Well, so much for that. Brad Bergesen’s problem has always been that if he loses his delivery for just a second, he is a batting practice pitcher. When he has his location down, he is almost unhittable. Unfortunately, that is not particularly reliable, at least not this season. The 5 runs he allowed in the second inning doomed the O’s, though it was nice to see the team battle back. Seeing Josh Bell strike out with runners at 2nd and 3rd was painful- you expect it from Cesar Izturis (there was no one else on the bench to take that at-bat?) but you hope that maybe Bell will use this as a breakout moment. Alas, he instead continues to struggle. He needed a lot more time at AAA, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him start the season at Norfolk in 2011 if he doesn’t start pulling it together over this last month. Now football season is officially upon us, and so I am more excited than ever to line up for the kick… READ MORE >>>
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In this week’s edition of Birds On The Wire, Jeff and Zach discuss the Orioles successful against, Buck Showalter’s impact on the team, September call ups, the Ravens preseason and injuries and give their predictions. All that and more on Birds On The Wire, BSR’s official podcast. Check it out and don’t forget to . . . → Read More: Birds On The Wire: Preseason is Over! BOTW - EP 49: Play Now | Play in Popup
There was something different about last night’s 5-2 win over the Red Sox. No, it wasn’t just the fact that the Orioles won, though that is always a pleasant surprise when taking on a team in the AL East. I seemed to notice something in this team that I thought I was going to see back in April. It wasn’t even that Luke Scott set a career high for home runs in a season last night. With all the talk that goes on about what an incredible power threat Scott is, I actually found myself a bit surprised that this was his career high. But that’s beside the point. This was the first time I noticed that the Orioles have had- and used- every part of the roster they hoped would win games back at the beginning of the season. READ MORE >>> Holy smokes it’s September. Baseball season is winding down, football is set to kick off and the sports gambling season is about to begin. Not that I condone that sort of behavior, or condemn it for that matter. Typically around this time of year the Orioles lose all relevancy with Baltimore fans and out comes to purple flamingos, literally. But in 2010 the Orioles have accomplished a goal they have struggled with for the last thirteen seasons, keeping fans attentions over the last month of the season. The Red Sox come into Camden Yards tonight for a three-game series against the O’s. The O’s completed a three-game sweep of the Angels on Sunday and held them to just one run in three games. This is an extremely good sign for the O’s considering they usually have a couple double digit losing streaks at the end of the season. But it looks as if Buck Showalter isn’t going to allow his team to lay down this season, which is a very good sign for O’s fans. The Red Sox have been plagued by injuries all season and currently sit seven games behind both the Yankees and Rays in the AL East and Wild Card standings. They missed a chance on gaining ground after losing two of three at the Rays over the weekend. The two teams have split the season series so far, with both teams grabbing six wins each. READ MORE >>> We’ve been covering the Orioles in the Lovely Totals all season long. None of the posts are as lovely as this one. It was a great road trip for Buck and the Birds. 6-0 – Orioles season record versus the Los Angeles Angels this season. 2 – Number of shutouts Baltimore’s starters pitched this series. June 24 vs Florida – Kevin Millwood’s previous win, prior to his 8 inning shutout on August 28. The Orioles have swept the Angels- not just for the series, but for the season. Then again, if they were going to do it, they might as well do it in a year when the Angels have hovered around .500 rather than taking control of the division. Baltimore pitching allowed a total of 1 run in the entire series, coming in the 3-1 win on Friday night. No, the bats weren’t great, scoring 3, 5, and 1 runs in their three wins this weekend, but it was another display of how great pitching seems to get it done more often than great hitting. Not only did Kevin Millwood return to form, but Brad Bergesen remained on a hot streak and Jeremy Guthrie made a strong case for yet another Opening Day start in 2011. But there was more than starting pitching to this series sweep. READ MORE >>> The Orioles will travel to the West Coast for the third and final time this season for the weekend. Baltimore will take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, a team they swept earlier this month when Buck Showalter first took over as manager. It’s no question that Buck Showalter has changed the attitude in the locker room, held his players more accountable and made fans more excited about the direction of the Baltimore Orioles in under a month as the manager of this ball club. We’ve seen ratings spike on the O’s broadcasts, the players’ stand up for the ball club and fans discuss the Orioles into late August. So far Buck Showalter has been a great addition to the Orioles from a managing stand point, how will that translate into the 2010 off season? READ MORE >>> This week on the podcast, Jeff and Zach discuss the Orioles three game series in the windy city, Brian Matusz’s hot August, Koji’s sideburns, an 18 game schedule in the NFL and the latest injuries as the purple and black host the g-men on Saturday. All that and more on Birds On The Wire, . . . → Read More: Birds On The Wire: Koji sideburns giveaway BOTW - EP 49: Play Now | Play in Popup
Brian Matusz pitched another gem and recorded his 111th strikeout of the season, tying him for the league lead in rookie k’s this season. Matusz surrendered just three hits in 7 innings of work, striking out five while walking just one. The only run he gave up came from a solo home run surrendered to Gordan Beckham.
The O’s open up a three-game series at U.S. Cellular field tonight against the Chicago White Sox. The two teams met for a four-game series earlier this month at Camden Yards, with the O’s winning three of the four games, all by one run. The O’s are coming off a series split with the AL West-leading Rangers and a 3-4 home stand and are now 12-8 under Buck Showalter. The White Sox come home after six-game road trip where they went 2-4 and slipped further down in the AL Central. They are now 67-57 and five games behind the division-leading Twins. They are still within striking distance of the Twins, though, and need to beat the teams they should beat down the stretch in order to stay in contention. You would think the O’s would fall into this category, but as we have figured out over the last 20 games, these aren’t the same old O’s. Plus, they have held their own at U.S. Cellular Field over the past three seasons, going 7-7. Just one away from the inevitable, and I wish it bothered me more. The Orioles’ record stands at a shockingly awful 44-81, a record that one can lose in the trees when you are tracking this team game-by-game. With one more loss, Baltimore will clinch what fans knew they would clinch back on April 30th- their 13th consecutive losing season. Now I am not sure if it is my job to put a positive spin on this or to rage against the dying of the light, but it feels odd to think about this team as one big season when there have been three managers, ups and downs of O’s prospects, and an organizational message that was at first lost then modified to give fans hope. This 13th season is unlike any of the others, and whether that is a sign of things to come may be a good thing- or something a bit more ominous. READ MORE >>> I’ll take a split 4 game series against the Rangers. It could have been a better home stand but at the end of the day, the Birds were competitive and they played 2 tough teams. 40- The number of ER by Millwood in his last 10 games or 55 innings 10- Difference in Runs . . . → Read More: The Lovely Totals |
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