Are first-inning pitch counts becoming an issue? (plus other notes)

It's too early to call it a trend, but already three times this season the Orioles starting pitcher has had a pitch count of over 30 at the end of the first inning.

Chris Tillman threw 32 pitches in the first yesterday, Miguel Gonzalez threw 32 against Tampa Bay and Bud Norris threw 36 in the home opener on Friday against Toronto.

By the way, those are the three games the Orioles lost during their 3-3 start.

Way too early to be concerned, but today I asked manager Buck Showalter how O's starters can get out of the first with fewer pitches moving forward.

"I wish I knew," he said. "I wish I was that smart. One of the problems is our pitching staff gives up a lot of foul balls. We were No. 1 in all of baseball last year in most foul balls given up that weren't caught.

"I remember Chris having a 28-pitch first inning and actually be almost three up and three down. I've got my own theories why, but we kind of like the endgame."

Can a pitcher work on limiting the number of foul balls hit against him?

"There is a way you fix it, but sometimes that doesn't fit into the repertoire now," Showalter said. "There is no pattern to it. I looked at where some teams ranked and Tampa was second. That didn't make any sense. They strike out a lot of people.

"I use a lot of that analytics stuff just to kind of verify what my gut is telling me. I was sitting in the dugout last year and said, 'Gosh we give up a lot of foul balls.' Sure enough, someone keeps that stat."

Some other O's notes:

* Second baseman Jonathan Schoop is back in the starting lineup tonight, batting seventh at second base. Schoop was a late lineup scratch Sunday with a sore left quadriceps muscle.

"Buck told me he would give me a day off with a day game after a late game. It's good now, ready to go. Took some treatment and stretched a little bit and I feel good. Much better than yesterday," Schoop said.

Schoop is off to a 4-for-14 (.286) start with two homers and five RBIs. Last year, he didn't hit his second homer until his 18th game.

He has homered in his last two games, including hitting his first grand slam on Saturday night against the Blue Jays.

"Getting good pitches to hit and when they throw it in there, don't miss it. Hit it hard," Schoop said of his start so far.

* The Orioles play 19 straight against the American League East and have split their first two series. Outfielder Travis Snider is looking forward to the battles within the division.

"We look at it as one game at a time," he said. "The series will come and go, but if you focus on day to day, getting better and doing what you have to do to win that game that day, that is the focus to take into it. Win the first game of the series and move on from there."

* Boston and Toronto began today 4-2, leading the division by one game over the Orioles and Tampa Bay, who are 3-3, and by two games over New York at 2-4.

Sunday's losing pitcher, Tillman, was asked about Toronto's start with series wins at New York and Baltimore.

"I think they have a good offense," Tillman said. " Any good offense is beatable by good pitching, but they have a solid lineup one through nine. It will take a guy to be on his game to get through that lineup three or four times."

In the Toronto series, Tillman and Norris combined to pitch just 5 2/3 innings, allowing 13 hits and 15 runs (11 earned) while Ubaldo Jimenez went seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit.

* Former Oriole Calvin Pickering was a visitor to the Orioles clubhouse today. He worked his way around the clubhouse talking to several players. Pickering was in Salisbury, Md., on Sunday, making an appearance for the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds.

In 1997, Pickering and current Shorebirds manager Ryan Minor combined to hit 49 homers with 176 RBIs in leading Delmarva to the South Atlantic League championship.