Darren O'Day very critical of umpire after strike call he didn't get

The Orioles were leading 5-4 in the eighth inning with Darren O'Day on the mound and two outs. O'Day threw a 2-2 pitch to Detroit's J.D. Martinez and thought Martinez, trying to check his swing, instead went too far and struck out.

Home plate umpire Jeff Kellogg appealed to first base umpire Mark Wegner. No swing, Wegner ruled. On the 3-2 pitch, Martinez homered to tie the game. On the next pitch, Miguel Cabrera homered and Detroit had the lead - and later the 6-5 win. O'Day, who had allowed one homer all year, gave up two on two pitches.

In the Orioles clubhouse after the game, O'Day spoke in a calm manner but was irate on the inside based on his comments. He said Wegner blew the call and felt he should have been in the dugout with a 5-4 lead.

"It was a good pitch," O'Day said. "If I get him to swing at it and I did. Mark Wegner absolutely embarrassed himself. I have a great relationship with a lot of umpires. Some I consider friends. They have a tough job. It's a judgement call, but that was pretty egregious. I think all the replays, it's a swing. Hitters that good don't need extra chances.

"I like that (Kellogg) checked (with Wegner). I appreciate that Jeff didn't call it, because that is what the first base umpire is supposed to be watching. Yeah, strike three. I was headed to the dugout.

"It's tough to be an umpire, man. It's a tough job, but you have to better than that. You know, I'll take the loss. I blew it. The pitch to Cabrera was especially bad. It's not like me, I'm pretty collected out there. But, yeah, I blew that. I'll take the loss, it's in my name in the boxscore.

"But that was terrible. It was terrible. Games like that, assuming Zach (Britton) does what he normally does in the ninth inning, that's a win and a series win against a really good team. It was not good, it cost us."

O'Day went on about the call he didn't get and the out that didn't come.

"Me complaining after the fact, a lot of times, stuff like that happens," he said. "Like I said, umpiring is a tough job. It has happened to me before and I've gotten out of it. Now I look petulant, whiney, because I'm complaining about it. But there is no accountability.

"That costs games. If we lose the division by one game, there is no telling what that cost. So, you know, when you are out there doing the job to the best of your ability, I'm trying to pitch, he's trying to umpire. Somebody dropped the ball today. I dropped the ball after that. The pitch that Martinez hit out wasn't a bad pitch. I'm not too frustrated by that. Like I said, he's a really good hitter and he doesn't need extra chances. The pitch to Cabrera was terrible. You guys can speculate all you want about that," O'Day said.

O'Day was asked if not getting the call frustrated him to the point that he gave up the home runs.

"No, I mean, he didn't make me throw the next two pitches," O'Day said. "Or the next six - I walked Victor (Martinez) on four pitches. Yeah, it's frustrating. I take pride in my work.

"If a guy swings, it's strike three usually. So, yeah, I was frustrated about it. But being a relief pitcher, being a good pitcher at all, is kind of (about) blocking that stuff out and moving on to the next pitch, one pitch at a time."

Right-hander Kevin Gausman talked about his outing today, one where he struggled throughout. He allowed a career-high 10 hits and four runs over five innings. He had not allowed more than four hits in any of his previous four 2016 starts.

"Obviously, not one of my best outings," Gausman said. "But just tried to grind. It seemed like every inning I had guys on base. Pitched out of the stretch a lot. My command definitely wasn't what it usually is."

But he did pitch out of bases-loaded jams in the second and third innings.

"Yeah, it's huge," he said. "That is one thing I've kind of matured in - not letting the game get away from me. I think in the past, you know, situations that I was in really the whole game, in the past, I'd kind of give in a little bit. But it is about making quality major league pitches. I was happy with some of the pitches I made and obviously I left a couple up."

Gausman was asked what he tried to do as he was battling his command all afternoon.

"I think mixing in other pitches will allow you to have the feel for something else," he said. "And then, when you need to, hit your spot. The toughest thing about this level is when you are struggling sometimes it seems to snowball effect. I just tried to minimize."

Gausman also felt that O'Day did not get a third strike call on Martinez.

"He obviously swung at that pitch," Gausman said. "Being inside, watching it on TV, you know, that is one of those things. It sucks, but that's the game. He's been great for us and will continue to be great for us."