Curt Schilling, RH Bruce Chen, LH
(1-0, 2.57) (13-10, 3.83)
Game time is 4:35pm on WB 54 (Baltimore) and NESN (Boston).
Weather: Occasional rain, high 40s
Boston: 3-1, 1st place
Baltimore: 2-2, in 3-way tie for 2nd place, 1 GB
Ick. If Cabrera stinks it up the rest of the year like he did last night, this is gonna be a looooong season.
Let's try to find some silver linings, shall we?
- As drj remarked in the game thread, the O's didn't roll over and play dead. They actually might have overcome Cabrera's awful start if DuBose and Brower hadn't stunk up the joint as well
- Ramon Hernandez continues to rake. After last night's 3-4 performance, his average actually dropped to .667, which puts him in 2nd place in the majors (trailing Detroit's amazing Chris Shelton, who has hit 5 HR in 16 AB, and is hitting 688). David Newhan, who led all current-roster O's in Spring Training with a .408 average (.592 SLG) hasn't let up any
- At least we're not the Yankees, losers of three straight and dead last in the AL East. Wonder if George is upset yet?
Today's afternoon game (if it doesn't get rained out) might look like a mismatch, but it actually figures to be pretty good.
First there's Schilling, who after a rough year seems to be back to form. Curt was dominant in his Opening Day start for the Red Sox, allowing two runs un seven innings, and throwing 79/117 pitches for strikes.
But Bruce Chen is no slouch himself these days. The Orioles' most consistent pitcher in 2005, Chen shut down Cuba for 5 innings during the WBC, and went on to have a great spring: 9 runs in 23 IP (3.52 ERA), 6/17 BB/K, and a stingy .95 WHIP. Sure, it's Spring Training, but those numbers may indicate that he really did put it together last year.
- Around the division: Tampa Bay outslugged Toronto, 9-8; the Angels shut down the Yankees, 4-1
- On the horizon: Check out Adam Loewen's eye-popping numbers from the Baysox win yesterday: 8 IP, 1 H, 12 Ks, 0 BBs. He lost the no hitter in the eighth
- A funny from Kubatko's blog: "Corey Patterson went to center field in the top of the seventh inning. On his way to the outfield, he paused long enough to swing at Jim Brower's first warm-up pitch."
Finally, who'da thunk it? The last remaining unbeatens are Detroit and Milwaukee.