TORONTO ā The Orioles werenāt charged with any errors in their 4-3 extra-inning loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon, but it was far from a defensive effort to be proud of.
If the Blue Jays know anything about this Orioles team ā and theyāve showed they do over the past three days in Toronto ā itās that challenging them to make plays defensively is worth the risk. And more often than not, the Blue Jaysā aggressiveness on the bases this series has paid off.
For the third time this series, the Orioles let a single turn into a double, and left fielder Trey Manciniās slow throw into second base in the sixth inning, put the leadoff man in scoring position. That runner eventually scored to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.
Yangervis Solarte seemed satisfied with a single when he hit a ball off the left-field fence, trotting out of the batterās box. But he then realized he might have a chance for a double and speeded up. Mancini played the ball off the wall but double-clutched the ball and Solarte beat the throw to second base. Solarte would score on Teoscar HernĆ”ndezās double.
āI thought we had about three plays we didnāt make today that didnāt show up on the scoreboard,ā Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. āThey were pretty free with hits today. ⦠Pretty nice. It should have been about ā in the major leagues ā three errors I thought, but what do I know.ā
In Thursdayās extra-inning loss, HernĆ”ndez set up the winning run by speeding out of the box and challenging left fielder Joey Rickard to throw him out at second. With HernĆ”ndez at second to open the inning, right-hander Miguel Castro had a slim margin for error, and HernĆ”ndez would eventually score the winning run.
Earlier that game, Rickard ā who had entered in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement for Mancini ā made a decision to throw home in the midst of a three-run ninth inning on Aledmys DĆazās hit to left, giving DĆaz second base uncontested and putting runners at second and third. While the throw ensured a run wouldnāt score, it put two runners in scoring position and allowed Randal Grichuk to make it a one-run game on one hit.
Kevin Gausman, who pitched the Oriolesā ninth quality start in 10 games Saturday, didnāt receive much help from his defense, and it adversely affected his box score.
Mancini made an unsuccessful diving attempt to catch Kendrys Moralesā sinking line drive to open the second inning. Gausman stranded Morales at third, but needed a strikeout-throwout double play to escape, getting Grichuk swinging before catcher Chance Sisco threw out Kevin Pillar trying to steal second.
With one on and nobody out in the third, third baseman Danny Valencia couldnāt come up with Gio Urshelaās grounder, the ball hitting off his glove and deflecting to Manny Machado at deep shortstop to put runners at the corners. Solarte would drive in the runner from third with an RBI single that scored the first run of the game.
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āThereās a lot of them,ā Showalter said. āThere were two or three, without mentioning certain plays. Thereās just something that doesnāt show up analytically or in the error columns. You can always see them with your eyes.ā