O's 9, Rangers 1: Millar goes yard x2

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Kevin Millar homered twice, Juan Epstein pitched for the Rangers (he has a better poof 'do than his profile photo suggests), and the Orioles routed the Rangers, 9-1.

Poor Texas is sort of competing for the wild card right now, so these are games they really need. I mean, it'd take a minor miracle either way, but you aren't going to make miracles happen losing to the Orioles in August.

The two homers give Millar 18 for the season, his highest total since he hit 18 in 2004. He's unlikely to reach Amber's (and her scouts) projection of 25, but 18 is more than I expected, probably. Of course I also sort of hoped he wouldn't lose 30 points of OPS.

The Amber Numbers aren't as fuzzy as I thought they might wind up being in total, really. Maybe she's a genius. I KNOW she's a revolutionary.

Jeremy Guthrie went seven innings, giving up one run on five hits with four strikeouts and a walk, and he's now 9-8. Of course, he deserves to have about 15 wins right now, but that's life. I'm glad he's over .500. He deserves better than old fogies saying he doesn't know how to win. Dude's an ace. His season ERA is down to 3.26.

Guts is now at 163 innings on the season. Last year, Erik Bedard had a 3.16/1.09 line with a ton of strikeouts in 182 innings. If Guthrie doesn't get hurt, there's a chance his 2008 is better than Bedard's 2007. Not in a black-and-white way, but because he simply threw more innings and performed at a similar level.

Also, can we say it? Bedard's 2007 looks like a big, big fluke.

Before this post closes, I wanted to call attention to a charity cause in Florida, the Ultimate Weekend For Ryleigh. Two-year old Ryleigh Russo is battling leukemia, and to help raise money, the family and others are offering a pretty awesome sports weekend in late August down in St. Pete. A five dollar donation gets you one entry into the drawing.

I'm not trying to solicit money from you guys, but it's worth a look. One portion of the package is a trip to the O's-Rays game on August 30. Plus, there's a round of golf at the St. Petersburg Country Club the same day, and on August 31, two tickets to the USF-Kansas football game, which features a couple of really good teams. The Rays are one of the sponsors of the package, along with several others.

It's a great trip for a great cause. Check it out.