Kimbrel focused on recapturing form to meet his own expectations
Whenever Craig Kimbrel has a tough outing — as he did for the second straight day on Friday — the 36-year-old closer sits in the chair at his locker in the Orioles’ clubhouse shortly after the game, waiting to answer any and all questions from the media.
He doesn’t typically mince words, and he again didn’t after giving up a tie-breaking two-run homer in the ninth inning of Baltimore’s latest loss, a 6-4 defeat to San Diego at Camden Yards.
Kimbrel knows his recent performance isn’t up to par with his — or anybody else’s — standards.
“The last two days, I haven’t gone out there and done my job. I’ve let the team down,” Kimbrel said. “I’m really disappointed in that. We played a good game today. Fought back in it, made it close. It’s my job to come in there and keep it rolling, keep it exciting, and I wasn’t able to do that. It sucked.”
The O’s almost got swept in Miami, where they nearly wasted a 6-0 lead vs. the Marlins on Thursday afternoon. Kimbrel allowed three runs (one earned) on two hits and two walks in the ninth, recording only two outs and blowing his sixth save in 29 opportunities.
Baltimore still ended the road trip with a 7-6 win, thanks to Ryan Mountcastle’s go-ahead RBI single in the 10th and a lockdown save by left-hander Cionel Pérez.
On Friday, the Orioles rallied before Kimbrel’s entrance. They knotted the game at 4 with a two-run eighth that featured Anthony Santander’s team-high 29th home run of the season and a game-tying sac fly from Mountcastle.
Kimbrel needed to keep it tied, and he opened the ninth with a strikeout of Ha-Seong Kim. But, Luis Campusano singled, then pinch-runner Tyler Wade entered and advanced to second on a Luis Arraez groundout. Profar, a 31-year-old first-time All-Star, followed with his go-ahead blast, connecting on an outside four-seam fastball from Kimbrel and depositing it over the center-field wall.
Over Kimbrel’s past four outings, he has allowed six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings (a 14.73 ERA), blowing two save chances and taking the loss on Friday.
“Balls are kind of thigh-high, middle part of the plate. He gets ahead of Profar with a base open and then just leaves one in the middle part of the plate,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “That’s what he’s done the past few days.”
It isn’t the first time Kimbrel, a 15-year big league veteran, has experienced a rough patch. He had one with Baltimore earlier this season.
From April 26-May 8, Kimbrel had a 23.14 ERA (six earned runs in 2 1/3 innings) and was temporarily removed from the closer’s role. He responded by recording a 0.43 ERA (one earned run in 21 innings) over 22 appearances from May 10-July 7.
The Orioles need to bolster their bullpen ahead of the Trade Deadline (Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET), and they’ve already made one move to do so. On Friday, they made a trade with the Phillies for right-hander Seranthony Domínguez, who then tossed a scoreless eighth in his O’s debut.
Baltimore likely isn’t done adding arms. But at the same time, it will need Kimbrel to pitch important innings throughout the second half (and into the postseason), and his teammates believe in his ability to again respond to adversity.
“I’m sure he’s beating himself up a little bit, but we have his back,” said Jordan Westburg, who slugged his 17th homer of the year in the second. “We trust him. We know what kind of pitcher and closer he is, what’s made him so good for so many years. I have full confidence that he’s going to come out of it and he’s going to help us down the stretch.”
Meanwhile, Kimbrel said he remains “extremely confident” there will be plenty of upcoming success for the Orioles, who have lost four of five games to fall to 8-11 in July. They’re 61-42 with a two-game lead over the Yankees in the American League East, but they’ve dropped 17 of their past 29 dating back to June 21.
“We know how good we are. We get disappointed when we’re not playing up to our expectations, and I think, at times, we feel that way,” Kimbrel said. “But at the same time, where we’re sitting and what a lot of the guys in this clubhouse expect from ourselves, I think there’s nothing but good things to come. I see us getting on a good run at some point. We have the mentality, we have the guys in the clubhouse to do it, and we will.”
