O's Bullpen Spoils Strong Start by John Means

Means has another quality start but does not earn the win thanks to the bullpen's late inning struggles.

If you knew that John Means was toeing the rubber on Monday night for the Orioles and checked the final score, your first thought would be that he probably got touched up a bit and didn't have his best stuff. The O's fell 8-3 to the Minnesota Twins but it wasn't because of Means.

The former Mountaineer hurler tossed a strong seven innings striking out five and allowing two solo home runs. Despite the long balls, Means gave up just three hits and was in line for his fifth win of the season when he exited the game. The very instant Means was pulled from the game, the Twins began to get hits and runs in bunches. In fact, they totaled seven hits and six runs in the 8th inning. 

After giving up two runs, Means' ERA did rise to 1.79 but that is still good for the sixth-best ERA in the MLB and second in the American League behind only Lance Lynn (1.51) of the Chicago White Sox.

Means is scheduled to make his next start on Saturday, May 29th, against the Chicago White Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. EST.

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