Orioles starting pitcher Jason Hammel surrendered two home runs during Tuesday's 5-2 loss against the White Sox, but he was more upset with the one batter he hit with a pitch.
"I'm more frustrated by the hit by pitches than the home runs," Hammel said, per The Baltimore Sun. "I'm not going to shy away from pitching to a guy, but tonight I had two strikes on the hitter before with nobody on and it sets up and inning where trouble can happen. If I execute a curveball there where I want to instead of spiking it in the dirt and it hits him in the shin, it's a different story."
The long ball has plagued Hammel all season. He has allowed at least one home run in six straight starts and 18 home runs through 17 starts. Hammel is allowing a career-high 1.6 home runs per nine innings.
"The home runs are killing me this year," Hammel said. "That's the bottom line. … I don't know how to answer [why], just balls up in the zone that are getting hit out this year that weren't last year. That's just the way I'm going right now. Mistakes are being amplified."