Daniel Cabrera goes for a complete game while giving up 2 runs and somehow the O's lose? That is such an unlucky break for Cabrera. It sucks to know that you did your job, but your team still got a loss. Of course every player should strive for perfection, but Cabrera should be extremely satisfied with what he did on Tuesday. The O's bats went sour, which is something that happens over the course of a season. However, this just seems like an awful game to do so. The O's have lost 3 in a row against AL East teams before tonight's games, and 2 of those games should have been wins for Baltimore. First was the breakdown in Boston, and then the debacle with Erik Bedard and the check swings before Danyz Baez underhanded one to Troy Glaus. A 2-1 loss is like another kick to the nuts. The O's aren't playing badly, they just aren't winning.
Luckily for the O's it is still early in the season, and everybody but Boston, Detroit, and Cleveland seems to be playing mediocre. However, the Yankees probably won't stay down, and if the O's struggle with a hurting Blue Jays team than they really are setting themselves up for another season on the wrong side of .500.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
O's Blow it to Sox
Chris Ray is usually a good closer. However, when he does blow saves, he really blows it. Ray has 3 blown saves this year, and each won has been tragic for O's fans. First it was the 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth grand slam to Alex Rodriguez. The second blown opportunity was another grand slam to Willy Mo Pena. Finally yesterday he manages to blow things with the bases loaded by allowing 3 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks. I read that this was the first 5 run lead blown in the 9th inning since 1978!!! Congratulations Chris Ray. You and Danys Baez are the first guys to blow a 5 run lead in the final inning of a game in 29 years...and you only had 2 outs to get!
The Orioles' Mother Day game was as frustrating as it gets for an O's fan. The O's have been preaching about how they need to save their bullpen, and they are anxious about a young starter like Guthrie coming in to pitch after Trachsel and Burres didn't allow enough rest for the pen the last 2 days. I was shocked to see Guthrie pitch so well. I know he has great potential, but to take a shutout against Boston at Fenway into the 9th is ridiculous. Thats an amazing start. So why would he be pulled with 2 outs left in the game after pitching just 91 pitches? How great would it be for the O's to see their young pitcher solidify his role with a shutout of the first place team in your division? That truly would have fired the whole team up. Instead you deny a young pitcher his opportunity for his first career shutout, and somehow blew the game. Seems like Karma was involved to me.
I'm usually not one to get down on Sam Perlozzo. I've heard some people get enraged with how he manages a game, but I give him the benefit of the doubt. However, I completely disagree with what he did in the 9th yesterday. After one baserunner reached base on an error by the catcher, Guthrie gets yanked. Your pitcher has given up no runs and only 5 baserunners up until that point, and is your best option to get through that inning. He was in the "ZONE," on fire, whatever you want to call it. There is no doubt in my mind that Guthrie would get through the next 2 outs. Even if he loses the shutout, atleast he is the one responsible for it, and not some reliever who inherited the runner. Old school players and fans have to be shaking their head that a pitcher was taken out of a game with a shutout and just 2 outs left in the game. I agree with them. Part of the problem with the O's overusing their bullpen has been babying the starters. Let these guys pitch longer. Give them an opportunity to win games themselves instead of turning things over to relievers who 9 times out of 10 are guys who are in the bullpen because they wouldn't be able to cut it as a starter.
Time to erase this memory from my brain. I don't want to remember such an awful loss. Hopefully a sweep of the struggling Blue Jays will help ease my mind about the O's. And hopefully Sam Perlozzo will trust his starter to get the last two outs of the game next time one of them finds himself in that situation.
The Orioles' Mother Day game was as frustrating as it gets for an O's fan. The O's have been preaching about how they need to save their bullpen, and they are anxious about a young starter like Guthrie coming in to pitch after Trachsel and Burres didn't allow enough rest for the pen the last 2 days. I was shocked to see Guthrie pitch so well. I know he has great potential, but to take a shutout against Boston at Fenway into the 9th is ridiculous. Thats an amazing start. So why would he be pulled with 2 outs left in the game after pitching just 91 pitches? How great would it be for the O's to see their young pitcher solidify his role with a shutout of the first place team in your division? That truly would have fired the whole team up. Instead you deny a young pitcher his opportunity for his first career shutout, and somehow blew the game. Seems like Karma was involved to me.
I'm usually not one to get down on Sam Perlozzo. I've heard some people get enraged with how he manages a game, but I give him the benefit of the doubt. However, I completely disagree with what he did in the 9th yesterday. After one baserunner reached base on an error by the catcher, Guthrie gets yanked. Your pitcher has given up no runs and only 5 baserunners up until that point, and is your best option to get through that inning. He was in the "ZONE," on fire, whatever you want to call it. There is no doubt in my mind that Guthrie would get through the next 2 outs. Even if he loses the shutout, atleast he is the one responsible for it, and not some reliever who inherited the runner. Old school players and fans have to be shaking their head that a pitcher was taken out of a game with a shutout and just 2 outs left in the game. I agree with them. Part of the problem with the O's overusing their bullpen has been babying the starters. Let these guys pitch longer. Give them an opportunity to win games themselves instead of turning things over to relievers who 9 times out of 10 are guys who are in the bullpen because they wouldn't be able to cut it as a starter.
Time to erase this memory from my brain. I don't want to remember such an awful loss. Hopefully a sweep of the struggling Blue Jays will help ease my mind about the O's. And hopefully Sam Perlozzo will trust his starter to get the last two outs of the game next time one of them finds himself in that situation.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Orioles Streaking Back
In my last post I wrote about how the Orioles' season has been divided up into 3 different streaks. Well it looks like they have another one going now. After splitting with Cleveland(good result against the #1 team in the AL Central) , they took 3 straight from the D-Rays. The Bedard-Shields matchup on Wednesday night was a great pitching matchup. Getting a win against a team when their pitcher has a great night is a huge plus. Bedard looked like what O's fans expected all year, and the D-Rays seem to have developed a #2 to go with Kazmir. The O's bullpen seems to be back on track after some shaky outings over the last few weeks.
It will be interesting to see how the O's play against Boston this weekend. A win in this series brings Boston back down to earth a bit, while getting the O's over .500 again. A bad series puts them back in the pack in the AL East, and gives the Sox an even greater lead in the division. Tonight's game looks the most promising going up against Julian Tavarez. He has pitched just 4.2 innings at Fenway this year and given up 6 earned runs. I'm hopeful the O's will carry over the hitting from last night and give Brian Burres some run support. Saturday and Sunday will be difficult to get wins on because of Schilling and Beckett, who are a combined 11-1 this season.
It will be interesting to see how the O's play against Boston this weekend. A win in this series brings Boston back down to earth a bit, while getting the O's over .500 again. A bad series puts them back in the pack in the AL East, and gives the Sox an even greater lead in the division. Tonight's game looks the most promising going up against Julian Tavarez. He has pitched just 4.2 innings at Fenway this year and given up 6 earned runs. I'm hopeful the O's will carry over the hitting from last night and give Brian Burres some run support. Saturday and Sunday will be difficult to get wins on because of Schilling and Beckett, who are a combined 11-1 this season.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Orioles April Review
So the first month of the baseball season is complete. Despite living near DC, and having MASN on my cable provider, I still have no interest in the Nationals. I haven't watched a lot of their games, and I don't see myself doing so at this point. Following a team with the worst record in baseball and no history really isn't intriguing to me.
But apparently following a team with a losing record is fine with me if I have a personal history with them. The Orioles are struggling right now, and the only thing keeping them out of the cellar is the demise of the Yankees!
The Orioles season has been a period of streaks so far. There first streak of 3 losses to the Twins was a pathetic way to open the season. Nothing went right in that series, but the O's managed to bounce back pretty easily. In their next streak they went 11-4, and beat up on the Yankees, Jays, Rays, and Royals. Two of those four losses were to the Tigers, who definitely have the O's figured out after sweeping the O's this week. So the O's current streak has them at 1-9. Thats about as rough a stretch as you can go. The bleeding eventually has to stop.
Before the season fans would have thought a night like tomorrow was a definite Orioles win. Erik Bedard was hot in the Spring and supposed to pick up right where he did at the end of 2006. However, his ERA is at 6.09, with a WHIPof 1.53 and a .291 BAA. His strikeout totals have been excellent so far, but he has given up too many HRs, 6, so far this season. I've got a feeling he will get things under control and become dominant again, but its rough to see him struggling so far.
The rest of the O's rotation has done decently so far. Nothing spectacular, and aside from Jaret Wright shoulder, nothing terrible either. Cabrera has decent stats and has managed to keep his walk totals manageable on most nights. There is still room for improvement though. Loewen has the best ERA of the group, but has also pitched the fewest innings. His WHIP is too high, and he actually has more walks than strikeouts. When he can limit his pitches and go deeper into games, he will help this team out so much more. Steve Trachsel has proven so far he deserves to stay in the O's rotation. He isn't dominating anybody, but he is keeping the O's in every game. He is giving the O's a chance to win, and that is what should be expected of a guy in his situation.
The Orioles bullpen has been decent so far as well. John Parrish has had a great month to start the year, and most of the other regulars have been decent as well. Jamie Walker and Chad Bradford are doing exactly what they were signed for. Danys Baez has let me down a few times, but is still a decent option. Chris Ray has suffered from 2 bad pitches with the bases loaded to make his stats look worse than they are. Those two game losing grand slams were tough to take, but I still have my faith in him. The bullpen as a whole is in better shape than last year, and I'm happy with their performance through April.
Hitting has been a disappointment so far. While the Orioles haven't been really been blown out so far this year, they haven't blown out others so far either. The Orioles don't have a double digit outing yet, but I feel like thats something they need to get going. Miguel Tejada is doing what he is getting paid for. He is hitting for a great average, and despite a slow start with the RBIs, those are starting to pile up too. Melvin Mora's average is mediocre, but he has shown his power is back. Hopefully he can keep his run production up all year long. Ramon Hernandez has been hot since his return from the DL, and looks to have another solid year behind the plate. Aside from those 3, the Orioles really aren't getting things done. Nick Markakis has had several clutch moments, but he isn't making contact like he did to finish in 2006. Brian Roberts is getting on base and stealing pretty well, but his average is down as well. Jay Gibbons is looking like he shows up to Camden Yards solely for the paycheck.
While I'm disappointed with the O's record right now, I'm not down on this team yet. I think there are a lot of guys who have yet to get hot. I have faith that Ray, Bedard, Cabrera, Roberts, Markakis, and Huff will all pick things up. When that happens I don't think this team will be losing a lot of games. The team is in better shape than in previous years, and just needs a jolt from a couple of players to get them streaking back towards the win column.
But apparently following a team with a losing record is fine with me if I have a personal history with them. The Orioles are struggling right now, and the only thing keeping them out of the cellar is the demise of the Yankees!
The Orioles season has been a period of streaks so far. There first streak of 3 losses to the Twins was a pathetic way to open the season. Nothing went right in that series, but the O's managed to bounce back pretty easily. In their next streak they went 11-4, and beat up on the Yankees, Jays, Rays, and Royals. Two of those four losses were to the Tigers, who definitely have the O's figured out after sweeping the O's this week. So the O's current streak has them at 1-9. Thats about as rough a stretch as you can go. The bleeding eventually has to stop.
Before the season fans would have thought a night like tomorrow was a definite Orioles win. Erik Bedard was hot in the Spring and supposed to pick up right where he did at the end of 2006. However, his ERA is at 6.09, with a WHIPof 1.53 and a .291 BAA. His strikeout totals have been excellent so far, but he has given up too many HRs, 6, so far this season. I've got a feeling he will get things under control and become dominant again, but its rough to see him struggling so far.
The rest of the O's rotation has done decently so far. Nothing spectacular, and aside from Jaret Wright shoulder, nothing terrible either. Cabrera has decent stats and has managed to keep his walk totals manageable on most nights. There is still room for improvement though. Loewen has the best ERA of the group, but has also pitched the fewest innings. His WHIP is too high, and he actually has more walks than strikeouts. When he can limit his pitches and go deeper into games, he will help this team out so much more. Steve Trachsel has proven so far he deserves to stay in the O's rotation. He isn't dominating anybody, but he is keeping the O's in every game. He is giving the O's a chance to win, and that is what should be expected of a guy in his situation.
The Orioles bullpen has been decent so far as well. John Parrish has had a great month to start the year, and most of the other regulars have been decent as well. Jamie Walker and Chad Bradford are doing exactly what they were signed for. Danys Baez has let me down a few times, but is still a decent option. Chris Ray has suffered from 2 bad pitches with the bases loaded to make his stats look worse than they are. Those two game losing grand slams were tough to take, but I still have my faith in him. The bullpen as a whole is in better shape than last year, and I'm happy with their performance through April.
Hitting has been a disappointment so far. While the Orioles haven't been really been blown out so far this year, they haven't blown out others so far either. The Orioles don't have a double digit outing yet, but I feel like thats something they need to get going. Miguel Tejada is doing what he is getting paid for. He is hitting for a great average, and despite a slow start with the RBIs, those are starting to pile up too. Melvin Mora's average is mediocre, but he has shown his power is back. Hopefully he can keep his run production up all year long. Ramon Hernandez has been hot since his return from the DL, and looks to have another solid year behind the plate. Aside from those 3, the Orioles really aren't getting things done. Nick Markakis has had several clutch moments, but he isn't making contact like he did to finish in 2006. Brian Roberts is getting on base and stealing pretty well, but his average is down as well. Jay Gibbons is looking like he shows up to Camden Yards solely for the paycheck.
While I'm disappointed with the O's record right now, I'm not down on this team yet. I think there are a lot of guys who have yet to get hot. I have faith that Ray, Bedard, Cabrera, Roberts, Markakis, and Huff will all pick things up. When that happens I don't think this team will be losing a lot of games. The team is in better shape than in previous years, and just needs a jolt from a couple of players to get them streaking back towards the win column.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Draft Recap
The NFL Draft is over and of course there is much to be said about the whole damn thing. As expected of the 2 local teams, the Ravens look to have done alright while the Redskins look like they just don't get it.
Redskins - LaRon Landry looks to be a great player. He seems to have a great attitude to go along with his physical skills. His brother is also Dawan Landry from the Ravens, so he will have a good idea of what to expect coming into the League. But this pick really wasn't necessary at all. The Skins already have 5 safeties on the roster after trading Adam Archuletta. Do you really need to go 3 deep at each safety spot? And although Landry has better athleticism than Archuletta does, especially comparing their ages, he seems to be in the same mold of a player as Taylor and Archuletta. He is a headhunter. He loves to hit. We saw what happened last season when you play 2 safeties who love to get up and make plays but can't seem to get back into coverage adequately. Maybe Landry can cover deep and make plays near the line, but he will be forced to do that with the Redskins defense as it is right now.
The rest of the 'Skins picks were on the second day. Not much high impact probability, but a great chance to add depth to a team that desperately needs it. With their 4 picks the team took 2 LBs, a QB, and a TE. I understand taking 2 LBs. It is a position with starters filled in, but injuries happen and you need depth as well as special teamers on a roster. The TE and QB choice just don't fit what this team needs. Gibbs loves his TEs. He can't get enough of the friggin' H-Back type of guys on his team, and this seems like a pick made to appease the offense after giving Gregg Williams his choice to get Landry. The QB choice is the worst though. This team already has 3 QBs on the roster. Jordan Palmer might be a decent late round pick, but not for this team.
The Skins biggest problem on their roster was the D-line. The team only had 19 sacks in 16 games last year. That is atrocious. How do they justify drafting a 4th quarterback who won't see any game time even if he makes the team, while not trying to find somebody to help their D-line. Maybe the 'Skins made all the right moves, but I don't see it that way right now. I'm frustrated as a fan, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Ravens - Now on to the draft kings. The Ravens seem to always draft contributors to their team. While their 2007 draft looks boring without any big names besides Troy Smith, it looks like they did a solid job of filling needs on an already talented team.
Ben Grubbs was supposedly the best guard in the draft. Although the Ravens drafted 29th, they got maybe one of the best players in the draft, because OG is such an underappreciated position. With Edwin Mulitalo cut by the team this offseason, drafting an impact guard seems to be a smart move. They also added more depth to the O-line with their 3rd round choice of Marshall Yanda.
Yamon Figurs was their other 3rd round choice. While I know nothing about him, I heard he had the fastest time at the draft, so that isn't that bad.
The Ravens other choice were a FB(a position needing depth), 2 OLBs(good choices to help counter the loss of Adalius Thomas), and Troy Smith at QB(good pick for Ravens with only 2 QBs on roster last season).
So the Ravens addressed their needs. With a talented roster coming back, the depth at critical positions will be great for this team. Although there aren't any highlight reel players like Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, or Todd Heap in this draft class, it looks like it can still be a great success.
Redskins - LaRon Landry looks to be a great player. He seems to have a great attitude to go along with his physical skills. His brother is also Dawan Landry from the Ravens, so he will have a good idea of what to expect coming into the League. But this pick really wasn't necessary at all. The Skins already have 5 safeties on the roster after trading Adam Archuletta. Do you really need to go 3 deep at each safety spot? And although Landry has better athleticism than Archuletta does, especially comparing their ages, he seems to be in the same mold of a player as Taylor and Archuletta. He is a headhunter. He loves to hit. We saw what happened last season when you play 2 safeties who love to get up and make plays but can't seem to get back into coverage adequately. Maybe Landry can cover deep and make plays near the line, but he will be forced to do that with the Redskins defense as it is right now.
The rest of the 'Skins picks were on the second day. Not much high impact probability, but a great chance to add depth to a team that desperately needs it. With their 4 picks the team took 2 LBs, a QB, and a TE. I understand taking 2 LBs. It is a position with starters filled in, but injuries happen and you need depth as well as special teamers on a roster. The TE and QB choice just don't fit what this team needs. Gibbs loves his TEs. He can't get enough of the friggin' H-Back type of guys on his team, and this seems like a pick made to appease the offense after giving Gregg Williams his choice to get Landry. The QB choice is the worst though. This team already has 3 QBs on the roster. Jordan Palmer might be a decent late round pick, but not for this team.
The Skins biggest problem on their roster was the D-line. The team only had 19 sacks in 16 games last year. That is atrocious. How do they justify drafting a 4th quarterback who won't see any game time even if he makes the team, while not trying to find somebody to help their D-line. Maybe the 'Skins made all the right moves, but I don't see it that way right now. I'm frustrated as a fan, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Ravens - Now on to the draft kings. The Ravens seem to always draft contributors to their team. While their 2007 draft looks boring without any big names besides Troy Smith, it looks like they did a solid job of filling needs on an already talented team.
Ben Grubbs was supposedly the best guard in the draft. Although the Ravens drafted 29th, they got maybe one of the best players in the draft, because OG is such an underappreciated position. With Edwin Mulitalo cut by the team this offseason, drafting an impact guard seems to be a smart move. They also added more depth to the O-line with their 3rd round choice of Marshall Yanda.
Yamon Figurs was their other 3rd round choice. While I know nothing about him, I heard he had the fastest time at the draft, so that isn't that bad.
The Ravens other choice were a FB(a position needing depth), 2 OLBs(good choices to help counter the loss of Adalius Thomas), and Troy Smith at QB(good pick for Ravens with only 2 QBs on roster last season).
So the Ravens addressed their needs. With a talented roster coming back, the depth at critical positions will be great for this team. Although there aren't any highlight reel players like Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, or Todd Heap in this draft class, it looks like it can still be a great success.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Losing Streak
Have the Orioles coming crashing down to Earth this early? It seems the Orioles are always raising hopes early in the spring, only to crumble as the season goes on. Just last Sunday the Orioles were 11-7. 4 games over .500 and even ESPN was praising the birds on Baseball Tonight. Well 4 days later the O's are back to 11-11 and 3.5 games out of 1st. What is the lesson from all of this? Baseball is too long of a season to pay any mind to the standings until after the All Star break. Remember how the O's led the AL East into June of 2004. Palmeiro was chasing 3,000 and the O's were winning. It felt like '97 again for a few months. Than the ship sank. The Orioles started losing...Palmeiro tested positive for an illegal supplement, Roberts got injured, and the Orioles lost a whole lot more. That will be remembered as an awful year for the O's, but early on it looked great.
Remember that year when you judge the current team at this point in the season. I still check the scores every day to see if the Orioles win or lose, but their record won't matter for another couple of months.
Quick Pros and Cons from the most recent game.
Pro - Adam Loewen has a 3.20 era. Other teams have a lot of difficulty scoring off of him.
Con - Loewen is walking a ton of guys. He isn't letting those guys score, but it knocks him out of the game way too early.
Pro - Ramon Hernandez - Dude had a good debut with 2 hits and a walk. The O's finally played a game with their full contingent of players tonight.
Con - Chris Ray - Only been scored on twice this year, but both times were Grand Slams that blew a save and lost a game for the O's. To AL East rivals no less.
Wizards Note...They can't hang with the Cavs. Should be a lot of seats available at the Phone Booth.
Nats Note...Tied for the worst record in the league with KC. Atleast the stadium project seems to be coming along nicely.
Draft Note...Mel Kiper and other experts predict the 'Skins will take LaRon Landry from LSU. I think the Redskins need more help on the D-line than in the secondary. Okoye from Louisville is amazing. Just 19 years old and already graduated college. Not only is he a sick player, but he seems to be an even more incredible person. The type of person you want on your team. Not much excitement for the Skins after that first pick.
I don't know where the Ravens will go with their picks, but Ozzie Newsome never screws up the draft. Baltimore always finds impact players on draft day...no worries there.
Remember that year when you judge the current team at this point in the season. I still check the scores every day to see if the Orioles win or lose, but their record won't matter for another couple of months.
Quick Pros and Cons from the most recent game.
Pro - Adam Loewen has a 3.20 era. Other teams have a lot of difficulty scoring off of him.
Con - Loewen is walking a ton of guys. He isn't letting those guys score, but it knocks him out of the game way too early.
Pro - Ramon Hernandez - Dude had a good debut with 2 hits and a walk. The O's finally played a game with their full contingent of players tonight.
Con - Chris Ray - Only been scored on twice this year, but both times were Grand Slams that blew a save and lost a game for the O's. To AL East rivals no less.
Wizards Note...They can't hang with the Cavs. Should be a lot of seats available at the Phone Booth.
Nats Note...Tied for the worst record in the league with KC. Atleast the stadium project seems to be coming along nicely.
Draft Note...Mel Kiper and other experts predict the 'Skins will take LaRon Landry from LSU. I think the Redskins need more help on the D-line than in the secondary. Okoye from Louisville is amazing. Just 19 years old and already graduated college. Not only is he a sick player, but he seems to be an even more incredible person. The type of person you want on your team. Not much excitement for the Skins after that first pick.
I don't know where the Ravens will go with their picks, but Ozzie Newsome never screws up the draft. Baltimore always finds impact players on draft day...no worries there.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Wizards down 1-0 and the Orioles lose
So the Orioles have been tearing things up lately. That is always a good thing for this lifelong O's fan. Not only are the O's in 2nd place in the AL East, and third in the AL, but they have done it against 3 out of the 4 playoff teams from last year, NY, Min, and Detroit. This weekend they just swept the Blue Jays who were the 2nd place team in the AL East last year. While I expect the O's to beat the Royals and D-Rays, they have also done exceptionally against some great teams if you ignore their first series against the Twins.
Today was a promising game with Erik Bedard on the mound. He looked great through the first three innings. However, after pitching a perfect game through the first third of the game, he stunk in the 4th. The A's scored 5 of their 6 runs in that inning. Dan Haren is a tough pitcher, so I was pretty frustrated thinking that the O's were going to stop their win streak at 4 games. During my frustration I took a break to grill some chicken for dinner with my wife. After a good meal I cam back to the TV to see the O's still down 5-1. However, a big homerun by Aubrey Huff put them back in the game going into the ninth.
Nick Swisher's homerun in the top of the ninth proved to be a big pain in the ass. The difference between one run and two was enough for the O's to lose this game. The 9th started out well with Payton drawing a walk and continuing his hot start in his second game of the year. Corey Patterson's double to put runners at first and third with no outs seemed to atleast guarantee an extra inning game. However, the O's made 2 dumb mistakes. First Corey Patterson hesitates on the basepaths and is held up at third after a Brian Roberts single. Last time I checked Nick Swisher isn't really known for his arm, so its a shame that Patterson actually headed back towards 2nd before breaking for third. The fastest guy on your team should score from 2nd on a hit to CF.
Things were still good for the O's at this point though. They had 1 out but a runner on 3rd with their best RBI guy coming up. Melvin Mora has been great at producing runs this year, but he made some sort of mistake when he bunted the ball back to the pitcher and kept Patterson at 3rd, instead of working the count for a walk or a sac fly. After a Markakis intentional walk it all came down to Miguel Tejada. He took a good swing in his at bat, but unfortunately the ball headed right towards Mark Ellis at 2nd base. Ball game over.
The good news from tonight is that the Red Sox and Yankees both lost. The O's didn't lose ground in the AL East, and are still safe in 2nd for a few more days atleast. I hope the O's have a good outing against some kid for Oakland making his Major League debut. It will also be exciting to see what Jeremy Guthrie can do in his first start for the Orioles.
Quickly...on to the Wizards. I watched bits and pieces of their opening playoff game. It was hard to stay tuned with how the game was going. Cleveland doesn't strike me as a dominating team, but the Wizards are not the same team they were a month ago. They stunk...as expected. Cleveland can afford to F around, and still win this series easily. I expect the Cavs to struggle in their next series, because I don't think they are being tested by the Wizards.
Today was a promising game with Erik Bedard on the mound. He looked great through the first three innings. However, after pitching a perfect game through the first third of the game, he stunk in the 4th. The A's scored 5 of their 6 runs in that inning. Dan Haren is a tough pitcher, so I was pretty frustrated thinking that the O's were going to stop their win streak at 4 games. During my frustration I took a break to grill some chicken for dinner with my wife. After a good meal I cam back to the TV to see the O's still down 5-1. However, a big homerun by Aubrey Huff put them back in the game going into the ninth.
Nick Swisher's homerun in the top of the ninth proved to be a big pain in the ass. The difference between one run and two was enough for the O's to lose this game. The 9th started out well with Payton drawing a walk and continuing his hot start in his second game of the year. Corey Patterson's double to put runners at first and third with no outs seemed to atleast guarantee an extra inning game. However, the O's made 2 dumb mistakes. First Corey Patterson hesitates on the basepaths and is held up at third after a Brian Roberts single. Last time I checked Nick Swisher isn't really known for his arm, so its a shame that Patterson actually headed back towards 2nd before breaking for third. The fastest guy on your team should score from 2nd on a hit to CF.
Things were still good for the O's at this point though. They had 1 out but a runner on 3rd with their best RBI guy coming up. Melvin Mora has been great at producing runs this year, but he made some sort of mistake when he bunted the ball back to the pitcher and kept Patterson at 3rd, instead of working the count for a walk or a sac fly. After a Markakis intentional walk it all came down to Miguel Tejada. He took a good swing in his at bat, but unfortunately the ball headed right towards Mark Ellis at 2nd base. Ball game over.
The good news from tonight is that the Red Sox and Yankees both lost. The O's didn't lose ground in the AL East, and are still safe in 2nd for a few more days atleast. I hope the O's have a good outing against some kid for Oakland making his Major League debut. It will also be exciting to see what Jeremy Guthrie can do in his first start for the Orioles.
Quickly...on to the Wizards. I watched bits and pieces of their opening playoff game. It was hard to stay tuned with how the game was going. Cleveland doesn't strike me as a dominating team, but the Wizards are not the same team they were a month ago. They stunk...as expected. Cleveland can afford to F around, and still win this series easily. I expect the Cavs to struggle in their next series, because I don't think they are being tested by the Wizards.
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