need to be. They are not invincible. They can be beaten

They've also missed at pitches thrown right down the middle. 

[codizzle]

Man I take orioles playoff L way worse than ravens Playoff L now..

So used to ravens being there every year and itching so bad to see orioles in the World Series

[rmw10]

Man I take orioles playoff L way worse than ravens Playoff L now..

So used to ravens being there every year and itching so bad to see orioles in the World Series

 

It's definitely tougher, especially since I'm on the younger side and I've never really seen the Orioles have any sort of success aside from 2012.  Having the Ravens who are continually in the hunt and have tons of recent success, including a SB, makes it tougher to swallow a loss.

[BirdWatcher]

Man I take orioles playoff L way worse than ravens Playoff L now..

So used to ravens being there every year and itching so bad to see orioles in the World Series

I'm sad, but not down. I take Ravens losses much worse, probably because there are so few opportunities. This has been such a fantastic season of baseball that no matter what happens in KC, I'm going to be smiling all winter. This team has been just plain fun to watch, and watch I did. I pretty much only missed night games on the left coast.

Imagine if we had Wieters, Davis, and Machado this week. We'd have kicked some KC butt.

[H8R]

Losing in the playoffs in football is a quick death.... But losing 4 times in ALCS is a brutal death... FOUR TIMES.

[52520Andrew]

Losing in the playoffs in football is a quick death.... But losing 4 times in ALCS is a brutal death... FOUR TIMES.

Yeah agreed. Hopefully we only lose 2

[JO_75]

Yeah agreed. Hopefully we only lose 2

 

I predicted we win in 6 but we have to avoid losing the next two in order to do that. It will be tough winning 4 in a row but considering the first two games have been close, I think we can pull off enough to get to Game 6, or possibly 7.

[52520Andrew]

I predicted we win in 6 but we have to avoid losing the next two in order to do that. It will be tough winning 4 in a row but considering the first two games have been close, I think we can pull off enough to get to Game 6, or possibly 7.

I think we can but we have stuff to work on. Hopefully we work through it and KC gets a bit complacent

[balfan23]

I think we can but we have stuff to work on. Hopefully we work through it and KC gets a bit complacent

To me ... that the hope - that KC gets complacent. We need for KC to think they are as good as they're recent results - which involve countless shattered bat gift hits, seeing eye grounders and swinging bunts. They are preening around like they think they are the 27 Yankees, when they seem to not realize they've had a horse shoe suck up their backsides. 

 

And post game ... let's pour a victory jug of Gatorade over the head of the guy getting interviewed. Why not pop some champagne in the locker room? 

 

Their luck needs to run out now. Then, without all of these gifts from the baseball gods ... let's see how they handle themselves. We need to follow the "We Won't Stop" approach and keep coming at them. If it starts to slip and the ball stops bouncing their way, they might start feeling the pressure and we can still take them down. We've got quite a hole to climb out of, but it is not out of reach. 

[codizzle]

https://twitter.com/paulvalleiii/status/521170726800592896

KC with all the cocky confidence in the world

[JEEPercreepermd]

I woke up this morning with a feeling that we are going to sweep the rest of this series. You heard it first right here folks. I really think that we just need that first win, and the wheels will start falling off in KC.

[H8R]

I just catch myself thinking of what could have been... I mean, Weiters, Machado and DAVIS... That's a 1/3rd of the projected line-up AND 3 of our best players! Might I mention that each are at the top of their respected skills sets either offensively or defensively ...

Wrap your head around that for a second!

[FerrariFan87]

I'm disgusted with how we've played, but still hopeful that we can take at least 2/3 somehow and bring the series back to Baltimore...

 

Also, when did we sign Jim Johnson (Zach Britton) to come in and choke games away? Ugh...

[balfan23]

... and while I'm not going to try to make officiating an excuse, the strike zone for these first 2 games has been absolutely mystifying. There have been a number of at bats where the Royals showed a "good eye" (or, you could say were fooled ...) and the ump let a call strike 3 go by - that was then followed by a key devastating hit. The 3 run double in game 1 (also by the graces of a shattered bat bloop) was one. Yesterday, it was a 3 up 3 down inning that was denied of us on a would-be call strike 3 on Moustakas - and he hit the next pitch into the seats. 

 

They've also been subjected to the inexplicable zone, but have not allowed themselves to be victimized by it to the degree that we have. So really, the difference in the series in my mind is that they've been able to stay even with us through the first 7 or 8 by their ability to capitalize on a pathetic strike zone and then have simply out played our late inning relievers. Right now, it feels like Miller is the only guy we can trust. 

 

But it feels like the umps inability to cope comes mostly on breaking balls. It is like these guys are little league umps who don't know what a curve ball looks like. They seem to be consistently fooled by them. Is this really the cream of the crop? I hope the next guys in this rotation are better, but if we win a few, we'll rotate back to these clowns. They've been an absolute joke. 

[cursona pirate]

Tonight is the night. Gotta win today.

[JEEPercreepermd]

We can beat Guthrie and Vargas. Hopefully we can get a lead, force them into the pen early and negate the two major stengths of their team. O'Day and Britton are much more effective when they have the advantage of a lead..batters can't look specifically for balls up in the zone to jump on and take everything else.

There is still a lot of baseball yet to be played and this thing is far from over, despite what the Royals think.

[Gordo52]

I just catch myself thinking of what could have been... I mean, Weiters, Machado and DAVIS... That's a 1/3rd of the projected line-up AND 3 of our best players! Might I mention that each are at the top of their respected skills sets either offensively or defensively ...

Wrap your head around that for a second!

It's depressing

[JEEPercreepermd]

Let's kick the bad ju ju and get some good energy going our way! We are still in this thing, KC brought their A game to our house and barely escaped even though we played terribly in all aspects compared to the standard. That tells me that maybe the week off had us off our game..that happens a lot ..I mean just look at the NFL playoffs when a team comes out flat after a 1st round bye and gets knocked off by some wildcard who is still riding the emotion of winning a tight race down the stretch and 1st round upset win.

Same rule here, but I have a feeling that the O's start the push forward tonight..and we've a seen that once this team starts rolling..good luck stoppin them.

[rmw10]

Game postponed until tomorrow at 8.

[codizzle]

"I've got 96 reasons to be confident in our guys"

[cursona pirate]

Chen has to be on his A Game like a couple weeks ago. He was perfect for 6 inning. 

[BirdWatcher]

Is Gonzo ever going to get a chance?

[JEEPercreepermd]

Good question, it will be very interesting how Buck works the rotation in this situation. Gonzo would be today's starter had they played last night and won.

Had the played last night and lost, in a 3-0 hole, my bet would be that they would go to Tillman today.

My gut the rest of the way would be to go with Gonzo tomorrow, if the series is tied at that point, I'm going Tillman to give us the lead, then Norris game 6 at home for the series.

If we lose today, I'm going Tillman, Norris, Gonzo, Chen

These guys are all young, fresh arms..one day less rest shold be ok