The Orioles entered play on June 12 as the worst offense in the majors against left-handed pitching. The OPS gap between them and the second-lowest club is the same between that of the 21st-worst and the 29th.
Who did they have to face in the rubber match with the Tigers? Last season’s American League Cy Young Award winner in Tarik Skubal. The result wasn’t shocking.
Skubal was his usual dominant self, throwing seven shutout innings as Detroit defeated Baltimore, 4-1, to secure the series win. The Orioles (27-40) dropped their second straight series after back-to-back sweeps.
“He’s doing that to everybody,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “Tip your cap to him.”
When asked before the game if the way to attack a pitcher as talented as Skubal is a more small-ball approach, Mansolino joked that he merely hoped Baltimore could get on base to begin with against the major league leader in strikeout-to-walk ratio among qualified pitchers.
Mansolino said pregame his lineup had to balance working Skubal’s pitch count and being aggressive in the zone. He wanted to get to the Tigers’ bullpen as soon as possible but mentioned how focusing on building Skubal’s pitch count could create 0-1 counts in every at-bat.
The Orioles swung at 10 of Skubal’s 25 first pitches. Only two were put into play, both by Jackson Holliday. Of the first pitches not swung at, only six resulted in a 1-0 count.
Skubal only struck out six batters as Baltimore’s lineup did well to put the ball in play, but he also didn’t allow any hard hits. The Orioles did walk twice against Skubal, a feat that’s been relatively uncommon this season. The lefty holds the lowest walks-per-nine rate in the big leagues and had walked more than one batter in a game just once.
Baltimore had its best scoring chance against Skubal in the second inning, when Coby Mayo walked with two outs. Dylan Carlson followed with a two-strike single to put runners on the corners, but Colton Cowser struck out swinging on three pitches on a fastball well above the zone to strand the runners.
The Orioles never got another runner in scoring position with Skubal on the mound. In two starts against Skubal this season, Baltimore went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Skubal didn’t allow a run in either outing.
Carlson, the first batter against the Detroit bullpen, slugged his fourth home run of the year to get the Orioles on the board. That was the only run they scored all night.
Baltimore’s struggles against left-handed pitching have been a problem no matter the respective talent of the pitcher. Thursday’s loss dropped the Orioles to 4-15 this season against lefty starters, and one of the wins came in a 2-1 victory against the White Sox when they faced a one-inning opener who didn’t allow any runs.
Before his first game back from the injured list, Jordan Westburg said there haven’t been a ton of conversations within the team about their woes when facing lefties. They aren’t too worried about it, he added, and that digging into the numbers could be dangerous and overwhelming.
Mayo holds a similar viewpoint. He said on June 10 that the lack of success against left-handers is “only a thing if you really let it be a thing mentally.” Baltimore lost that day 5-3 against a lefty opener.
“I think with a full lineup that’s healthy, and guys playing to how they should play, I’m very confident in this group that we’re going to turn this thing around versus lefties,” Mayo said before the series opener.
June 12, against one of the best pitchers in baseball, wasn’t the day for the turn around.
“You can think all you want in an approach but you’ve got to go up there with the mindset of competing your ass off,” Ramón Laureano said.
One big frame against Dean Kremer was all Detroit needed. The right-hander entered at the start of the second inning after Keegan Akin was used as an opener. Kremer allowed four runs in the top of the fourth, all the damage he allowed in seven innings.
Dillon Dingler started the scoring with a one-out first-pitch homer. Then, Zach McKinstry and Javier Báez each singled. Parker Meadows followed with a three-run blast for a four-spot for the Tigers.
Kremer was strong otherwise, allowing a single and two walks in his six other innings.
“Felt good, I executed pretty much for the most part,” Kremer said. “Got beat on a couple balls and that was the story of the game there.”
While Kremer provided length, the Orioles’ lack of offense against a lefty starter made the effort from their pitching moot — a familiar theme this season.
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