Deep in the heart of Texas on Sunday night the Orioles swept the Rangers and completed a season-high four-game road winning streak. They’re also now a season-high 13 games above .500 at 56-13 despite being in third place in their division.
Damn you, AL East.
Chris Tillman continued the trend on the mound, throwing the Birds’ seventh quality start in eight games. It’s amazing how dominant the Orioles can look when they get halfway decent pitching.
This season, Orioles starters have just 48 quality starts ranking 19th in the big leagues. Only the last place Blue Jays have less in the AL East (39).
The Birds pitching staff recorded a 2.33 team ERA in three games against the Rangers, holding their offense to a .276 batting average. It seems as though the Orioles are finally getting some consistent starting pitching.
- Wei-Yin Chen: 2 GS, 13.1 IP, 11 H, 2 ER (1.35 ERA), .224 BAA since returning from DL on July 10.
- Miguel Gonzalez: 53.2 IP, 2.35 ERA, .216 BAA, 2.78 K/BB over last eight starts.
- Chris Tillman: 48.1 IP, 3.54 ERA, .254 BAA, 1.94 K/BB over last eight starts (prior to last night).
- Scott Feldman: 2 QS, .274 BAA, 7.50 K/BB with Orioles.
- Jason Hammel: 43.2 IP, 4.95 ERA, .272 BAA, 2.33 K/BB over last seven starts.
OK, Hammel’s numbers haven’t been good, but four solid starters with the Orioles dominant offense is definitely the recipe to regular season succes.
Baltimore’s offense has scored 476 runs this season over 99 games, fourth most in baseball, which equates to 4.80 runs per game. That tells me that a quality start will guarantee a win almost every night.
Wait till their contracts come up………………..
Well, that’ll be a while.
Chen is under team control for 3 more years.
Gonzalez for 3 more.
Hammel for 2 more.
Feldman is a free agent after this season.
So, they have time on most of their “ACEs”
Oh, and TIllman for 3 more!
There are other players on this team with contracts as well,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Look I want to see a world series win as much as you do , that is why I want them to get Matt Garza,,,,,,if you put him at the top of the current rotation you could probably buy your tickets now , wouldn’t that be great MGW ????????????
You know how I feel about Angelos and his willingness to spend on quality pitching , I just want him to do this one time and practically guarantee a world champoinship for the great fans of Baltimore he screwed over for fourteen years……………..
Look these three guys are nice number two’s or three’s , Tillman has the best chance of staying at a number two spot and could move up if he gets tougher,,,,,,but if you put Garza in with this mix , WOW , it could happen right now , you don’t know what the future will bring just look at that Washington team down the road a bit,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I say win one for the fans NOW,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Who are you trading to get him spy? Gausman? Because that’s at least what they’ll want, if not Gausman + Schoop, Hoes, and Britton.
Exactly.
That’s exactly right. There was an article right after we got Feldman saying the Cubs wanted Schoop and Eduardo Rodriguez for Garza back then. I doubt their asking price will go down from what it was before.
spy, I hope you follow the Ravens a lot more closely than you follow the Orioles.
Your statement on the Os contract situation is just plain false.
Here’s a go around the horn:
Wieters – under team control until 2016
Davis – under team control until 2016
Hardy – signed through 2015
Machado – under team control through 2018
Jones – signed through 2018
Markakis – signed through 2015
Jim Johnson – under team control through 2015
All of this can easily be found on baseball reference.com
Most of the pitchers are locked up, as we discussed already.
So, again, I hope you follow the Ravens closer than you obviously follow the Orioles.
MGW , while you are correct on these dates , it has been my opinion if you wait until the end of the current contract you have a good chance of seeing the player go elsewhere,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,actually this may be what Angelos wants so he can put more money in his trust fund………………..
I stopped following the O’s closely arounf year ten on their fourteen year run of terror,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,it simply wore me out and I’m coming back but slowly,,,,,,,,,,,,,they took advantage of my loyalty and it’s not comimg back quickly………………….
Isn’t it funny how a few years ago we were ALL talking about Chris, Brian, Zach and Jake being our future? Fast forward to 2013 and surprisingly ONLY one of these guys is even in the rotation. I am a firm believer in not believing the hype about potential and living in the moment, especially when it comes to sports. If I were the team owner and I am not, I would have made the trade for a proven guy Garza sacrificing Schoop and Rodriguez to advance my team this year.
I’d be willing to bet Schoop and Rodriguez was just a rumor and the Cubs wanted more than that. Could be that’s what the O’s actually offered. They ended up getting 2 pitchers, a 3B, and a player to he named later.
I agree,,,,,the way the staff is pitching now picking up Garza would almost guarantee a world series for the o’s,,,,,,,,,,wouldn’t it be nice…………….
Will-o, I’m with you on this one as well. Maybe you should kick your brother to the curbe and you and I should hang out.