Toronto starting pitcher Marcus StromanPatrick Smith/Getty Images
The Toronto Blue Jays lost more than a baseball game here at Camden Yards Monday night.
They also lost a measure of respect from the Baltimore Orioles over what they perceive to be a head-hunting incident initiated by Toronto rookie pitcher Marcus Stroman in the sixth inning.
Baltimore manager Buck Showalter called the incident, where a 92-mile-an-hour Stroman fastball darted dangerously close to the head of Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph "borderline professionally embarrassing."
"Let's face it, he's 23-year-old and emotional," Showalter said of Stroman. "You see him coming off the mound, doing his little whatever. I'll let Toronto take care of that and I'm sure the league office will do what needs to be done."
Stroman said the pitch was a mistake, no malice intended. And he went to great lengths to express that feeling.
"Fastball in that just slipped out of my hand," he said. "It's late in the game, I got two big strikeouts. I'm a little excited and trying to get out of the inning and that's possibly my last hitter. Just trying to execute my fastball in.
"I know if I throw that pitch in my location then I have a chance to get out of that inning pretty quick, maybe one-two pitches. And it just kind of slipped, It just kind of flipped out of my hand."
Home plate umpire Ted Barrett obviously felt there was something untoward about Stroman's pitch, as he immediately pointed toward Stroman at the mound and then at both dugouts, officially notifying both teams a warning to cease and desist.
Showalter said he felt Stroman's action should have led to an immediate ejection from the game. Toronto manager John Gibbons had no comment.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out over the next two games of the series where the Orioles require just one more win to nail down their first American League East title since 1997 following their 5-2 victory over Toronto on Monday night.
The setback also added another serious dent to Toronto's hopes of grabbing the A.L.'s second wildcard playoff berth.
"We're on the fringe," Gibbons said. "We have a very slim outside shot to get to the playoffs. But we're fighting every night to try to win games."
It was a contest where Toronto had a good chance to put some hurt on Baltimore starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen in the first inning, but let the moment pass without too much of a ruckus. And Chen recovered to pitch into the sixth inning to record his 16th win of the year.
Toronto's first three batters all collected hits of Chen, the third by Edwin Encarnacion scoring Reyes from third for an early 1-0 Toronto lead.
With runners at first and third and nobody out, the Blue Jays were poised to add-on.
But strikeouts by Chen against Danny Valencia and Dioner Navarro followed by a pop out to right by John Mayberry Jr. mitigated the damage.
On the night, Toronto stranded 11 baserunners and were just 3-for-16 hitting with runners in scoring position.
"You've got to take advantage when you get the shots," Gibbons said.
Baltimore came right back and threw up two runs in the bottom of the first, collecting four of the nine hits they would get off Stroman, who surrendered all five Baltimore runs over a shaky six-inning outing.
The malice between the two clubs began to percolate in the Toronto fifth when Reyes scored Toronto's second run from second base on a Valencia outfield single, sliding head first into home plate, his left hand easily beating the relay.
But during the course of the play, Reyes left hand got stepped on by Joseph, something the Toronto player did not take kindly to and the two players exchanged unpleasantries.
"Stuff happens," Reyes would say later, apparently over the incident.
In the sixth, with Joseph coming up to hit in the nine-hole after Stroman had already recorded two strikeouts in the inning, the first pitch the Baltimore catcher saw had him ducking for cover.
Whether Baltimore is over the incident we'll find out over the next two days.