Nothing beats the excitement of September baseball, huh?
The Rangers continue in their quest to secure the AL Wild Card, while the Orioles are...what are they doing again? Oh, that's right. They're shutting down young pitchers, they're tinkering with the lineup in ways that don't really make sense, they're playing without one of their best players in Adam Jones, and they are shredding whatever useful semblance of a bullpen they used to have.
There are positive moments to be had the rest of this year. The Orioles can beat the Red Sox in their upcoming series and help deny the Red Sox a playoff berth. They can try out some of the spare parts from Norfolk and find out if they might fit in the bullpen next year. They can continue to compile innings with Luke Scott at 1B, and see if he's a viable option going forward. And they can continue to charge more for PHN and MFY games, taking money from the pockets of the fans of both teams.
But actually winning an appreciable amount of games? Not sure that's in the cards, gang.
As far as this afternoon's contest, enjoy the FOX HD action. I won't, since Salisbury has a FOX affiliate, but it doesn't broadcast in HD. Really, an over-the-air network affiliate still broadcasting in 480i? I guess Salisbury truly is in the backwoods of Maryland. Just as well I'm taking the daughter to shooting practice, to be honest. I'll go to a Shorebirds game tonight, and think about the future.
So, back to today's game. Kevin Millwood is apparently still gainfully employed as a MLB pitcher, much to my surprise. And, even more surprisingly, he's not that bad this year, posting a (10-8, 3.61 ERA). Who knew? The Orioles counter with Brian Matusz, who has looked like a deer in headlights for most of his time with the big club, until he took the mound last weekend. He allowed one run and four hits while striking out eight in seven innings to earn a win in Baltimore’s 5-2 victory over Cleveland on Sunday.
Game time is 4:10 PM on your local FOX affiliate, if you're lucky. Let's Go O's.