Baltimore Orioles beat Chicago White Sox with defense and pitching

The Chicago White Sox were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night. It was one of those nights where nothing could go right for them at home. Baltimore is not a playoff team by any means but they stole one from the White Sox here.

For one, Baltimore’s pitching was solid. They allowed 9 White Sox hits which normally lead to runs but they did just enough to keep the White Sox from scoring a single run. Dean Kramer earned the win as he went 5.2 allowing no runs on seven hits. His bullpen and defense took care of the rest.

Speaking of defense, who knew that Baltimore was so good in the outfield. They took away at least four extra-base hits from the White Sox that would have led to runs. It is amazing what can happen when you play like that.

There were many times when White Sox sluggers like Jose Abreu, Andrew Vaughn, Gavin Sheets, and Jake Burger were straight-up robbed. Baltimore deserves a lot of credit for the way that they played in this one.

Were the White Sox perfect? No. But they hit the ball hard in the gaps often only to be caught by Baltimore outfielders. It is absolutely fair to say that Baltimore went on the road and stole a game from the White Sox.

The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Chicago White Sox thanks to their defense.

The one play in particular that deserves the most credit is the one that Austin Hays made on Jake Burger. He dove across right field toward the stands to make a brilliant play that surely would have scored the runner from first had he missed.

That was the second out of the inning and he was even almost able to double the runner up at first base. It was a clear example of an outfielder that knows what they are doing and knows the situation.

There was also a play where Gavin Sheets was on second base and Leury Garcia hit a single. Hays threw Sheets out at the plate thanks to a throw right on the money. Joe McEwing should have never sent Sheets home but it was still a really great play by Baltimore to take advantage.

Adley Rutshman, the number one prospect in baseball, hit a two-run home run to put Baltimore ahead by two and that would be all they needed as they cruised to a 4-0 victory. Johnny Cueto pitched pretty well but the offense wasn’t able to solve Baltimore’s defense. With Michale Kopech on the mound on Friday, they will try again.