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GameThread: Orioles (35-44) @ Angels (43-34)
by SC
on Jul 3, 2009 7:00 PM EDT
in Gamethreads
3 comments
Given our recent history with the Texas Rangers, usually I'd say those guys can go take a flying leap, but I so loathe watching the Angels play (no offense, Angels fans) and would so like to see someone else from the AL West in the playoffs this year that I'd really extra love for the Orioles to go out there and essentially give the Rangers a helping hand and beat this team whenever possible.
That goes for you, too, rest of baseball besides the Yankees and Red Sox.
Neither of today's pitchers have available widgets in our system, so let's talk turkey on these turkeys.
David Hernandez (1-2, 4.19/1.81) is back, taking Koji's spot in the rotation. I sort of want to call him "D-Bo." I don't know why, really. I will say that as much as it stinks to see Koji hurting and out of the rotation, I'm glad we're in a position where the guy being called up is one with actual upside.
Ervin Santana (1-3, 7.47/1.85) is also back from the minors. This guy is an enigma wrapped in wrapping. He showed tons of promise in his first two seasons, was awful in 2007, great last year, and now is the worst he's ever been. In his 31.1 innings pitched this season, batters are hitting .344 off of him. This could get offensive.
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Nolan Reimold was named the American League's Rookie of the Month for June on Friday in recognition for his stellar play. Reimold, Baltimore's left fielder, batted .320 in 26 games during June and led all AL rookies with four home runs. He also drove in nine runs and scored 13 during the month.
Other rookies that received consideration for the Rookie of the Month Award were Baltimore right-hander Brad Bergesen and left-handed pitcher Ricky Romero of the Toronto Blue Jays.
about 6 hours ago
Stacey
6 comments
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Angels 5, Orioles 2: At least it took less than three hours
by Stacey
on Jul 3, 2009 1:42 AM EDT
in Post-Game
9 comments
Jeremy Guthrie turned in another poor outing tonight, causing me to officially lose my faith. This entire season I've honestly believed that Guthrie would turn it around. Every start of his I think to myself, "This is the one where he'll turn it around." But he hasn't. Sadly, I now think that he won't.
Jeremy Guthrie isn't an awful starter. If you take out the game where he went only 2/3 of an inning, he's averaging over 6 innings a game. He doesn't walk a lot of batters, he rarely gets blown out. There is a place on many major league teams for a pitcher like Guthrie in the rotation. The problem is that he hasn't been to the Orioles what he was the last two years, and he isn't the pitcher that the Orioles need him to be.
Guthrie came into tonight's game in 2nd place in the majors in home runs allowed. Not happy in 2nd place, he gave up two home runs to Bobby Abreu to regain the lead. Of the 5 runs the Angels scored, Abreu knocked in 4 of them. Guthrie settled down after the 4-run 5th and pitched two more scoreless, so at least he saved the bullpen for tomorrow and the rest of the series. Chris Ray pitched a scoreless 8th inning thanks to good defense behind him. He gave up two singles to start the inning, but Aubrey Huff made a nice pick to start a double play and Nolan Reimold made a great diving catch in left to strand a runner at third.
Though Guthrie was ineffective again, it's not as though the offense did their job either. The 2009 version of John Lackey hasn't been as good as in years past, but you wouldn't know it the way the Orioles batted against him tonight. They managed just two runs. The first came off the bat of Matt Wieters, who knocked in Nolan Reimold. Reimold had reached on a single and stolen second base to get into scoring position. The second run scored on Luke Scott's 16th home run on the year. Luke was discouraged about becoming the team's DH this year, but he is flourishing in the role so far. All told the O's managed only 4 hits off of Lackey, who pitched 8 innings.
David Hernandez makes his fourth career start tomorrow vs. Ervin Santana. In his three starts so far, Hernandez has had one good start, one bad start, and one so-so start. The rotation spot is his for the next few months with Koji on the disabled list. Game time is 10:05 eastern time.
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CC's own Zachary Knower telling the Angels fans what's up.
about 20 hours ago
birdman
15 comments
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Gameday Thread: O's (35-43) @ LAAACCSUSAWH* (42-34)
by zknower
on Jul 2, 2009 9:00 PM EDT
in Gamethreads
417 comments
I will be at this game with birdman. Representin' in my new Adam Jones, son! road jersey.
If there's nothing else in this story, it means none of the other mods has been by since I posted this.
EDIT from duck: OK, I'l say this. ZK,I hope you enjoy this game. I do. But it's garbage that it's on the schedule NOW. We played 3,000 miles away just 30 hours ago, and while the precious Red Sox are enjoying a day off, at home no less, the O's had to schlep across continent for yet another West Coast trip. Those precious Red Sox? Yeah, they're done with the West Coast. Done. As in they travel no further west than Texas for the rest of the year. Yeah, that's fair. And don't get me started on the umps. Back to ZK.
Alright, not quite yet. Jeremy Guthrie's last two starts have been wins, although his performance against the Nationals wasn't exactly awe-inspiring, with only 5.0 IP and 3 runs allowed. The start before that against the Phillies, where he went 7.0 IP and allowed just 1 run, is the Guthrie we hope to see tonight. OK, NOW back to ZK.
Our last west coast trip this year.
GO O's!!!
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Red Sox 6, Orioles 5: A taste of our own medicine
by Stacey
on Jul 1, 2009 8:37 PM EDT
in Post-Game
47 comments
Normally when a team loses you can find a number of places to put the blame. An error, a wild pitch, a base running mistake, a home run following a walk, each contributing a little something. A lot of losses are team efforts, just like wins. This one was not. This loss is placed squarely on the shoulders of Jim Johnson and George Sherrill. Two of the Orioles most reliable relievers were completely ineffective today. They blew a four run lead, ruined a gem by Brad Bergesen, and wasted a rare ineffective outing by Josh Beckett.
As Orioles fans we are used to losses, but the ones like this sting a little bit more. The Orioles were building some momentum and on the verge of taking a series from the best team in baseball before heading off to a tough west coast road trip. What a letdown.
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GameDay Thread: Red Sox (47-30) at Orioles (35-42)
by duck
on Jul 1, 2009 11:15 AM EDT
859 comments
A mere 14 hours after the end of last night's historic contest, the Orioles and the Red Sox meet in a series finale featuring arguably the teams' best pitchers. Josh Beckett has been, well, the Josh Beckett the Red Sox hoped he would be this season. He's got nine wins, almost 100 Ks, he's walked only 32 and his WHIP is a fantastic 1.23.
Yet the Orioles counter with one of their two Rookie of the Year candidates in Brad Bergesen. As good as Beckett's WHIP is, Bergesen's is slightly better - 1.22. Sure, the ERA is a little higher, but 3.76 from an Orioles starter is something to celebrate.
Adam Jones is not in the lineup, and anyone who's seen the hit he inflicted on the CF wall last night can understand the need for some rest and a couple extra Advil today. Adam swears he could play today if needed. Gotta love gamers - there's nothing not to like about Adam Jones, son!
More curiously, Melvin Mora finds himself on the bench. Ty Wigginton gets the start. Maybe it's just a case of a 37-year-old getting a day game off. Or maybe not. You tell me.
For Boston, J.D. Drew, who never did get into last night's game, is playing today.
Sunshine hasn't been kind to the O's this year, as they are batting almost 40 points lower, slugging 75 points lower, and have a team OPS that is 90 points lower in the daylight. And they're 6-14 so far this year in day games.
But after last night, you can throw stats out the window. Jonathan Papelbon WAS 20 for 20 in save chances against the O's. Brian Roberts WAS zero for his last, what, 18 before his last at-bat? (Thanks to SidewinderX for the exact number)
I'll leave you with the words of Dave Trembley on Brian Roberts' last at-bat:
"He's 1 for 1 now. And that was a big one 1."
Red Sox vs Orioles coverage | Red Sox vs Orioles preview | Over the Monster
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Orioles 11, Red Sox 10: Greatest Comeback in Franchise History (you can look it up).
by Stacey
on Jul 1, 2009 2:38 AM EDT
in Post-Game
178 comments
You want to hear something funny? In the 2nd inning of this game, with the Orioles down 4-0, I had myself convinced that John Smoltz was going to throw a no hitter. I really believed it. I had visions of John Kruk warbling on about John Smoltz's huge comeback as a Red Sox and the Orioles looking the way we all expect them to look in situations such as these. Well, Robert Andino ensured that the O's wouldn't be no hit with a single in the third, and Felix Pie ensure they wouldn't be shut out with an RBI triple. It was of little consolation, however, since Rich Hill was just awful tonight. Absolutely putrid. A Kevin Youkilis home run in the first, a Dustin Pedroia two run double in the 2nd, and let's not even talk about the 4th inning, when the Red Sox scored 5 runs to go ahead 9-1.
I was just about to turn off this sorry excuse for a baseball game and get to the laundry I've been neglecting when the rains came and washed away the stink of the Orioles. After over an hour of rain, the game recommenced, and our lives were changed. Justin Masterson replaced John Smoltz and at first, it looked like more of the same. He retired the first six batters he faced until the 8th inning.
And that's when something magic happened.
Aubrey Huff led off with a single. Simple enough. At that point the O's were down 10-1 and I was barely even paying attention to the game. Follow that with a single by Nolan Reimold and an Luke Scott double off the scoreboard (three feet to the left and it would have been a HR) and suddenly it was 10-2. I yawned. Oscar Salazar stepped up to the plate, pinch hitting for Melvin Mora. Oscar hasn't gotten many chances since being called up, but he made the most of it by absolutely crushing the baseball to left field. It landed in the back of the left field seats and the O's were down 10-5, and they weren't done. With two outs and Robert Andino at 2nd, Felix Pie singled in the 6th run. Nick Markakis followed with a single of his own and with runners on first and third, Aubrey Huff lined a ball towards second. I thought it would be a base hit, but Pedroia timed his leap perfectly and stabbed it out of the air.
The Orioles had made the score respectable and were back in the game, but five more runs in two innings against the best bullpen in baseball seemed like a steep order. Do you know what the Orioles offense said to that? They said, "Pshaw, we don't even need two innings. We'll do it in one."
Leading off the 8th was Nolan Reimold, who started things off with a single. The scoreboard again proved to be Luke Scott's nemesis. This time he launched what I thought for sure was a home run, but it hit off the top of the scoreboard and bounced back into play for a double, putting runners and 2nd and 3rd. Probably all for the best, since home runs are known to kill rallies. Oscar Salazar followed his monster home run up with a "single" to the catcher. Actually it was the catcher picking up the ball and just standing there. Who knows why. Who cares why? The bases were loaded with zero outs for young Matt Wieters, who served a soft single into left field to score Nolan Reimold. Ty Wigginton, pinch hitting for Robert Andino, sent a ball to deep right. I thought for a moment it might get out, but instead it was caught on the warning track. Luke Scott raced home with the 8th run of the night. Brian Roberts, in an 0-18 funk, lined a single past a diving Youkilis at third to score Salazar, and just like that the Orioles were down by only one run.
Terry Francona had seen enough and brought in Jonathan Papelbon to attempt a 5 out save. Papelbon struck out Felix Pie for the second out, but he wouldn't be so lucky with Nick Markakis. With Jeremy Guthrie on 2nd (running for Wieters) and Brian Roberts on first, Nick hit a shot into the gap. Guts and Brian raced around the bases to score the tying and go ahead runs.
And then my head exploded. The Orioles had gone from a 10-1 deficit to take the lead 11-10. It was the greatest comeback in team history as well as the greatest comeback of any last place team against a first place team in the history of the MLB (thanks to 2632 for the fun facts). Those comeback facts, of course, would only matter if the O's could hold on to win.
Enter George Sherrill, who has been great this year, but had never pitched in a game that had unfolded quite like this. He was set to face three right handed batters, and chose this night to make things interesting in old school Georgie style. Number 9 hitter Jeff Bailey, just called up to replace injured Mike Lowell on the roster, led off with a single. Julio Lugo struck out and Dustin Pedroia flew out to right, and only Kevin Youkilis stood between the Orioles and victory. Sherrill quickly got two strikes and what Oriole fans remained at Camden Yards after a 9 run deficit and an hour plus rain day rose to their feet...just in time for Sherrill to plunk Youk on the elbow. UGH. That moved the tying run to second base for Jason Bay, who struck out. O'S WIN! O'S WIN! Never a doubt, Georgie. Never a doubt.
What an amazing, exhilarating, roller coaster of a game. It featured everything that is right about the Orioles and everything that is wrong with the Orioles, all in one game. It was magic magic magic magic...Orioles Magic.
Random Notes:
- Adam Jones had to leave the game after crashing into the wall trying to rob Kevin Youkilis of a home run in the 1st inning. He actually caught the ball but the impact knocked his glove into the bullpen. According to Dave Trembley, he hit his face against the wall and was suffering from a headache, so they removed him for precautionary reasons. He is currently day-to-day.
- It's easy to gloss over because of the win, but the umpiring in this game has been some of the worst I've ever seen. The strike zone has been all over the place the last two games, and the frustration by the Orioles was evident. Dave Trembley spent much of the game jawing at the umpire, who also got words of frustration from Brian Roberts, Aubrey Huff, Nick Markakis, Felix Pie, and maybe others. It's a shame that the umpires aren't held to a higher standard of accountability. Everyone noticed how awful the umpires have been. Dave Johnson, Jim Palmer, the NESN announcers, me.
- I think this game makes up for the Mother's Day Massacre from a few years ago. Of course, if you're a Red Sox fan, that game is called the Mother's Day Miracle. The NESN announcers declared this game the Camden Yards Comeback, but you Red Sox fans out there can think of it as the Camden Yards Collapse.
See some great game related pictures below the jump.
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