Game 123: Markakis Saves Game, Blowout Ensues

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog and I've held off on these articles since I have been watching the past few weeks on pins and needles anxiously scoreboard watching to ensure the O's maintained their division lead after the All-Star Break.  To my delight, they've not only held onto their lead in the AL East, they've stretched it to the largest divisional margin in the entire league.  7.5 games up on the Yankees, the O's can start to see the finish line and has the division crown in their sights. I'm an extremely superstitious person and never get too outlandish/make bold claims about the Orioles to avoid jinxing my beloved squad for future success. As the games pass by and the wins rack up, I can start to relish in the fact that Baltimore's beloved Birds have put themselves in the best position to win a division crown since 2012 and 15 years before that. The 2012 team bears a striking resemblance to this season's squad, with their abundance of power and shutdown pitching in the late innings.

The additions of Brad Brach and Andrew Miller to the bullpen have solidified the unit as a driving force that can rival the incredible bullpen we boasted in 2012. As for the offense, we've had the luxury of leading the league in homeruns once again and with a lineup stocked with power hitters, we haven't suffered crippling blows in terms of offense when our best sluggers get ice cold (Crush and Cruz).  Players such as Caleb Joseph, Delmon Young and Steve Pearce have supplied an ample source of power in the weeks that Nelson and Chris struggled mightily.  Injuries to Machado and Hardy couldn't even slow this team down, as Hardy has continued his torrid second half since return from his hand injury.  Kevin Gausman and Bud Norris' returns to the rotation full time has taken the pressure off of Chen and Tillman to carry the staff, as the O's now boast one of the most formidable rotations in baseball...who would've thought we'd be saying that in late August??? Each player knows their role on this team and are either meeting expectations or severely exceeding them. It's an extremely fun team to watch night in and night out and game's like last night really make you sit back and appreciate the success the team has found through the first 123 games.

After nearly being swept by the Indians on Sunday, the O's fought back with an offensive outburst in the later innings to salvage one game.  Although it was their first series lost in nearly a month (Oakland series), the O's hadn't lost back to back contests in over TWO MONTHS. If you told me in 2011 that this would the be the state of the ballclub in three years time, I would've done cartwheels all the way from Schenectady, New York to Camden Yards. Buck has shown that he's a fitting choice to snag another manager of the year if things happen to hold suit for the final month as he's navigated this team through various injuries, suspensions and slumps.  Remaining cool under pressure, Showalter constantly jumbled the lineup and it usually has spelled success for the O's. Chris Davis has been placed all over the lineup and about 6 different hitters have hit in the 2-hole this season and it always results in wins. Now onto the recap from last night...sorry for the outpouring of admiration for the O's but I believe it is warranted for my first post in nearly two months.  I know my fellow Oriole fans have the same sentiments and I have no problem being the mouthpiece for the Orioles faithful.

Stud Norris: Bud is 4-1 with 3.00 ERA in his six second-half starts

As I stated earlier, it was a hard fought series against Cleveland last weekend that resulted in the Indians stealing 2 out of 3 after strong pitching performances by Kluber and Carrasco.  Kluber, by the way, is an absolute stud and quickly becoming my favorite non-Oriole in the MLB. Anyways, a great comeback led by the longball allowed us to salvage the game on Sunday.  Heading into the Chicago-swing, the O's began the trip against Chris Sale and the White Sox with the Yankees and Blue Jays idle yesterday. The game was dominated in the beginning by great pitching as Sale and Bud "Stud" Norris retired allowed one run combined in the first four innings.  Sale's early blunder came off the bat of JJ Hardy, who crushed his 7th homerun into the left field seats after the lefty hung a fastball over the heart of the plate. Norris was in cruise control for the first six innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four while limiting his pitch count over the course of the game (82 pitches in 7 innings).  The O's would tack on insurance runs in the 5th and 6th thanks to a Pearce RBI double and a Nelson Cruz solo homerun.

Markakis went 3-5 with a homerun in addition to making the game-saving grab

Both hitters, who had been struggling at the end of July, have seemed to find their power strokes once again as they combined to go 4-8 with 3 extra base hits last night.  For Cruz, he tied Giancarlo Stanton for the MLB-lead in home runs with a bomb to left field, giving the O's a three run cushion. As Norris was cruising, things appeared to be locked up but the righty ran into some trouble in the seventh as a two-out two run single to Avisail Garcia cut the deficit to one with Connar Gillaspie coming to the plate. Gillaspie ripped a fastball to the right field wall and just as it looked as though the White Sox would complete the comeback, a charging Nick Markakis leapt at the wall and make a beautiful catch while smashing into the fence to end the inning and preserve the lead.  I don't know about any of you but I let out one single yell of astonishment when the catch was made and sat speechless for a few seconds in awe of what I had just witnessed.  It was one of the finest plays I've seen this year but after years of watching Markakis patrol right field, it's just something I've become accustom to.

Using the catch as a springboard for the offense, the O's bats erupted in the top of the 8th, stringing to together extra base hits that included a Jonathon Schoop three-run double off the wall and a Nick Markakis (what can't this man do?) two run shot down the left field line to put the game out of reach at 8-2.  After two scoreless frames from Brach, the O's had wrapped up their 71st win of the season and gained a half game on their divisional foes.  Bud (Stud) got his 11th win of the season and continues to pitch well in the second half of the season, seemingly getting better with each passing start.  Hopefully Tilly can build off that success tonight as he looks to gain his tenth win of the season, giving the Orioles their third pitcher with double-digit victories (Chen, Norris). The O's had 7 extra base hits last night and once again showed what the this offense is capable of when they are clicking on all cylinders.  JJ Hardy is now hitting .396 in the month of August with 3 HRs and 11 RBI's. After a slow start to the season in terms of power numbers, JJ has blasted 7 homers in his last 150 at-bats.

It was simply a classic Orioles win that showed off all the aspects of what has made this team great over this past season.  Power hitting, strong pitching and timely plays on defense are the hallmarks of this ballclub and it would appear that we're going to see a lot more of it in 2014. Quietly, the O's have compiled the 3rd best record in baseball and will continue to fly under the radar, which is totally fine by me and the rest of the O's fans out there.  We're ecstatic from the Birds' play and we don't need media coverage to keep us satisfied.

Tonight's starters are Jose Quintana and Chris Tillman. Be on the look out for more recaps in the future.
Go O's.

Game 77: Wild Pitch Seals Victory

It was a grueling series against the White Sox these past three days, with several missed opportunities resulting in a plethora of runners left on base.  Monday was a huge moment for the entire team as they battled back against the Sox to win on a Chris Davis walk off homerun to take game 1.  Tuesday, Jose Quintana rendered the offense ineffective and the O's continued to struggle with runners in scoring position.  It seemed like they were destined for a series loss last night in the rubber match as Hector Noesi dominated through seven innings.  I couldn't even count the amount of double plays the team hit into this series and it was really starting to become frustrating.  Nelson Cruz especially, whose pitch selection seemed to decline with RISP.

Thankfully he would atone for his shortcomings in the 8th inning, as the Orioles once again got runners on to start the bottom of the 8th.  Nick Hundley singled back up the middle, as did Markakis and before you knew it, Chris Davis had worked a long walk to bring up Nellie with the bases loaded and two outs.  The Sox bullpen had been shaky this entire series so Robin Ventura brought in the one pitcher who had pitched well the first two games, Javy Guerra.  He would also be the 4th pitcher in the inning, attempting to patch together a crucial hold.  Guerra's numbers are solid for a waiver pickup but there is one deceiving stat that played in the Orioles favor.  After crushing lefties all season, Guerra's success against righties was no where to be seen, as hitters were batting well over .300 in 2014 against him.

The at-bat started with two balls off the plate that Cruz thankfully took.  You could tell that Guerra wanted nothing out over the plate to start out this at-bat yet he couldn't get Nelson to nibble.  On 2-0, everyone in the stadium was expecting fastball and so was Cruz, barely missing a dead-red fastball, fouling it back to screen.  He would miss on the next pitch as Guerra hung another over the heart of the plate and Nellie crushed it to right-center field, carrying to the wall.  It would drop over the outstretched glove of the right fielder to tie the game as the fans erupted once they knew it was gone.  I wouldn't have said Cruz was truly struggling at the plate but simply not able to come through in key situations like earlier in the year.  That all changed with one swing and the Orioles were once again granted new life.

After both teams threatened to break the tie, and a lengthy rain delay, the Orioles were finally able to push across a run in the bottom of the 12th on a wild pitch as the Orioles had 1st and 3rd with no one out.  David Lough, pinch running for Hundley - who had a great game last night - scored after almost scoring the play before on a line drive by Nick Markkais, only to be held up by Bobby Dickerson...plus he slipped rounding the base.

For the O's it was their 3rd straight series win and with the Jays losing, they were able to shrink their defecit to 1.5 games yet again. Ubaldo Jimenez was the starter but he pitched well although allowing 4 runs, as he once again was not able to receive any sort of run support.  The worst in the AL for games that he starts. The bullpen, a combination of O'Day, Webb, Brach, Matusz, Britton and Hunter held the Sox scoreless for 6 innings and seems to be regaining their old prowess in the late innings.

Next, the O's welcome the Rays to town for a day-night doubleheader on Friday as they look to continue their success against the struggling team.

Game 71: Gausman, Pearce Outshine Rays

Nick Markakis singles up the middle to lead off the game...something that Orioles fans have become accustom to over the past few years.  Markakis once again began the game with a hit in the afternoon rubber match at Tropicana Field.  Facing Alex Cobb, a young pitcher with an extraordinary array of pitches, dominates left-handers.  Markakis apparently didn't get the memo.  Buck loaded up the lineup with righties today, including another appearance in the two spot by Steve Pearce.  Orioles are looking to gain momentum for a weekend series against the Yankees and a series win in Tampa would be a great foundation to spark a run to end the first half of the season. Orioles would put two runners on to begin the game but Nelson Cruz went down looking to end the threat.  As Joe Angel would go on to say, Nellie hasn't hit a home run in a while.  In fact, it's been 53 at-bats since his last blast. Nelson's continued to hit the ball, but has briefly lost the power stroke.  I fully anticipate him to bounce back.

Kevin Gausman got his third start today, looking to pick up another win in the rotation as Buck has expanded the staff to 6 pitchers to accommodate both Gausman and Gonzalez.  Last start, he neutralized the high powered Blue Jays offense but today, he started the first inning with a walk and single.  The key for Gausman's success is the ability to get his pitches low and utilize the changeup. Next batter, Evan Longoria bounced a pitch to Hardy that he would bobble to load the bases with still no out.  For JJ, it's another error for the gold glove shortstop after it appeared that he had shook his recent struggles in the field.  Gausman was getting squeezed by the home plate umpire very early, running up his pitch count to over 30 pitches in the first frame.  With the bases loaded and no one out, Gausman settled in, got ahead in the count and proceeded to strike out James Loney and Ben Zobrist then got David Dejesus to pop out on a 3-2 pitch to escape the inning scoreless.  Just a major confidence booster for the young pitcher and save the Orioles from coming from behind the entire game.

Gausman was able to work out of another jam next inning, inducing yet another double play to get out of the inning with 17 pitches.  Next inning, Machado robbed Longoria of another base hit this series, as he dove, made the stop and fired over to first to end the third.  Still scoreless, Cobb breezed through the Orioles lineup besides stray walks to Joseph & Davis and Markakis' lead off single.  In the fourth, Gausman allowed a two-out double that went to third on a passed ball but was able to get the next hitter to pop out to end yet another threat.  Although his pitch count was 80 pitches after the fourth inning, he did a great job limiting deep counts and getting first pitch strikes. In the 5th, Markakis came back to the plate with two down and reached on an error by Ben Zobrist to keep the inning alive.  Baltimore finally cashed in on a Rays' mistake, as Pierce would line a double to right field, plating Markakis to break the scoreless tie.  Yet another piece of clutch hitting from Mr. Pearce, who continues to produce when he's in the lineup.

Gausman was able to navigate through the 5th inning with a shutout still intact and pitched a quick enough inning for Buck to let him pitch into the sixth.  Longoria ripped a double to start off the inning and the lead looked to be in jeopardy.  Once again, Gausman was able to battle back by striking out James Loney and getting Zobrist to pop out to short left field.  However, Longoria made a mental mistake by putting his head down to run instead of watching the ball and was easily doubled off to end the inning.  For Gausman, it was his third straight impressive start and kept the Rays scoreless through six strong innings after narrowly escaping what could have been a disastrous first frame.  He has most certainly earned his shot to stay in the rotation for the near future and seems to have invigorated the entire pitching staff.  It reminds me of Machado's impact on the Orioles offense during his first full season and in 2012.  The young players seem to spark the veterans into picking up their play as a collective unit.  As Chris Tillman continues to struggle, it is a pleasure to see someone stepping up to be the interim "ace" of the staff.

His counterpart in today's game, Alex Cobb, pitched extremely well too.  Only allowing the one mistake to Steve Pearce that led to an RBI double, he has kept the Orioles hitters off balance all game.  In 7 innings, Cobb scattered only 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 6 batters. It is a matchup that many fans of each team would like to see in the future for the AL East. Cobb has simply been on the short end of the stick when it comes to the lackluster Rays offense.

Tommy Hunter would spell Gausman as the first reliever out of the pen to preserve the lead for the young prospect.  Hunter struggled in his last appearance versus Toronto, but had pitched well before that in his return from the DL.  Quickly, he would strike out DeJesus and got Jerry Sands to bounce out to Machado for the second out.  He benefitted from keeping the ball down in today's appearance, something that he usually struggles with when he's at his worst.  Yunel Escobar would then drive a ball to right center field wall but was robbed off extra bases as Adam Jones leapt to steal a hit away from the Tampa Bay shortstop.  AJ was quiet at the plate today but made the big catch when it mattered.  This was one of many outstanding defensive plays in this ballgame, as Machado and Longoria seemed to alternate web gems throughout the afternoon.

Remember how I said Nelson Cruz hadn't homered in a while? Well, that ended very quickly as Cruz would be robbed in his second and third at-bats but his fourth plate appearance would end the drought.  Kirby Yates had come on to pitch with an out in the 8th and Nellie greeted him with a no-doubter to left field, giving the Orioles a MUCH needed insurance run.  For Cruz, he now regains the league lead in homers and RBI, while crushing his 15th dinger on the road this season.  3 batters after to homer, both Ben McDonald and Joe Angel were still in awe of the moonshot off the bat of Cruz.  Listening on the radio, I was anxiously waiting to see a highlight from MLB.com to watch for myself.  His homers may come in bunches, but they also come at opportune times and this was certainly one of them.

After Tommy Hunter tossed another scoreless inning, Zach Britton was called upon to close out another game.  Like last night, he wasted no time getting to work quickly, as he retired the Rays in order, striking out two hitters.  His splitter looked great once again and O's fans must be relieved to have reduced stress when watching in the 9th inning when they have a lead.  Gausman would improve to 3-1 on the season with his totals for his past three starts making it very difficult to keep him out of the rotation.  Since he was recalled, Gausman has tossed 19 innings, only allowing 2 earned runs.  For now, I predict Buck will stick with the six-man rotation due to the lack of a true ace on the staff currently.  If Chris Tillman was pitching like his usual self, one could make an argument that you wouldn't want to wait 5 days to have Tilly start again.  With an off day tomorrow, the pitching staff and bullpen get a chance to rest up for an ever so crucial weekend series in New York against the Yankees.

Tonight's Orange Journalism Player of the Game goes to Kevin Gausman after a gritty yet masterful performance against this potent Rays lineup.  He's continued to be the Orioles hottest starter and I'm eagerly awaiting his next start.  A close runner-up, Steve Pearce feasted on Rays pitching these past two days and doubled twice today, driving in the go-ahead run in the 5th to break the tie.

Game 69: Sands' Blast Sinks Orioles

It always disheartens me to write these recaps the day after a loss, especially after a demoralizing loss like last night. The Orioles looked to get back on the right track after a frustrating loss on Sunday against and saw a huge opportunity against a sputtering Rays offense.  Especially comforting was the fact that the Orioles hottest starter, Wei-Yin Chen was on the hill against young Jake Odorizzi.

Tampa got off to a great start, with an early Yunel Escobar solo homer to give the Rays an early lead. Odorizzi cruised through the first 5 innings, only allowing an infield single to JJ Hardy in the second that led to another scoreless frame.  Tampa, had no problem getting runners on, as they hit Chen extremely hard throughout his 6.2 innings last night. Chen allowed 5 extra base hits in his start and got into additional trouble in the fourth when James Loney reached on a leadoff double to start the bottom half.  With one out and Loney now on third, Ryan Hanigan crushed a ball hung over the plate into the left field seats to make it 3-0. The way Odorizzi was pitching, it seemed like an insurmountable lead for the Birds.

Fortunately, the Orioles would finally get to Odorizzi in his last inning of work in the top of the sixth.  Nick Markakis got the rally started as he doubled to the opposite field.  After Manny Machado flew out to left, Adam Jones sent a pitch deep into the left field bleachers to cut the deficit to one.  For Jonesy, it was his 12th homerun of the season as his power surge continues into the road trip.  Brad Boxberger would then relieve Odorizzi with a rising pitch count and would get the final two outs to stop any further damage.

Chen would go on to toss 1.2 more scoreless innings to turn the game over to Darren O'Day, who allowed a single to his first batter and who subsequently get Yunel Escobar to flyout to center to end the 7th.  After Joel Peralta pitched a scoreless 7th, former Oriole (for about 12 hours) Grant Balfour was summoned from the pen a tad early to pick up a hold.  Balfour, who had failed his physical before the season which prevented him from joining the Orioles as their replacement for Jim Johnson, has struggling mightily this season and has already been relieved on his closing duties this year.  Balfour would only last three batters, as Markakis and Machado led off with back-to-back singles in an attempt to notch the game at 3.  After getting Adam Jones to pop up, hard throwing Jake McGee came into escape the jam created by Balfour. McGee who usually gives the Orioles problems, would surrender one of his inherited runners as Chris Davis worked a walk to load the bases and Nelson Cruz reached on an infield single to plate Markakis to tie the game. The ball was bounced straight up in the air and by the time it got to Longoria, he didn't have a play to any base.  JJ Hardy would then strikeout on a pitch away and McGee escaped by getting Pearce to bounce into a fielder's choice.

The tie game would not last long however, as Darren O'Day would quickly walk Evan Longoria to put the go-ahead runner on to start the bottom of the 8th. After striking out Ben Zobrist and inducing a flyout from James Loney, David Dejesus was summoned from the bench to pinch hit for Sean Rodriguez.  However, Buck was not fond of the matchup and brought in Brian Matusz to take care of the lefty. Once the pitching change was made, Joe Maddon, resident genius, brought in Jerry Sands off the bench to pinch hit as a right hander. After a ball to start the at-bat, Matusz hung an inside fastball  slightly over the plate and Sands demolished the offering over the left field foul pole to make it 5-3.  Sands, an MLB journeyman, who's only had 36 plate appearances since 2012 delivered the knockout blow to the Orioles' comeback attempts as he joyfully rounded the bases and was greeted in the dugout by the entire team after delivering once again for the team.  A game before, he had broken three bats on consecutive pitches only to send an RBI single into the outfield to put the Rays ahead of the Astros.  The sheer joy expressed by the entire Rays' dugout seemed to spark the team that has struggled so much at the plate that it has garnered visits from "witch doctors" to awaken their bats.  Sands was greeted with a chorus of cheers from the robust crowd of nearly 11,000 fans at Tropicana Field last night (had to get that jab in there).

To close out the game, Maddon brought in Juan Carlos Oviedo to pick up his first save in nearly three years. Seemed like he was shaking off the rust as Delmon Young launched a pinch hit solo homerun to left to cut the lead in half.  Unfazed, Oviedo would then get Markakis and Machado to pop out to the infield to end the game.  You can chalk it up to just another tough loss for the Orioles who once again had their chances throughout the game but could not capitalize.

Tonight's starters features returns of two friendly faces as Miguel Gonzalez takes on Erik Bedard, each sitting at 3-4 on the season, looking to get back to .500.  For Gonzo, this is his first start since he was sidelined by injury and was eventually replaced by Kevin Gausman, who will pitch Wednesday.  After back-to-back losses, this is a crucial game for the Orioles as they do not want to drop a series to Tampa Bay and revive their team that really needs a boost at this juncture of the season.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't dedicate this post to one of the best hitters in our generation/all-time that passed away yesterday.  Tony Gwynn will always be remembered for his mind-boggling hitting statistics that place him amongst the greatest hitters that ever lived.  An amazing player and even more amazing person, the news sent shockwaves throughout the baseball community and the tremendous outpouring of tributes was a sight to see.

Game 65: Gausman Earns Second Win

I was at a concert last night and immediately turned on the finals when I got home so I don't have too much to say about last night's game.  It was excellent, by the way, The Features and Fitz & the Tantrums played a free show in Albany.  Highly recommend seeing each band if you get the chance, especially if you like alternative music. Anyways...from the consensus on social media, Kevin Gausman was phenomenal once again, earning his second win of the season in impressive fashion.  One of the biggest series of the early season kicked off against the Blue Jays Thursday night and the Orioles were up for the task.  The pitching staff, which only allowed 1 run to Red Sox last series continued their success although allowing an unprecedented 2 RUNS! Kidding of course.

O's fans caught yet another glimpse of future rotation member Kevin Gausman.  The former number one pick out of LSU pitched a great game again in his many weeks since being recalled from Norfolk.  His opponent, Mark Buehrle is one of the hottest pitchers in baseball, although he recorded his second loss of the season last start against the Cardinals. In addition, Toronto is touted for having one of the best offenses in baseball, which forced the Orioles pitching staff to be razor sharp and needed to put up runs early in the game.  They did both of these things, as Delmon Young launched a two-run homer in the first inning to plate Nick Markakis, who once again led off the game with a base hit.  It's such a luxury to have Markakis hitting leadoff as he's hitting over .400 when he leads off the game for the Orioles. With an early lead, Gausman found his groove early, and navigated through the first four innings unscathed.  The second inning, the O's added to their lead as Caleb Joseph singled home Machado after he led off the inning with a double and Schoop moved him over to third.  The thing I like most about the Orioles offense is the little contributions from an array of players each night.  With so much fire power throughout the order, a middle of the order hitter with an "O-fer" can be picked up by other guys in the lineup.  Guys like Delmon Young, Caleb Joseph, David Lough and Steve Pearce have propelled the team's offense when the sluggers aren't hitting and it's things like this that will continue to drive the Orioles success.

From that point on, Buehrle was able to settle in and kept the Jays in the game, pitching into the 7th inning.  In the 5th, Gausman got into some trouble allowing a lead off double to Juan Francisco and would eventually score on a Melky Cabrera single to break the shutout. Gausman would toss another scoreless frame in the 6th and left with a 2-run lead for his bullpen to preserve.  His line was impressive yet again, limiting the Jays to 5 hits and allowing 3 walks while striking out three. Gausman has clearly pitched well enough to stay in the rotation but there will be an interesting decision when Miguel Gonzalez is finally able to make his return to Baltimore.  Buck and myself would be pleased to have both, as the manager hadn't ruled out the possibility of using a 6-man rotation for the time being.  Personally, it's not fair for Gonzo to be relegated to the bullpen while Ubaldo Jimenez has been ineffective for the majority of the season.

Anyways, back to the game, where the Orioles would tack on another run to their lead as Nick Markakis doubled home Jonathon Schoop for a much needed insurance run after Matusz pitched a scoreless seventh inning.  Markakis barely missed another home run as he roped a line drive off the top of  the right field wall to easily plate the runner.  Ryan Webb, who's put together a great season so far, filled in for O'Day tonight and surrendered a run to cut the deficit at two but it was the extent of the damage.  After loading the bases with one out in the bottom half of the 8th, Aaron Loup came on to end the threat and the O's called upon Zach Britton to nail down yet another save in his many weeks as a closer. Britton ended the game on 10 pitches, allowing a base hit with one out and getting Darin Mastroianni (Italia) to bounce into the game-ending double play in the next at bat.

For the O's, they were obviously once again able to cut into Toronto's division lead and are now 3.5 games back, along with the Yankees, who took care of Seattle once again.  Cruz, Markakis and Young all recorded 2 hits, as Delmon was placed in the second spot in the lineup to give Steve Pearce the night off. Machado went 1-3 with a double and a run scored while Davis and Jonesy each went 0-4. No complaints from Jones, who's been such a force over these past few weeks and was bound to cool off.  Davis, after ending the Red Sox series with 2 XBH, struggled against the Blue Jay lefties and looks to fare much better against Drew Hutchinson, who silenced the Orioles bats earlier this year.  Ubaldo takes the hill tonight as he looks to shake off the brutal start on Sunday against Oakland.

Game 64: Chensanity Shuts Out Red Sox

Wasting no time Wednesday night, the Orioles got off to a fast start in the first inning after being shutout 1-0 by Brandon Workman.  After Wei-Yin Chen retired the Sox in order, Baltimore struck first with an Adam Jones double down the left field line, scoring Steve Pearce as he drew a walk in the two spot.  Which means, Machado was moved down in the order to his recent "struggles". Manny has elected to appeal his suspension so he remains in the lineup but his struggles at the plate continue.  Chris Davis kept the inning going with a long fly ball to right field off of Rubby De La Rosa (phenomenal name) for his 10th home run of the season.  Plating Jones, the O's took a much need 3-0 lead as runs were very scarce throughout the first two games of the series. For Crush, this was a much needed slump buster as he's struggled during the month of June.  Davis' next at-bat sent a De La Rosa pitch deep to dead center field but was snagged on the warning track by Jackie Bradley Jr.  Although it would it was just warning track power, it's great to finally see Davis taking the ball to all fields as he was simply baffled by opposing pitchers in recent games.

Chen, who's been on a tear lately, took the mound looking to earn his team-leading seventh win of the season and got off to a great start. striking out 5 of the first 9 batters with an array of breaking pitches keeping his fastball elevated.  I've been thoroughly impressed with Wei-Yin's accuracy these past few starts and remains the hottest (pitching-wise) member of the Orioles rotation…my apologies to Mr. Bud Norris.  Chen finally allowed his first baserunner on a Pedroia single off the wall, only to be gunned down stretching it to a double by the cannon that is, Nick Markakis' left arm. The closest you could come to a perfect throw - well besides this laser beam last night.

Earlier today, Phil Hughes stifled the Blue Jays as the O's were presented with another opportunity to chip away at the division lead. Baltimore was able to take control early with an array of base hits from their entire lineup.  Nick Hundley, struggling heavily in the early of his tenure with the Orioles, singled twice in the first four innings, the latter drove in a JJ Hardy to extend the lead to 4-0.  Markakis almost squeaked across another run on an infield single but a replay challenge by John Farrell determined that Nick Hundley was indeed forced out at second.  After the close call, Chen gave up a line drive single past the shift to Big Papi, only to endure a another pop out from Mike Napoli and a tailor made double play to Jonathan Schoop to end the threat.

After stranding base runners in the bottom of 5th, Chen trotted out for the sixth inning with a shutout still in tact.  After allowing a leadoff base hit, he was able to strike out Jonathan Herrera once again and two pitches later, he got Brock Holt to ground into another opportune double play to end another threat.   His breaking ball bailed him out once again as Holt slapped at a low and away pitch to bounce into the 4-6-3 inning ender.  De La Rosa would also settle in for the remainder of his outing and would shut down the Orioles for 5.2 innings before he was relieved by Edward Mujica.  As the 7th began, the rain started to lightly fall and Dustin Pedroia once again singled off of Chen to start a potential rally.  He's been a thorn in the side of Chen during his brief career, hitting over .500 in over 25 at-bats versus the left handed pitcher.  Immediately after, Chen was amazingly able to force a third straight inning ending double play to keep the lead at 4.  Can't even express how impressed I was with Chen's outing tonight and walked a tightrope to navigate through the Red Sox lineup after dominating the early stages of the game.

After nearly 2 hours of rain delay, play finally would resume.  Didn't really mind as I was able to utilize my MLB Extra Innings subscription and catch up on action from the rest of the league.  However, Chen would be taken out for the 8th inning for Darren O'Day.  By far the best start of the season, he put his team in a position to win tonight's game and the series. Most importantly, Chen was extremely economical as he didn't issue a walk, scattered four hits and struck out seven in 7 scoreless innings.  This was all accomplished on 87 pitches, something that the Orioles desperately needed in this rubber match.  O'Day's only baserunner came on yet another throwing error by JJ Hardy.  Hardy, one of the most sure handed shortstops in the league, has had a rough June, with an inability to make routine plays he usually makes with ease.  However, O'Day was able to force three groundouts to himself to end the threat.  Darren continues his dominate season as he lowered his ERA under 1 for the season.

One Oriole that has severely cooled off is Nelson Cruz, simply being rendered helpless since the weekend of the Astros' series.  This past 10 days he's looked clueless at the dish, waving at pitches out of the strike zone and swinging through fastballs dead red.  Can't have too much complaints with Nelly as he's essentially carried our offense through the first 60 games and I know that he was bound to cool off eventually.  With a crucial 4-game series looming against Toronto, I expect Cruz to give the Blue Jays more problems.  Fortunately, he was able to add a leadoff single in the 8th as Gary Thorne threw on the patented reverse jinx (Barstool) by stating that he was hitless in his last 10 plate appearances. Chris Davis would proceed to rope a double down the first base line, picking up his second extra base hit of the ballgame.  O'a add another insurance run off an RBI walk by Schoop, putting the game out of reach.  As I write this live, I REALLY want Markakis to take Capuano deep for a grand slam.  I say this because Markakis is on the cusp of making the All-Star team and he's more than deserving to finally be elected to his first team. Top 10 in average and 3rd in hits, you really can't make any arguments against him.  Alas, Capuano walked Markakis, but he picked up another RBI.

Zach Britton would come on to pitch a perfect ninth inning to seal  the shutout and the Orioles were back in the win column, picking up another series win against a division opponent.  With Toronto coming to town, the offense will need to keep pace with one of the best in baseball.  Kevin Gausman makes another start tonight against the AL wins leader, Mark Buerhle. Gausman coming off his first career victory in the rotation will look to build off the success of last Saturday.

Game 62: Charm City Shutout

After a heated series with the Athletics, the O's remained at home for an additional week as the Red Sox come to town. Yesterday, the O's were shelled by the Athletics and barely mustered a single run. Tonight, Baltimore wasted no time grabbing a lead as Adam Jones sent his 10th homer to dead center. Jones continues to hit over these last few weeks and has climbed into the 4th spot in the All-Star game voting for the American League outfielders. It was crucial that the Orioles got to Boston's starter, Jake Peavy early to set the tone for the entire game.  Peavy, the former Cy Young winner tends to be dominant when he gets into an early groove. Opposing Peavy was Bud Norris, who pitched well in his last start in Texas until he got hit on the arm with a line drive.  Tonight he kept the ball low with an effective change up, inducing several fly balls and striking out 6 hitters.  Unlike yesterday, Norris kept the walks at a minimum, tossing 8 scoreless innings under 100 pitches.

Orioles were able to get men on base but couldn't capitalize with runners in scoring position, going 0-4 tonight. Boston had the same amount of luck, going hitless as well as Norris only allowed two runners to reach second base tonight. For the offense, the Orioles used the long ball to their advantage as Markakis launched a two-run homer nearly into Eutaw Street. Peavy hung a two-seam fastball over the heart of the plate and Nick was all over it.  Markakis and Jones remain the constant, driving forces in the Orioles lineup this year as they combined for 5 hits, 2 homers and 3 RBI (vote them into the ASG!).   

To add insult to injury for Peavy, he also fell victim to Chris Davis' first bunt single of his career in the 4th inning.  Shift on,  Crush dropped a perfect bunt down the third base line and legged out an infield hit that was reviewed after initially being called an out. Ryan Flaherty capped off the Orioles run production with a long home run to right field to make it 4-0. That was plenty of insurance for Norris as he worked out of a jam in the 8th as he was met with a standing ovation from the Orioles faithful. Buck didn't let Norris finish off the shutout and instead turned the game over to recently activated, former closer Tommy Hunter.  Hunter, in his first appearance since heading to the DL and his demotion in the bullpen, produced 3 flyouts to preserve the shutout and most importantly, another Orioles win. 

Tomorrow, Chris Tillman gets a shot at redemption from his previous starts against Brandon Workman.  Tillman has struggled heavily lately, with an ERA near 8.00 over the last month.  However, when you observe his splits for 2014, Tillman has a sub-3.00 earned run average when he's at home yet he has not been able to win a decision at Camden Yards. On the road, Tilly has boasts a 6.33 ERA but is 5-0. It's truly mesmerizing by how he's a different pitcher based on the ballpark.  Essentially, a bizarro Ubaldo Jimenez.  I hope Tilly can write the ship soon because he's still our ace and can use his leadership as the season progresses.