Orioles Beat Down the Red Sox

The Orioles made the Red Sox look like a bunch of chumps last night. Well, the Red Sox are a bunch of chumps, so it had to happen, but it was nice to see anyways. There is no team I love to see my Orioles destroy more than the Boston Red Sox. That Red Sox nation is the most annoying nonsense in sports. Time for that to be nipped right about now. The final score was 7-1. That is a beatdown. Good pitching, good hitting, good everything.

The offensive charge was led by.....Mark Reynolds. Wait, is that right? I am still in disbelief. Reynolds seemed to have found his power stroke last night. If he can start doing this kind of thing about once a week, we are going to be tough to beat. I really hope he found his stroke. Reynolds hit 2 home runs last night. The two bombs brought Reynolds total up to 11 for the season. He is over 30 most seasons, so to get to that number he has to get incredibly hot. This certainly is a good start with two homers in one night though. The Orioles needed those homers as they helped the O's stay atop the wild card standings. In fact, Baltimore is tied with Tampa Bay atop the wild card standings now. No more being the second wild card. They are 6 games behind the Yankees, who they hope to catch by the end of the season.

Another big bat came from the unexpected source a couple weeks ago, but expected now. That's right, Omar Quintanilla hit another massive homer onto Eutaw Street. On the bounce, it actually hit the warehouse. This guy is a playmaker! It was Quintanilla's 3rd Oriole home run already. This guy is a keeper. DD picked him up for scraps. Great pickup DD!

Chris Davis was also 2-3 with an RBI and Matt Wieters had an RBI. These guys provided the rest of the offense, past Reynolds and Quintanilla.

The pitching staff was again terriffic. Last night's starter was the great Wei Yin Chen. Chen made a quality start and looked impressive in the process. 6 innings with only one run given up. Very impressive from Chen. This guy certainly looks to be our #1 starter in the postseason if we finish this thing and make it.

Darren O'Day was especially impressive today and continues to show how valuable he is. Not only did he extend his scoreless innings streak and look impressive, but he was absolutely dominant. O'Day struck out 3 in his innings. 3 outs all strikeouts. That is quite impressive out of the pen. O'Day now has an ERA of 2.45. This guy may be the most underrated player on the team. He has just been lights out lately. As a fan personally, I love the sidearm action. Chad Bradford was my favorite bullpen arm when he is here and O'Day is my favorite outside the big 2.

The big 2 didn't pitch yesterday, but another Duquette acquistion did. Matt Lindstrom pitched a scoreless 9th and lowered his ERA to 2.43. That Guthrie trade is looking better everyday.

JC Romero made his Oriole debut last night as well. He gave up one hit and no runs in 1 innings to finish with an ERA of 0.00. I wonder how long it will stay there. Very solid debut for Romero. Romero was brought in because Troy Patton had to go to the DL. Steve Johnson was also recalled in place of Miguel Socolovich. No word yet on when Johnson's next start will be.

-Noland

So About This Machado Guy....

Man this guy looks like he is going to be good for a very long time. He sure has made an impact on the field in his two games up. Heck, he looks like he is the best player out there. AMAZING! Last night, Machado was 2-4. It was a solid night just considering that. However, consider that he hit 2 home runs!!!! It was his 2nd major league game and he hit 2 home runs! How could you not absolutely love this as an Orioles fan. This guy is the future. The future looks bright. So pleased with Manny!

And of course Manny got the pie in the face.

The best part for Machado wasn't the two home runs, or the 4 RBIs, it was the win and that is what matters most.

Three more amazing points from this game. First, Omar Quintanilla was 3-4 with a home run! Second, Miguel Gonzalez pitched another gem. Gonzalez threw 8 innings and only gave up 1 run. This guy was absolutely dealing in a 7-1 victory. I believe he may be the real deal. Finally, Mark Reynolds didn't play and the Orioles win! Amazing how that works!

-Noland

More Comparisons Between This Team & '89

The Orioles continue to do well and exceed expectations. You cannot count them out. There was another year they were expected to compete and they did that until the very last day. When that happened it was 1989 and it looks like it is happening again. Behind another amazing extra inning victory in which the Orioles won in 14 innings they shrunk the division lead to 4 1/2 games. Baltimore is now tied with Oakland for a wild card spot as well. However, nothing matches up to the 1989 team like a familiar face. One of the faces of that team, was Dave Johnson the pitcher. Yesterday, the Orioles called up Dave's son Steve to make his 1st major league start tomorrow! Now this team is really looking like 1989.

I have long been saying that Steve Johnson should join the rotation as the 5th starter. Showalter and Duquette finally agreed with me. This is very exciting to a lot of Orioles fans. Steve Johnson was not the most hyped prospect. However, he was most deserving of the opportunity, he is on normal rest, and he is a good local kid. The Orioles faithful loves Steve Johnson. I expect a hug crowd @ Camden Yards tonight.

How did Johnson finally join the rotation? Zach Britton got shelled. Britton has not been effective since his return other than the one start. Tonight, he gave up 7 runs in 5 innings to really put the Orioles in a hole. Britton's loss is Johnson's game. Because of the fact that he had to warm in the bullpen to go in, Tommy Hunter is unavailable to start tomorrow night now. Hunter looks like he would have entered in the 15th if the game had continued. Showalter said they were getting close to Chris Davis time though so maybe he was coming not far behind.

Let's start with the craziest news first and go from there. The Orioles have played in the most games this season lasting 13 innings or more. This is their 5th game past 13 and they are 5-0 in those games! Amazing. After Britton left the game, the score was 7-2. The bullpen pitched 9 scoreless innings to lead the comeback effort. 6 pitchers led to that scoreless performance. Surprisingly, Kevin Gregg was the 1st pitcher in that unit and he pitched 2 scoreless. Patton, Ayala, Strop, Lindstrom, and O'Day also pitched in the game. With O'Day picking up the win. The win moved O'Day to 6-0 on the season. Everyone besides Gregg in that groups has a sub 3 ERA. Obviously, the best one in that group is Pedro Strop @ 1.27. Strop was huge once again.

The comeback started in the 6th inning. The Orioles scored 1 in the 6th and 4 in the 7th to help push it to extras. They won the game on an Adam Jones single with the bases loaded in the 14th. The Mariners intentionally walked Davis to get to Jones. I don't know why anyone would want to pitch to Jones in a walkoff situation, but Go Mariners. I will gladly take it. Guess which Oriole scored the winning run? Omar Quintanilla.

Making the decision to walk Davis more strange was the fact that he was the only Oriole not hitting last night. Davis was 0-6 for the game. Adam Jones and Omar Quintanilla each had 2 hits in the game. Btw, if you need more reason to love Robert Andino, look at that smile in the picture above. I absolutely love the passion and fun he plays the game with.

Other key contributors last night were Markakis and Hardy. Nick Markakis was 4-7 from his leadoff spot. He is now hitting .294. JJ Hardy was 1-4, but hit a very crucial 3 run homer. It was Hardy's 16th homer of the season. Great job by JJ!

There was only one guy more impressive than Markakis, Hardy, and Jones. That man is Matt Wieters. Not only did Wieters catch 14 innings like a boss, but he played it amazingly defensively. Oh, and he hit 2 home runs! Now Wieters is up to 15 on the season. Terrific job last night by Wieters. There is a strong chance that he gets a night off or is the DH tonight.

Ok, now the other ugly part of the game. Wilson Betemit made his 15th error last night. The guy is horrible at 3rd. Just play Andino!

All that being said, WHY NOT?!?!

-Noland

Orioles Beat Yanks Again!!!!

Nick Markakis is the Orioles best player, just go ahead and join the bandwagon. Markakis went 3-5 last night, raising his average to .292. He has been hitting other worldly since returning from the DL. The right fielder also picked up 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Oh, and there was that home run he hit as well. This guy is putting us on his back and seeing how far he can take us.

Despite Nick though this one was not easy. Chris Tillman thought it was a good idea to spot the Yankees 5 runs. Good thing for Tillman is that he was lights out after that. I do not like his path to the victory, but I will take it. 5 innings pitched, 5 runs, 4 earned, 8 hits, and 3 strikeouts. Hey, when you look at the fact that he was able to give us 5 innings after that horrible first, good for Tillman. He is now (4-1) and has won 3 straight starts. Look at his ERA too, 2.70. Still, after giving up 5 in 5, Tillman's ERA is at 2.70. Could he be in Baltimore to stay?

Obviously, with Tillman's struggles early, the bats needed to be very active. So, who picked up the slack besides Nick? Chris Davis did for one. Davis hit a crucial grand slam. The slam was Davis's 18th homer of the season. It could not have come at a better time.

Other than Davis, the next best last night was....Omar Quintanilla. The new 2nd baseman continues to impress me. He picked up two more RBIs last night and scored a run. Actually, Betemit was better than Quintanilla with the bat. Betemit was 3-4 with 2 RBIs. Great night with the bats for the Orioles. I guess it has to be in an 11-5 victory though.

-Noland

Orioles 5 Yankees 4

Sometimes the best way to start off a conversation is to say the score of an important game. Well, guess what? The Orioles beat the Yankees! Go O's! Now see how it happened...

Miguel Gonzalez pitched a pretty fantastic game. Buck may have left him in too long, but Gonzo grinded it out. He gave up back to back homers in the 7th to keep the Yankees close, but he was strong through 6 2/3. Including the homers, he gave up 4 runs in those 6 2/3 innings. Not bad against the Yankees, especially considering if Buck had taken him out a little sooner it would have been 2 runs in 6 2/3 innings. Gonzo also managed to have 8 huge strikeouts. That makes 20 strikeouts by Oriole starters in 2 games. Pretty fantastic.

The bullpen was great for their 2 1/3. Perhaps the biggest strength for the Orioles this year, the bullpen came through again. Darren O'Day started the charge for the Orioles as he ended the seventh. O'Day picked up his 8th hold and lowered his ERA to 2.88. As I have said numerous times, the 8th inning is the best time for the Orioles. Our secret weapon enters the game at that time, Pedro Strop. Once again, Strop was brilliant in the 8th. Strop lowered his ERA to 1.34 and picked up his 17th hold. This guy is awesome. Then comes the 9th, which is of course, Jimmy time! Jim Johnson did not disappoint. He delivered again. Johnson is now at 31 saves on the season. He looks like he might get that record. We will see of course.

The pitching wasn't the only thing working for the O's last night. They got some key hits as well. Nick Markakis led the charge from his leadoff spot again. Markakis is hitting .364 since coming off the DL and leading off. After last night, he raised his season average to .286. I'd say Orioles MVP is between him, Jones, and Strop. I would vote Markakis, Strop, Jones personally. Why Markakis #1? He sets the tone for this team. Last night, he was 3-4. Markakis also drove in 2 and scored once. This guy makes the Orioles a much better team. Wilson Betemit also picked up multiple hits. He was 2-4 including his 12th home run of the season. Very huge game from Betemit who also scored twice.

Finally, Omar Quintanilla came through again with the bat. Quintanilla was 1-2 with an RBI and a run scored. He is doing a fantastic job getting on base and having quality at bats. Very impressed so far with this guy.

-Noland

Chen Had A Historic Day Yesterday

Wei Yin Chen had an amazing game yesterday. A historic game. It was perhaps his most overpowering performance. It is unfortunate that he had walks and an error behind him and he had to leave a little early. However, let's put his game into perspective.

First, let's remember that Chen won the game. He has now improved to (9-6) on the year. Chen also lowered his ERA to 3.65 while not allowing a single earned run. There was also only 3 hits the whole game. Now, for the good parts. Chen had 12 strikeouts. Those 12 strikeouts are a record for a Taiwanese player in the majors. Pretty cool. As I said earlier though, Chen only got through 5 2/3 innings. That short outing made Chen the first Oriole EVER to record more than 10 strikeouts in fewer than 6 innings. It is absolutely amazing that Chen had strikeouts in less than 6 innings and those accomplishments show that. His 12 strikeouts are the most by an Orioles pitcher since Erik Bedard struck out 15 against the Rangers on July 7, 2007. I am as amazed as you that there is actually some good news against the Rangers.

This performance could not have come at a better time for the O's. It came against the Oakland A's who have been red hot and are currently lined up to take a wild card spot. If the playoffs started today, there would be 3 AL West teams going. The Orioles are 2 games back of the Angels for the second wild card spot. They are 2.5 behind Oakland for the 1st. The Tigers are only one game back, and the Rays are tied with the Orioles. It is an extremely tight race for these wild card spots, just like MLB wanted.

Chen was not the only remarkable player last night. Omar Quintanilla continues to impress me. Forget about the error. I know our defense has been horrible, but I will take the errors if he makes the spectacular plays he made in the Rays series. I will also take them if he continues to deliver with the bat the way he has. Yesterday, he finished with a triple short of the cycle. Quintanilla hit his 1st Oriole home run and is 11-25 hitting since he's been on the team. He is actually hitting .440 as an Oriole and his average for the year is now .423. Tell me you won't take that in this lineup. This guy needs to play if he is hitting like this. 2 errors are ok with this kind of play. The plays I've seen him make on defense are tremendous. There is something special about this guy.

Lew Ford also made his Oriole debut. Ford went 0-3 and had a walk. However, Ford had a huge outfield assist and he gave the team some energy. The crowd loved him as well.

Matt Wieters hit his 13th home run of the season. Wieters also drove in 3 big runs in the victory.

Pedro Strop also continues to be filthy. Strop pitched another scoreless inning and lowered his ERA to 1.37. If I had to pick an Oriole MVP, Strop would be near the top of the list. Great game all-around. Let's hope they duplicate that performance this week against the evil empire.

-Noland

Orioles Win Makes AL Wild Card Very Tight Race

As you know there are two wild card teams this season. You also know that after the Orioles dropped out of position for that 2nd wild card, they have won 3 straight. Well guess what? Now they have won 4! Because of the win, the wild card race is a tight one.

The Baltimore Orioles moved to 50-44 with the victory. It tied them for the 2nd spot and moved them only a 1/2 game back of the 1st wild card. The Angels hold the 1st wild card. They just dropped a game to Texas and are 51-44. The Chicago White Sox looked like they were going to win the central, but they just lost 4 straight and the Tigers won 4 straight. Therefore, the White Sox are 50-44 as well. Chicago dropped out of 1st and into a tie with Baltimore, etc. Finally, the red hot A's are also 50-44.
Here are the wild card standings
Los Angeles 51-44
Baltimore 50-44
Chicago 50-44
Oakland 50-44

The Orioles also are now only 7 games behind New York after this winning streak. We can only hope that the streak continues.

What is one reason for the streak? Ryan Flaherty suddenly decided to play some baseball. The Rule 5 pick hit his 4th home run tonight. In the process, Flaherty  improved his average to .200. It will be interesting to see how long Flaherty can keep this up.

Another reason for the success is the starting pitching. Orioles starters registered their 4th straight quality start last night. This one was registered by Chris Tillman. If you remember, Tillman didn't get out of the 1st inning in his last outing. However, this time, Tillman only gave up 1 run in 6 2/3 to improve to 2-1. Despite Tillman's struggles last time, his ERA sits at 1.15, that is because of poor defense behind him in the previous 2 starts. The O's amazingly had no defensive struggles last night. In his next outing, Tillman will again try to deliver a 2nd straight victory for the first time in his career.

The bullpen was also impressive. Strop picked up his 16th hold after pitching a scoreless 8th. This lowered Strop's ERA to 1.47. Then Jim Johnson picked up his 29th save! Johnson now has an ERA of 2.38. The back end of the Orioles' bullpen is as good as anybody. Strop and Johnson are filthy.

There were other heroes with the bat, too many to name. I will say that Jim Thome hit another massive home run. Thome now has 2 Oriole homers and we are hoping for many more. Nick Markakis had 2 hits also raising his average to .273. #21 is doing quite well in the leadoff spot.

In roster news, Steve Pearce was the roster casualty to make room for Omar Quintanilla. Pearce was designated for assignment prior to yesterday's game. This move gives the Orioles three middle infielders, but considering Chris Davis has been playing LF, it was more likely that Tolleson would get at bats than Pearce. Pearce was DFA and the Orioles now will see if he clears waivers. It would be cool if he can stay in the organization, because then they may be able to move him later. Welcome aboard, Omar!

-Noland

Orioles Make A Trade!!!

The Baltimore Orioles have made a small scale trade, but it was a huge trade. A trade they didn't have to give up much in that will help. They have acquired Omar Quintanilla from the New York Mets. They only gave up cash for Quintanilla. By the way, how great a name is Omar Quintanilla in the baseball name game.

Why is this a good move? Quintanilla is only 30 years old and he plays 2nd base. He is in his prime and provides a better answer than the alternatives. Robert Andino is on the disabled list and so is Brian Roberts. The Orioles needed a 2nd baseman and they got one without giving up anything. Is he an all-star? No, but he'll do for now. Right now he is hitting .257/.350/.371. That .350 OBP would rank 1st on the Orioles. Sign me up for a second baseman who is considered a defensive specialist that also gets on base.

Quintanilla is expected to join the Orioles tomorrow at which time they will make another roster move. Maybe they can let Tolleson play 3rd now and actually field a competent defense.

Go O's!

-Noland