FanPost

Miguel Gonzalez and the Norfolk Tides -- well, that was a fun idea

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via www.milb.com

A tesla coil zaps to life behind an operating table filled with reports on free agents. The ceiling has opened, and a giant death ray-like device with the label "DFA" juts into the open sky, idling pointing to nowhere, dial set to "Josh Stinson." One of those weird Jacob's Ladder contraptions makes a noise for no reason. This is how I imagine Dan Duquette, Orioles General Manager, keeps his office.

Over the All Star Break, the O's braintrust decided to exercise a few remaining options on some of their pitchers and send them down to the farm. My understanding is that the two sent down, Bud Norris and Miguel Gonzalez, have both seen minor injuries this year, and perhaps would benefit from sticking to a routine rather than taking a week off in the middle of their season. I had the chance to catch MiGo's turn at Norfolk, where he faced the Rochester Red Wings.

Gonzalez gave up a solo HR to an Australian named James Beresford in the first inning, but Xavier Paul responded in the bottom of the frame with an Earl Weaver Special. It would be the only Tides hit for awhile off opposing pitcher Yohan Pino. I've never heard of Pino (looks like he's made some starts for the Twins this year), but he entered the game 9-1 with a pretty low ERA. Walks would not be his friend, as shown in the first inning where 1 hit turned into 3 runs.

It didn't appear that Gonzalez was going at full speed at any point in his night. I didn't expect that he'd even throw six innings. He never ran into a crazy pitch count, but I figured he was probably limited to 75 or 80, because why bother with more? In the third inning, he looked pretty bad, giving up a walk, an RBI double to a huge dude named Deibinson Romero, and then let a runner score on a wild pitch that was not catcher Brian Ward's fault.

If MASN was covering this game, we'd hear about how gritty MiGo pitched and that he turned in a Quality Start, allowing three earned runs over 6 IP, while walking two and striking out one. The two walks are subject, as the home plate umpire seemed pretty inconsistent. Other than the one WP, MiGo was not wild. He left the game with a chance to win, and win he did.

I hope there were no Twins fans in the stands with high hopes for their pitching future, because it would have not been a good night to see a game. The aforementioned record of Pino went from 9-1 to 9-2 because the guy gave up SEVEN WALKS in 5 innings. He left the game with the score tied 3-3 after two walks and a single loaded the bases. His replacement, some dude with a mullet, walked in a run and allowed an RBI double-play from Brian Ward, and that was a lead Norfolk would keep. Rochester issued 11 free passes on the night, and might have given more if the home plate ump didn't let Pino buy a condo just off the outside corner of the plate.

All in all, it was a lot of fun to see Miguel Gonzalez pitch in an intimate environment. It felt like seeing a band play in a smaller venue, even if they were just there for the paycheck and maybe mailed it in a bit. Considering it's the middle of July, our low 70s, cloudless and windless weather was as perfect as it gets and made the night that much more enjoyable.

I'm sure Miguel is telling everyone about his pristine 1-0 record in AAA.

Notable: Quinten Berry looked pretty comfortable in LF. He took a great route to a line drive over his head and caught it, but he also failed to catch a liner that resulted in a double and *might* have been playable. Dariel Alvarez is a big dude. So is Pedro Florimon, now with the Twins system. According to the Tides scoreboard, Florimon has never won a game of checkers in his life, but he would probably be welcomed back into the O's organization. Evan Meek threw a perfect 9th inning for this 5th MiLB save of the season. Cord Phelps walks up to Mariah Carey.

Sidenote: Pino dropped the ball on the mound in the 5th and I yelled balk before the umps even did. I just wanted you all to know that I was the smartest baseball person in attendance for that moment last night.

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