Edwin Jackson and Jason Berken engaged in a textbook pitchers duel today, but as good as Berken was, Edwin Jackson was better. I said in yesterday's post game that there are some games where you have to tip your hat to the other pitcher, and today is one of those days. He baffled Orioles hitters all day, giving up just 2 hits and 1 walk in 8 innings. Jackson struck out 7 Orioles and lowered his ERA to 2.30 which is now 2nd to only Zack Greinke for starting pitchers this year.
I'll be honest, when I glanced at the pitching matchup last night, I didn't think much of Edwin Jackson. The Orioles have faced him before and he didn't seem like great shakes. Well, moving from Tampa Bay to Detroit agreed with him because he looked like a different pitcher than I remember.
Jason Berken made his second start of his major league career and pitched a hell of a game. Though he won his first game, he wasn't that sharp, and I didn't really have much hope that he'd have another effective outing. Jason, I'd like to apologize for that, because you were straight up awesome today.
One mistake. That's really all he made. A 4th inning home run by Curtis Granderson put the Orioles in the hole 1-0 and they couldn't recover. Berken finished with 7 strong innings, giving up just 4 hits and 2 walks. He did all he could do to keep his team in the game and I don't think we could have asked for any more from him.
The Orioles bullpen failed for the second day in a row as Danys Baez and Mark Hendrickson each gave up one run, effectively dashing the fans hopes for a comeback. The most frustrating thing about those two runs is that both were scored by batters who reached on two out walks.
It's easy to have negative thoughts after these two losses, especially as it's a harsh letdown from the euphoria of this past week, where 1) Adam Eaton was released, 2) Jason Berken and David Hernandez made their debuts and won, 3) the team staged an awesome comeback against the Jays on Wednesday, 4) they won five games in a row, 5) Luke was simply ridiculous, and of course 6) Matt Wieters made his debut. But I'm fighting off the negativity BECAUSE of those things. Even with the last two games, the Orioles went 5-2 on the homestand and have won 7 of their last 10.
Now the O's head west where they'll have three games each against Seattle and Oakland, the two teams at the bottom of the AL West. Hopefully they'll get a little west coast Orioles Magic and be able to come home with a winning road trip. Especially because when I stay up that late to see the O's and they lose I get very cranky.