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Matt Albers got the job done in a spot start and George Sherrill picked up a shaky sixth save on the season as the Birds remained in first place with a 4-3 win over Toronto.

The O's are now 6-1 at Camden Yards this season, quite a turnaround from last year's dismal 35-46 home record. Trembley went bullpen crazy as usual, giving Jim Johnson two and a third before calling in Jamie Walker and Chad Bradford to get one out apiece. With a 4-1 lead, Sherrill came in to pitch the ninth and allowed a two-run, pinch-hit home run to Alex Rios, but he survived the brush with crap and got us out of there with one more in the win column.

Pretty good game at the plate, too. Kevin Millar was 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs, and Brian Roberts, Melvin Mora and Luke Scott all had two hits apiece. Adam Jones was 3-for-3 with a walk, and looked really good at the plate, even though his first hit was sort of an off-balance hack at a breaking ball. After that, he appeared to be dialed in. And this after Dave Trembley went around telling everyone he could find that he really thought about pulling the struggling Jones today.

I still wonder what purpose that serves. Is it motivation? Doesn't it seem like that would make the kid press even harder? And if he had pulled him, then why is he on the team anyway? He's here to learn on the Major League level.

The other O's RBI came from a Ramon Hernandez sac fly. He was 0-for-3 to push his average down to a sparkling .179.

With 13 hits, the O's should have scored more runs, which is a pretty familiar feeling. They grounded into three double plays and made two outs at the plate. The first was Luis Hernandez hesitating to run anywhere on a Nick Markakis chopper where he absolutely should have scored or at least not run at all, but them's the breaks. The second came in the eighth, when Juan Samuel sent Jay Payton on a medium-depth fly ball to left field with one out and Brian Roberts coming up with two men in scoring position.

Let's think about this. Payton runs fine, but he's not fast. Shannon Stewart can't throw, but he wasn't throwing very far. There is another out to go and the insurance run(s) would certainly help. So Samuel sends him?

You're on notice, Juan. You're Trebelhorn II.

But a win is a win is a win. I'm also worried about the fact that in eight wins, Sherrill has six saves. We're not exactly whomping on the competition, and close games can turn against you very fast. But a win is a win is a win. This is Birdland.

 
Dustin McGowan, RH (0-0, 3.27/1.55) v. Matt Albers, RH (1-0, 0.00/0.47)

Game time is 7:05 on MASN. The battle for AL East supremacy BEGINS!

Albers is making his first Orioles start, after Dave Trembley "looked it up and saw" that he made 18 starts for the Astros last year. Really let that one sink in. Trembley had a guy in the running for the fifth starter's job this spring, threw him in the bullpen, and was apparently unaware that he was a starter for the Houston Astros in 2007. If that's not a manager on top of things, I don't know what is.

Fat Albers has done a good job from the pen in the young season, striking out seven in six and a third and not conceding a single walk, which is a mild surprise given his past command/control problems in the minors. Many scouts and such have said that he might be best off in the bullpen, but what exactly would the Orioles be losing giving him a shot at starting? With Burres and Trachsel in the rotation and Adam Loewen's injury history, I expect we'll see him get a real shot at some point, even if it's only because someone else is a complete failure.

McGowan had a really good 2007 despite the Blue Jays' pretty clear mishandling of him for a couple of seasons. He's just turned 26 in late March, has good stuff and was damn tough to hit last season, giving up just 146 hits in an out under 170 innings pitched.

FUN STATS, ETC. 

• Too bad we don't have Jay Gibbons today. No, seriously -- he's 5-for-9 with a homer against McGowan. But Brian Roberts is 4-for-8 with a homer against Big Dust.
• Scott Rolen hits .304/.421/.617 against the Orioles. Luckily, he's on the DL.
• Frank Thomas hits .292/.425/.515 with 15 homers in 65 career games at Camden Yards.
• In 216 career at-bats against the Jays, Ramon Hernandez hits .231/.282/.324.

BLUE JAYS STARTING LINEUP

D Eckstein, SS         .250/.340    0    6

M Stairs, RF           .296/.345    1    1

A Hill, 2B             .326/.385    1    9

V Wells, CF            .320/.393    3   12

F Thomas, DH           .184/.354    3   10

L Overbay, 1B          .267/.327    0    5

S Stewart, LF          .280/.387    0    2

G Zaun, C              .258/.281    0    2

J Inglett, 3B          .500/.444    0    3

 

ORIOLES STARTING LINEUP

B Roberts, 2B          .311/.404    1    5

M Mora, 3B             .227/.292    2    5

N Markakis, RF         .333/.490    1    4

K Millar, 1B           .227/.320    1    4

A Huff, DH             .244/.320    2   11

L Scott, LF            .361/.439    1    6

R Hernandez, C         .194/.205    2    7

A Jones, CF            .211/.225    0    2

L Hernandez, SS        .250/.346    0    3

Join your fellow NYC Camden Chatters (and 2632 visiting from Beantown) as the two teams perched atop the AL East duke it out for sole possession of first place.

(Ha, ha, get it? "Perched"? See the oriole and the blue jay are both birds and...oh never mind).

The deets:

Phebe's Tavern
Monday April 14th, 7:00PM
359 Bowery (SouthEast Corner of East 4th Street) GMap
New York, NY 10003
212.358.1902

Nearby Subway Stops
6 Train - Astor Place or Bleecker Street Stops
B, D, F or V Trains - Broadway-Lafayette Stop (or F or V Trains to Second Avenue)
R or W Trains - 8th Street or Prince Street Stops

That wild-eyed boy that had been away.

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Beej was ridiculously dominant in his first season as the big-money Jays closer, then appeared in just five games last season. He was activated from the DL on Sunday and pitched the 10th inning of a Jays win at Texas, picking up the save.

Man, I still think that cat is great.