“This is as emotionally draining as you can get,” Hunter said. “It [stinks]. … There were a couple of really really good plays made tonight that unfortunately we came up on the [short] end of the straw, I guess you could say. It [stinks], but you have to play baseball. You have to play nine innings.
The Orioles caught Verlander on an off day – he issued four walks – but couldn’t capitalize, stranding four runners in scoring position.
After tying the game at 1-1 on Nick Markakis' RBI double in the third inning, the Orioles squandered an opportunity to do more damage when Chris Davis struck out with the bases loaded.
In the first inning, Timmons called Markakis out at the plate on a ball Nate McLouth hit down the first-base line to Fielder. Replays showed that Markakis slid just under the sweep tag of catcher Alex Avila. Timmons was looking down the first-base line to see whether McLouth’s ball was fair and then was late maneuvering into position to get a good angle at the play at the plate.But Reynolds saw something else.
“It’s almost like ‘Screw the Orioles’ by the umpires,” Reynolds said. “I mean [Adam Jones] was obviously safe at first base the other day, cost us a run against Boston. There’s got to be some kind of replay for this. It’s to the point where all these calls that get missed, cost people runs, cost people outs. Cost [Hunter] extra pitches. I can’t say how I really feel but it’s pretty obvious.”
eencina@baltsun.com
