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Whew. Tough one today. I've had some real doozies to write up this year.
The game started on a good note. Matt Carpenter and Jose Martinez both drew walks in the top of the first inning. Carpenter later scored on an error. 1-0 Cardinals, their first and only lead of the day. The Orioles came back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, on back-to-back solo shots by Adam Jones and Mark Trumbo. 2-1 Orioles.
The wheels fell off for Wainwright in the second inning. It went a little something like this:
Jonathan Schoop single, Welington Castillo walk, Hyun Soo Kim fielder's choice, JJ Hardy double, Seth Smith lineout, Manny Machado home run, Adam Jones HBP, Trumbo single, Trey Mancini double. When the dust settled, it was 8-1 Orioles. Tyler Lyons replaced Wainwirght to get the last out of the second inning, but not before giving up a hit to Schoop to bring the score to 9-1.
I continue watching, desperately hoping for something good to focus on. Maybe Lyons will be awesome, I think to myself, and at least there will be a silver lining. Lyons was...fine. (And fine, if you know I mean.) He pitched 3.1 innings, which in and of itself was good, because it was ONLY THE SECOND INNING when Waino departed. In those innings, Lyons struck out seven batters, but also gave up four hits and three runs, including a home run to Schoop. (At this point, I started thinking about possible rifts on the famous Salt n Peppa song. I just didn't have it in me today.)
It was a shame, because in the meantime, the Cardinals were trying real hard to mount a comeback, aided by more home runs from Paul DeJong, Yadier Molina and Dexter Fowler. By the time Fowler hit his three-run shot, the Orioles had run up the bottom line to 12 runs. Brebbia relived Lyons and gave up another home run to Schoop. (In my notebook, I scribble brotha had it goin' on with crazy kinda hittin', hittin'. I crumple it up immediately.) Matt Bowman relieved Brebbia and gave up a run on a passed ball, but was otherwise good enough, I assume. At that point, it was 15-7 and let's be honest, no one was watching at that point, not even the 62 Orioles fans who showed up for the game.
And that's how it ended, folks. 22 combined runs, 25 combined hits, 7 combined home runs, and one Cardinals loss.
P.S. Wainwright's game score was -10. Don't think I've ever seen that before. Happy Saturday, everyone!