It was an ugly day at Ed Smith today as the Orioles got pounded by the Detroit Tigers, 9-1. The pitching got lit up as Brian Matusz gave up three runs – two earned – in 3 1/3 innings.
Baltimore’s bullpen wasn’t much better as Mike Ballard and David Riske both gave up three runs each in their outing. Only pitcher Josh Rupe came out unscathed, going 2 2/3 scoreless innings.
On the offensive front, J.J. Hardy hit his first homer of the exhibition season and Mark Reynolds went 2-for-3.
Miguel Cabrera – whose off the field problems have been prominently noted this month – had three hits with 2 RBIs for Detroit; meanwhile, Casper Wells had four hits, a homer and two runs driven in. Cale Iorg had three hits.
Moving on…
There’s been a lot said about Brian Matusz going into this season for the Orioles.
As the team is still in a rebuilding stage – despite the addition of talent onto the roster – how they will do next season and beyond will depend on their pitching.
It looks like a lot will be expected out of him this season, as he will be the number two guy in the starting rotation after veteran hurler Jeremy Guthrie. More than anyone on the roster, he will be expected to be the man in 2011.
Although Matusz started the 2010 season on a fairly rough note, and included a stretch where he only won one start in the months of June and July, the last two months of the season were breathtaking.
At the same time that Buck Showalter joined the organization, Matusz started to come together. He kept his ERA slightly over two – at a 2.18 clip and a 7-1 record – over the final two months of season and also held his own against some formidable competition (much of it against rivals in the AL East). In fact, I saw him at a game in the New Yankee Stadium where he flat-out dominated a stacked Bronx Bombers’ lineup.
There’s a reason why the Orioles made him their number one pick in 2008 and he jumped through several levels of the minor league system – skipping Triple-A entirely – before debuting as a big leaguer in August 2009.
Obviously, as a young pitcher, Matusz will have his ups and downs, much like he had today with the Tigers; however, he’s going to be one of the core pieces of the franchise heading into the future.
