The Orioles broke a four-game losing streak on Sunday, as they finally got another win, defeating the Detroit Tigers, 3-1, on the road at Comerica Park.
They had not garnered a win since Opening Day and Chris Tillman once delivered on the mound, defeating Justin Verlander in a game that was close throughout the afternoon. The defense was tremendous for Baltimore, and Tillman was the man on Sunday.
The Orioles brought down the Tigers – who were last undefeated team in the sport – as Adam Jones broke a 1-1 tie with a sacrifice fly in the 8th inning.
Matt Wieters’ homer in the ninth inning gave the Orioles a very important insurance run, and Tommy Hunter earned his second save of the season.
Tillman once again looked like an ace, going 8 1/3 innings and giving up five hits. His only mistake on the day was giving up a solo homer to Torii Hunter – who has literally been a one man team against the Orioles this weekend – in the 4th inning.
Overall, it was a good day for Baltimore and it ended their four-game slide.
They are now 2-4 on the season. It’s early in the 2014 campaign; however, the one big problem has been the starting pitching. Aside from Chris Tillman, and possibly Wei-Yin Chen’s effort in game three of the season for Baltimore, it has been lackluster.
When I was looking at things for this team before the season, I thought it was a weakness. Honestly, Ubaldo Jimenez (despite the high strikeout totals on Wednesday), Miguel Gonzalez and Bud Norris have not been good.
Well, it’s only been a week since the season started, but the Orioles will need more out of those three if they are to contend. Teams can’t win a playoff spot or a division title in April, but they can sure lose it.
The Orioles must do better.
I’m a bit nervous as to how Baltimore has started the season, but things should get better and it’s still very early.
I’m currently in Michigan for family stuff, and caught the Tigers game at Comerica Park on Saturday. I was here nine years ago, and the park has not changed much; however, it is quite a grand ballpark.
I also toured the city of Detroit, and was that ever an eye-opener. I had some family members volunteer to give me a car tour and some parts of the city looked like post-war World War II London.
I don’t know how to quite articulate what I saw that day in Detroit, but seeing in all in reality than in pictures or during some news feature made it even that much more startling.
It’s quite sad to see a great American city fall into such decline and disrepair; however, I’m sure there will be brighter days for Detroit.
