O's Walk Off with Sweep of Angels

Believe it. The O's swept the visiting Angels on Thursday night with a walk-off single off the bat of Cesar Izturis. The Birds won, 5-4, and are now 3-0 in the Buck Showalter era...

You can't make this stuff up. The Orioles have simply looked like a different team over the past three games...

Starter Jake Arrieta pitched into the eighth inning, and took a no-hitter into the fifth...the third straight quality start by an O's pitcher.

The offense gave Arrieta an early lead; Nick Markakis slapped a solo shot in the sixth and the O's led 4-0 heading into the eighth. The team went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and 5 of it's 13 hits went for extra bases. Every starter recorded a hit...timely hitting...I hope Dave Trembley was watching.

The bullpen struggled, which may be due to overuse. Jason Berken, who leads the majors in relief appearences, gave up a three-run blast in the top of the eighth to nullify Arrieta's strong start and give the Angels new life. Showalter kept him in to pitch the ninth, and Berken took them down 1-2-3 to set up the O's ninth inning heroics...

Matt Wieters led-off the bottom of the inning with a double, and was replaced with pinch-runner Julio Lugo, who took third base on a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Corey Patterson. Cesar Izturis followed with a single up the middle to give the Birds the win.

Thus, the first series under new skipper Buck Showalter was a success, to put it mildly. The "old" Orioles have emerged throughout the series (the O's almost let a 9-1 advantage slip away on Wednesday, and needed ninth inning heroics to win a game they led 4-0 in the eighth tonight). But most importantly, the "new" Orioles have emerged. The team has played good baseball, and has now won three straight. The O's hadn't swept the Angels since 1999. It was about time...

The Birds now host a red-hot Chicago White Sox team for a four-game set starting Friday night. Brad Bergesen will take the mound, as the O's look to extend the streak to four straight...Go O's!