Mark Hendrickson, LH Kris Benson, RH
(11-8, 5.90) (10-8, 4.13)
Game time is 7:05pm on CSN (Baltimore) and FSFL (Florida).
Mom? Can I have another serving of Devil Rays? Please?
All right. One more serving of Devil Rays. But then you have to eat your Red Sox.
Alone in at the top of the standings for the first time since June 24 of 2005, the O's could be forgiven for asking to play only against the D-Rays this year.
Consider that for a moment. If the Birds only played Tampa Bay for the next 162 games, we might see:
- Ramon Hernandez go 475-for-475
- Nick Markakis draw over 500 walks
- Melvin Mora hit 162 home runs
- Jay Gibbons drive in 400 runs
Tonight's game affords the Orioles a chance to sweep the Devil Rays--which they did the last time these teams met, closing out the 2005 season on a (briefly) positive note. Win tonight, and the O's start the year 3-0. The last time they did that was in 1997: their last winning season.
Are the O's more patient at the plate? Or is it just that Tampa Bay's pitchers were wild. The Birds drew 14 BBs in two games. It seemed like every player got a free pass. Well, except Corey Patterson.
More tidbits:
- Roch Kubatko: The crowd of 16,083 was the smallest in the history of Camden Yards. But at least 72,000 will claim to have been here the night Nick Markakis hit his first major league home run.
- Division news: Toronto got routed by Minnesota; Josh Beckett piched a gem in Boston's win over Texas; and finally, Frank Thomas put a Big Hurt on New York with 3 RBIs in Oalkand's series clinching win.
- Other news: Frank Robinson benched Alfonso Soriano yesterday for not running out a pop up in the sixth inning.
And lastly....
Schadenfreude n. Pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune. Ex. The Orioles fans experienced Schadenfreude when they learned their former closer had blown a game in his first appearance of the year for his new team.
Here's Jorge Julio's painful line for the Mets' defeat last night, in which he surrendered 5 runs (only 2 earned) in less than an inning:
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Jorge Julio (L,0-1) 0.2 4 5 2 1 2 1 27.00
Welcome to New York, Jorge.