Orioles' Late Rally Falls Short in Extra Innings Against Pirates

The Baltimore Orioles, with a record of 5-3, faced off against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who held a 7-2 record. In an extended contest that went to 11 innings at PNC Park, the Orioles were narrowly defeated by the Pirates with a final score of 5-4.

The game began as a pitcher's duel with neither team able to break through in the first three innings. The Orioles' offense struggled early on, managing only four hits throughout the game and batting at an average of .108. Despite their difficulties at the plate, they showed resilience in later innings.

In contrast to their slow start, the seventh inning saw Baltimore make a significant move. They capitalized on one of their rare opportunities when they converted two hits into two runs. This offensive spark continued into the ninth inning where another two hits resulted in one run scored by Baltimore.

Baltimore's bullpen pitched five solid innings but ultimately allowed two unearned runs due to defensive missteps from other players on the field. The relievers posted an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3:1 and maintained an earned run average (ERA) of zero during their time on the mound.

On defense, Baltimore was flawless for most of the game until critical moments led to unearned runs that contributed to Pittsburgh's victory. The fielding percentage remained perfect at 1.0 throughout eleven innings without any errors recorded by Orioles fielders.

The Pittsburgh Pirates capitalized on key moments which included scoring three runs in just one inning early in the game and securing victory with single-run efforts both in tenth and eleventh innings respectively. Josh Fleming from Pittsburgh claimed his first win while Jonathan Heasley from Baltimore was saddled with his first loss despite not giving up any earned runs during his appearance.

As for individual performances worth noting among Orioles players – they demonstrated aggressive base running successfully stealing bases three times out of three attempts which reflected their perfect steal percentage rate at 100 percent for this particular matchup against Pittsburgh.

Looking ahead after this hard-fought battle that ended unfavorably for them; fans can catch Baltimore Orioles back in action soon as they are scheduled to play again at PNC Park against these same Pittsburgh Pirates on April 7th at 5:35 PM Eastern Time which will be broadcasted live on MASN2 network for viewers tuning in from home or elsewhere.