Swaggering game thread posts are temporarily toast thanks to Hendo and Simon. I hope they go to their rooms and think about what they've done for a long time. I also hope that Buck has all the proof that he needs that they are not nuggets and never will be nuggets.
The Orioles will be looking to rebound from last night's defeat against Daisuke Matsuzaka. He's given up at least four earned runs in eight of his 19 starts, including four of his last five. Somehow even with that being the case he has a 4.19 ERA and a .233 batting average against. Maybe it has something to do with him walking 4.1 guys per nine innings. Of current Orioles with more than 10 PA against Dice, Nick Markakis has a .350 OBP (with only a .133 BA, yikes), and Brian Roberts and Luke Scott both have an OPS higher than 1.200. Then you count guys with less than 10 PA and you've got Matt Wieters (4-6, 1.833 OPS), and Adam Jones and Ty Wigginton with over 1.000 OPS. Hopefully that's a good sign. Jones isn't even playing, but let's not get bogged down by details.
Dice missed his last scheduled start due to back soreness, so he'll be well-rested for tonight. But as we well know, sometimes guys who are rested just can't pitch well because it's like they've forgotten, so keep your fingers crossed.
Pitching for the Orioles tonight is Brad Bergesen. 3E1N has lowered his ERA by 1.4 runs in six starts since July 26. That's the good news. The bad news is it's still 5.55. Yikes. If it is lower still at the end of tonight, then the O's stand a pretty good chance of winning this series. Unfortunately, Marco Scutaro, Adrian Beltre and JD Drew all have good numbers off Bergy. Maybe tonight will be different. We can only hope!
According to ESPN's game preview, if the Orioles win tonight, then Buck Showalter will become the 64th manager to win 900 games. Buck, you'll have way more than that by the time you're done with us. Go O's!