Orioles-Tigers: Notes from Game One

At some point people are going to come around to the fact that the Baltimore Orioles are good. They finished the regular season 96-66 and I’m sorry, you don’t do that with smoke and mirrors.

Tonight, the Orioles smoked the Tigers 12-3 in Game One of the ALDS. They did so with power, an 8-run eighth, and four innings of exemplary bullpen usage. There’s no point in recapping what you watched on TV, but here are a few perspectives from post-game interviews, as well as relevant comments from Wednesday’s media session.

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Victor Martinez struck out once every 15.26 plate appearances this year, the best mark in the league. He fanned just 42 times, making him the first player to hit at least 30 home runs with 45-or-fewer strikeouts since Barry Bonds turned the trick in 2004. V-Mart’s .409 OBP led the American League and was second to Andrew McCutchen’s .410 overall.

Finding a way to contain Martinez – and Miguel Cabrera – is a priority for the Orioles. Martinez struck out twice tonight – something he did just three times during the regular season – but he also went deep, as did Cabrera.

In the opinion of an American League pitching coach I spoke to earlier this week, there is no one way to get them out.

“Martinez and Cabrera are both animals, and Victor might actually be the better hitter right now,” said the coach. “With the Orioles, if you do specific things to Adam Jones and Chris Davis, you’ll get them out nine times out of 10. But I’ve sat down with our starting pitchers after doing all my video work, and there’s nothing you can just do to Cabrera or Martinez.”

“Their holes are a lot smaller and change a lot more frequently than some guys,” agreed Orioles catcher Matt Wieters. “The thing with really great hitters – and they’re world-class hitters – is if you think you found a hole and keep throwing it there, eventually it closes.”

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He didn’t get credited with a save, but Zach Britton helped close out the Tigers’ chances tonight. The lefthander came in to retire Martinez on a ground ball to end the top of the eighth inning after Cabrera’s home run off Darren O’Day brought the Tigers to within one run.

On Wednesday, I asked Britton how he will approach Detroit’s dynamic duo.

“With those guys, you have to make sure to throw every pitch with conviction, in a good spot, because they can beat you in tough situations,” Britton told me. “They’re great hitters, but at the same time, you can’t put them on this huge pedestal. If you execute a good pitch you can get them out.”

According to Martinez, Britton didn’t necessarily execute a good pitch.

“That 3-1 pitch was a really good pitch to hit,” Martinez told me after the game. “I hit it straight to the ground. I got him right where I wanted, a 3-1, count, and he actually gave me a great pitch to hit. I just couldn’t do anything with it.”

“It was a sinker,” said Britton. “I was trying to throw a good, quality strike to him, kind of keep it out of his juice spot, which is down and in. It ended up kind of middle, but it had enough movement that he rolled over it. That’s what late life does. I’ll want to make a better pitch next time, but I got him out.”

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There was no need for Britton to come back out for the ninth inning, but he would have if not for the eight-run explosion. He’d have been the third Orioles reliever of the game to finish an inning and start another – Andrew Miller and O’Day did it earlier – and these days that’s not all that common. Far more often than not, once a reliever sits – long men being the exception — he keeps sitting.

It’s also not common for a manager to use his set-up men in the sixth and seventh innings, and his closer in the eighth. Showalter went against locked-in-roles convention and locked in on leverage.

“He mentioned to us that it’s not just going to be one-inning outings,” Britton said after the game. “If he needs me in the eighth, which he did – he felt comfortable going to me right there – and I was ready. I’ll be ready throughout the postseason if he needs to use me in the eighth, the seventh, wherever it is, I’m ready to go.

“He’s going to throw the best guy for the situation. If that’s you, you’re going into the game. That’s what he told us coming into the postseason, to be ready for anything.”

“It’s the postseason,” said Showalter. “They know that it’s all hands on deck. But the bottom line is, they’re good pitchers. When you have more than one good relief pitcher, you can do that.”

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In Max Scherzer’s opinion, the solo home run he gave up in the seventh inning was a back breaker. It may not have nudged Win Probably quite as much as a few other plays, but it stood out to the Tigers ace.

“The one that stings is the J.J. Hardy home run,” said Scherzer. “That home run really changed the game in my eyes. It gave them that insurance run. My changeup had been working well all night, I just yanked it a little bit and left it too good of a pitch for him. He’s a great hitter and put a great swing on it.”

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It’s an irrelevant footnote in a game that finished 12-3, but Orioles first baseman Steve Pearce was thrown out by Tigers left fielder J.D. Martinez trying to stretch a single in the sixth inning. The ball was lined off the fence, and Pearce is no plodder, so he should have made second without a hitch.

“I thought it was a home run,” admitted Pearce. “The ball hit right back to him. I have to do a better job. I should have ran hard out of the box, but stuff happens in baseball and you learn from it.”

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“What happened tonight is the Tigers were shellacked by a team that maybe, just maybe, gained a tad more respect in winning for the 97th time this year. The Orioles are one step closer, while Detroit is, in Scherzer’s words, ‘Not in the position we want to be in. Not coming away with a win, no matter the scenario, is always tough, whether we lose 12-3 or by one run. Hopefully I’ll get to pitch a Game 5.”