Quickly lost in the news of the condition of Brad Bergesen's shin and George Sherrill going to the Dodgers for a portly 3B prospect and the son of O's broadcaster and ex-pitcher Dave Johnson is the elation of a split at home against the Royals.
Dave Trembley said on Wired Wednesday yesterday he could feel the frustration of his lineup, and stated "Someone's gonna pay. We're gonna put double digits on someone. Someone's gonna pay."
The Orioles didn't get 10 runs against the Royals today, but it wasn't for lack of effort. Fortified by the steady presence of Brad Bergesen's 7.0 IP of one-run baseball, scattering seven hits and two walks while picking up six. He looked a little tired in the 7th, and was destined to come out after the inning when he took a wicked line drive off his left shin from the bat of Billy Butler. As if we didn't already have enough reasons to hate that guy. Probably works on a ship with Kevin Youkilis in the off-season.
Bergesen has now gone at least six innings in each of his last 12 starts and has had a Quality Start in 11 of his last 12. Makes Brian Burres and Radhames Liz seem like a long, long time ago, doesn't it?
Everyone in the O's lineup, even Luke Scott, got a hit today, and KC starter Luke Hochevar took the beating. The O's got multi-hit games from Felix Pie, Aubrey Huff, and Ty Wigginton, and Aubrey drove in as many runs today (three) as he had since July 3. The beer will taste a little better tonight for Mr. Huff. Don't forget to tip the doorman, Aubrey.
Brad's X-rays came back negative, although Brad had his doubts. On 105.7 FM, he told their reporter " Yeah, I thought it was broken, I got to the dugout and fell down. The pain was bad, I wanted to throw up. The X-rays said no break, and I hope that’s the case. They said sometimes a hairline (fracture) can be hidden with swelling, we’ll know tomorrow when the swelling goes down."
Here's hoping it's nothing more than a nasty sprain bruise. The Boston Red Sox come into town tomorrow, and let's just hope John Smoltz pitches as bad tomorrow as he did on Sunday.
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