Game Wrap and Morning Links: May 6, 2011

Baltimore 1, Kansas City 9

Box Score / Play-By-Play / AP Recap

Baltimore dropped its first Friday home game of the season against the Rays the third game of the KC series, ending their brief Midwest Swang with a 4-3 record. Chris Tillman was not as bad as his line (3.2 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO), but once again he was unable to work through some tough luck hits. I've seen most of Chris's starts this year and am not overly concerned. Are there things to work on? Obviously. But learning to make adjustments at the Major League level is an absolute necessity if a player is to stick, long term, as a contributing piece. Chris is in the difficult position of having to learn what works for him while adjusting to new mechanics and resulting inconsistencies in his stuff. I think he gets there, but there are going to be bumps. Back to the game, the lone bright spot is that Nick Markakis continues to swing it, finishing the road trip 8-30 with a double and a homerun and raising his batting average on the season 21-points. What started out as a feel good trip ends on a sour note, and Baltimore will look to Zach Britton to right the ship against an improving Tampa squad.

Stat of the game

4, 1-3, 0-4 (0%), 32

That's the number of games that Jake Fox has started at catcher, Baltimore's record in those games, the percent of runners Fox has thrown out attempting to steal, and the number of runs Baltimore has allowed in those four games. Small sample size...right?

Orioles Game ball

Nick Markakis (2-4)

MiLB game balls

Norfolk (Box) - Ryan Adams, 2b/3b (2-3, 2B (5), BB)
Bowie (Box) - Brandon Waring, dh (2-4, HR (3), 2B (5), BB)
Frederick (Box) - Tyler Townsend, 1b (2-4, HR (5), 3 RBI (21))
Delmarva (Box) - Kipp Shutz (2-4, RBI (21))

Note: Baltimore's top prospect, Manny Machado (ss, A Delmarva) left the game after crumbling between 2nd and 3rd base. There was swelling in his knee and he is scheduled for an MRI today.

Three Morning Links

MASN's Steve Melewsky provided an update this morning on Manny Machado and his knee.

Luke Scott is heading to the doc's office for an MRI on his sore shoulder, reports Jeff Zrebiec of the Sun.

Dan Connolly of the Sun catches us up on Alfredo Simon's first start of the season since being implicated in a shooting in the Dominican Republic this winter.

Up Next

The O's open a three game set with Tampa tonight. Zach Britton (4.14 xFIP, 152 ERA+) will attempt to get Baltimore back on track against a red hot James Shields (3.12 xFIP, 173 ERA+). 7:05 pm Eastern start.