Tuesday, May 25, 2010

O's over A's

The Orioles gave fans something to cheer about after beating the Oakland Athletics 5-1 at Camden Yards on Tuesday night.

Jeremy Guthrie looked sharp, giving up just one run off six hits over six innings. Guthrie walked three and struck out two, and picked up his third win of the season.

The bullpen pitched three scoreless innings of one-hit ball, walking none and fanning three.

The defense was impressive, in particular Ty Wigginton's snare at first base and Miguel Tejada's leaping catch at the opposite corner.

And fundamentally, this was the best the O's have looked all season. The hitters worked the count. They took walks (six walks compared to seven hits). Two runs scored on sacrifice flies in the same inning...

I was shocked to hear after the game that the Birds had just five sac flies on the season, the lowest number in the Majors...that's not a typo! Incredible! Maybe the O's are learning how to manufacture some runs...

Nick Markakis went deep in the eighth inning, and Matt Wieters added an RBI double to pad the lead and help ensure the victory.

There were a lot of changes to the O's roster after the off-day on Monday...

Dave Trembley is still the O's skipper, at least for now.

Koji Uehara and Alfredo Simon were placed on the 15-day DL.

After picking up his first win of the season last week, starter David Hernandez was demoted to the bullpen...the move is expected to be permanent.

The Birds called up Alberto Castillo and Norfolk's closer Frank Mata to help bolster the bullpen.

Word on the street is that Chris Tillman will join the team this weekend, and will be the starter Saturday afternoon in Toronto.

That's it for now...let's hope the Birds can build on this win and start a streak...Brian Matusz takes the mound tomorrow night...Let's Go O's!

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