The Orioles lost 10-7 today to the Toronto Blue Jays and when it was over, right fielder Travis Snider took the fall for the three runs that came in on his watch.
With the bases loaded, two outs and the Jays leading 3-2 in the third against Chris Tillman, Snider had Devon Travis' drive to right tick off his glove. It was scored an error and three runs scored.
"I misplayed it," Snider said. "That is a ball that has to be caught. Especially, Chris pitched his backside off for us and gave us a chance to get out of that inning. That is one of those things you have to continue to work at and get better. In that situation, you want to come up with the ball."
Snider initially came in on the ball and then had to break back. The first move cost him.
"As I tried to break back, my weight, I wasn't able to get off my front side to be able to jump up and catch it," he said. "That is one of those balls as an outfielder that you have to be patient and not overread to be overanxious to come in and get it.
"No, I don't think the ballpark has anything to do with it. As an outfielder, when you get a ball hit right at you, your initial read is crucial. When you commit in, that is when you get burnt going back. It hit the glove. My leaping ability is not great and I was not able to make up for the misstep."
He would later get those three runs back by hitting a three-run shot.
"Yeah, but (what is) most important is winning ballgames. If we win that game, everyone is feeling good," Snider said. "It is not just about what I'm doing, it is what we are doing as a team. Like to come out of that with a series win and move on to the next one."
The final two runs scored on a Jose Bautista two-run homer off Darren O'Day in the eighth. The homer followed a pitch that came inside on Bautista, who seemed to celebrate his homer, raising his hands after crossing the plate and perhaps yelling something as well.
"I didn't hear him," O'Day said. "Focusing on myself, I threw a terrible pitch. If you make mistakes like that, a guy like that is going to hit them. It was a terrible pitch. I didn't notice what he was doing.
"The smart play there is once I fell behind, I was trying to pitch around him and face (Edwin) Encarnacion, who I have a better history against. That was honestly what I was trying to do. If I throw that pitch in the other batter's box, maybe he swings through it and I walk off the field. But I left it middle of the plate and he put a good swing on it."
Chris Tillman today allowed seven runs over just 2 2/3 innings. It is one off his career high of eight runs allowed three times before, most recently last May 21 at Pittsburgh. This ties for his second-shortest start ever at Camden Yards, and was his shortest since Aug. 11, 2011 against the Chicago White Sox.
"They came out swinging," said Tillman. "I was never able to get any real command of any of my pitches. If I have command of just maybe one of them, I'm able to get deeper in that game. They put some good swings on pitches.
"I wasn't able to get right. From the get-go, I was a little off with the command and I never got back in it. Ryan (Lavarnway) did a good job of giving me every opportunity to get back in it, but it was just poor execution all the way through."
Tillman, who has an ERA of 3.86 through two starts, walked the bases loaded in the third.
"Walks never help. Getting the first guy out of an inning is important. I don't think I got any first hitter today and that makes it tough," he said.
The Blue Jays scored 22 runs in their two wins this weekend. Lavarnway was asked if Toronto served notice that it will be a contender this year.
"I'm not going to read anything into that too much," the catcher said. "I think we just have to give a lot of credit to the Blue Jays lineup. They got some pitches to hit and they didn't miss them. But I like our team, today wasn't our day. We have 150-some left. Like our club."
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