Yard Birds

It was a hot night at Camden Yards...

Need proof? The O's and Red Sox combined for nine home runs on Saturday night, five for the Birds, who came out on top 12-9.

The O's offense came to life to back Brad Bergesen, making his first start since being called up from Triple-A Norfolk earlier that day. Jim Johnson was sent down to make room for Bergesen, who picked up his first win of the season despite allowing four runs through five innings.

The Birds smacked 12 hits, six for extra bases, and topped their previous high of eight runs in a ballgame (the nine runs allowed tied a season-worst).

Ty Wigginton, Nick Markakis, Luke Scott and Matt Wieters all went yard in the slug-fest. Wigginton homered in back-to-back at-bats, and leads the team with eight round-trippers.

It was just the second time this season the O's have collected consecutive victories, and with the win, the Birds have taken their first series this season, regardless of the outcome of Sunday's game...still, a sweep of the Sox would be nice!

After a disastrous April, the Orioles are 1-0 in May and have now won three out of five games against the division rival Red Sox. The O's went 2-16 against Boston last year, so this is already an improvement.

Kevin Millwood looks to pick up his first win of the season later this afternoon...let's hope it's another scorcher!