If you watched the first inning of Friday night’s game against Gerrit Cole, you would have thought the Orioles had the upper hand against the Astros’ righty. But that was not the case. After an uneven beginning that included an error and a couple unearned runs, Cole settled in and generated a plethora of swings and misses.
Anthony Santander, fresh from Triple-A, had an eight pitch at-bat in the first that resulted in a double on a sharply hit ground ball down the right field line. The next ball in play was a seemingly routine grounder to third that was fielded by Yuli Gurriel but thrown high to first base, allowing Trey Mancini to reach safely.