In the bottom of the fourth, Hiroki Kuroda walked Chris Davis to lead off the inning. Since Kuroda came into the league in 2008, he has the ninth-lowest walk rate among all starting pitchers, yet he walked the free-swinging Davis on five pitches. That didn’t auger well.
Hiroki Kuroda lives dangerously, escapes
Adam Jones gummed things up further for Kuroda, hitting a single that somehow snuck under the glove of Alex Rodriguez, putting runners on first and second with no one out. Lead-off walks always score. It’s in the rules.
But Matt Wieters flew out and Jim Thome hit into a force out. After Mark Reynolds was hit with a pitch, the powerful Ryan Flaherty grounded out on a sinker back to Kuroda.
On the other side, Miguel Gonzalez is looking fantastic, allowing three hits without a walk in four innings. His only blemish is giving up a run on a ball that should have been caught.
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