It may have gone unnoticed after the Orioles eked out a victory against the Red Sox on Monday, but the Baltimore bullpen didn’t look sharp. O’s relievers surrendered three earned runs over four innings of work in Fenway Park.
On Tuesday night in Toronto, things got much worse. The Baltimore bullpen surrendered six earned runs over 2.1 innings pitched.
Here are the lines of the relievers Buck Showalter used on Monday and Tuesday:
Ryan Webb: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Zach Britton: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Darren O’Day: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Brian Matusz: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Tommy Hunter: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
T.J. McFarland: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
Ryan Webb: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Evan Meek: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Josh Stinson: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
What’s the problem? Likely a worn out pen. Here’s how much they’ve been used the past four days:
Zach Britton: 42 pitches (20 Monday, 22 Sunday)
Tommy Hunter: 25 pitches (25 Monday)
Brian Matusz: 18 pitches (7 Monday, 11 Sunday)
Evan Meek: 48 pitches (10 Tuesday, 27 Sunday, 3 Saturday)
Josh Stinson: 16 pitches (16 Tuesday)
Ryan Webb: 34 pitches (2 Tuesday, 15 Monday, 17 Saturday)
Orioles starters have pitched six innings or more in just seven of their 19 games this season. The rotation has thrown just 108 innings this season, while the pen has been used in 60.2 innings.
Image Credit: Keith Allison
Uh, boy. Bullpen could be burnt up before Memorial Day.