Game Day Recap - April 13 ft. Orioles, Rays & Red Sox
Oakland A’s @ Baltimore Orioles
I think speed is going to be a hot commodity in the coming years. The A’s scored in the first inning thanks to their speed. The Diamondbacks are off to a hot start this season and in most of the games I’ve watched where they play, speed leads the way to their victory. Those are just two team-specific examples. The number of steals and steal attempts I see in all games suggests fast players are going to see an increase in their annual salaries.
The Orioles are going to be the no-quit team of the year. They’ve taken the lead in the bottom of the second inning and they look good doing it. Not to be forgotten, the A’s scored 3 in the top of the third and the Orioles come back to score 4 in the bottom of the inning. I’m not about to start rooting for the Orioles, but their games have been fun, almost across the board.
It’s now the middle of the 5th inning and the game is tied at 7. This game really reinforces the idea that Orioles fans should sit down, get themselves a beverage of the age-appropriate sort, and enjoy the ride while looking forward to the next season.
How the Orioles Won: They played never give up baseball and they got the walk-off home run to finish the game. Starting pitching scored a negative game but the bullpen held the score and the bats did just enough to get the win. This was another signature win for the Orioles. Not the kind of signature wins I would want to rely on as a fan, but as a fan of baseball, I’m here for the chaos.
Boston Red Sox @ Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays are a bonkers team. They have an answer for everything the teams they play throw at them. The Red Sox get out to a first-inning lead and the Rays answer with a leadoff home run. Outside of the home run hit by Refsnyder, Springs is mowing down the Red Sox who look ineffective at the plate.
This first bad thing for the Rays has happened and it’s the worst kind of bad. Their starting pitcher had to leave the game with an injury. The game is in the 5th inning now and the Rays have just scored to get the Sox lead down to 3-2. What are these forces that keep the Rays in games? There is no quit in their bats and the teams they play don’t bring enough bats to get far enough ahead to put the game away, nor can the opposing pitchers hold off the Rays from scoring runs. There is some voodoo going on. This makes me super nervous for the Jays series.
What happens if the Rays sweep the Jays? Do the Rays become real contenders for the greatest all-time season? Not that the Jays are a measure of that, but the confidence the Rays gain by beating an elite team will carry them through the rest of the season. Additionally, the obnoxious conversation around “the Rays beat a real team so you can all shut up” will become exhausting in the way fan bases of disrespected teams can be exhausting. I will be avoiding r/Rays if that is the case. The Rays are, without a doubt, the best team in baseball but how good are they and it’s up to the Jays to define the early season part of that conversation.
A 7-run 5th inning and this game feels over. I know the Red Sox scored a lot of runs in yesterday’s game but what are the odds the Rays bullpen gives up 5+ runs two days in a row?
Turns out the answer to that question is no.
How the Rays Won: They played unrelenting baseball. A 7-run inning helps a lot but the Red Sox needed to find a steady stream of good baseball and the Rays pitching prevented that from happening. The bats waited for half the game to pass, but they scored the runs they needed to put the Red Sox away. I don’t have any more ways to say the Rays are really good. They are the best team in baseball and the Blue Jays get them next. So much to look forward to in this series and so many conversation to come out of it, regardless of the outcome.
