Earl Weaver Rules

I guess I don’t like these two game series, considering the Orioles have gotten swept in both of theirs this weekend.  This time it was two at the hands of the Red Sox and with the four game losing streak, the Orioles are now back to an even .500 record.

Once again, it was a lack of offense that cost the Orioles.  A pretty good start by Danny Cabrera went to waste and he took the loss.  He gave up three runs on five hits and five walks with five strikeouts in 6 2/3 and the loss drops him to 1-2.  Miguel Tejada drove in the only run for the Orioles in the 6-1 loss with a solo homerun.

Yesterday was more of the same as the Orioles lost 5-2.  A grand slam homer off of Chris Ray in the eighth inning was what did the Orioles in.  Adam Loewen had a pretty nice start and he gave up a run on two hits and five walks with five strikeouts in six innings but it was wasted.  Melvin Mora went two for four with an RBI and Nick Markakis doubled and drove in one.

Now the Orioles have to try to get back on track against a hot Indians team in Cleveland.  I’d be pretty happy if the Orioles took two out of three in this and started next week with a winner record again.

Well, the Orioles nice winning streak came to an abrupt end when the Athletics came to town.  Erik Bedard was hit hard yesterday and he surrendered five runs in the fourth inning and never had the lead in a 6-5 loss.  Bedard lost his first game since opening day and he gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.  Brian Roberts had a nice day at the plate and he went three for five with a homerun, two runs and two RBIs.  Aubrey Huff homered and he drove in three.

Then this afternoon, the Orioles were shut down by Dallas Braden.  Aubrey Huff was the hitting star in the 42 loss and he went two for four with a triple, a run and an RBI.  Jeremy Guthrie took the loss and he gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts in five innings.

The Orioles stay home and they host the Red Sox for two games.  Danny Cabrera has the unenviable task of taking on Curt Schilling tomorrow.

Don’t look now, but the Orioles have won four straight and they ahead of both the Yankees and the Blue Jays, and just behind the Red Sox, in the American League Central.  They did it with a three game sweep over the Blue Jays and you wonder if things are just starting to click.  I know we have 2005 to look back on to see how quickly things can fall apart but for now, we should enjoy it while we can.

On Friday, we had a good old fashioned come back.  Down 4-2, Aubrey Huff and Kevin Millar drove in a run a piece in the eighth to tie it and then Nick Markakis drove home Corey Patterson to win it in the ninth.  Markakis finished the game with three hits and Melvin Mora drove in two and walked three times in the 5-4 win.  Danny Cabrera threw a solid 6 2/3 innings and he struck out seven and Chris Ray picked up the win with a shutout ninth.

It actually got easier from there.  Saturday’s game saw Adam Loewen throw 5 2/3 decent innings and he improved to 2-0.  The seven walks were disappointing but they didn’t come back to haunt the Orioles in the 5-2 win.  Chris Gomez finished with two hits and two runs while Miguel Tejada drove in two.

Then yesterday, it was Nick Markakis again with a double, a triple, three RBIs and two runs in the 7-3 win.  Tejada drove in three and finished with three hits.  Even Steve Trachsel got it done and he picked up his first win with 5 1/3 solid innings.  He gave up just one run on four hits and four walks with three strikeouts.

At the end of all that, the Orioles sit at 11-7.  Next up is two against the Athletics beginning tonight and it’ll be Erik Bedard taking on Danny Haren.  I know it’s easy to be an optimist right now, but I like our chances in this one.

The Orioles scored 19 runs in their three game series this week against the Devil Rays and they took two of those three games.  The first game on Monday was the most impressive hitting display as the Orioles racked up nine runs.  Freddie Bynum, Melvin Mora and Aubrey Huff all went yard in the game.  Mora drove in three runs as did Bynum in the 9-7 win.  Adam Loewen was roughed up but the pen and the hitters picked him up.   Jeremy Guthrie picked up the win and Chris Ray saved it with a perfect ninth.

Yesterday was the loss and while the Orioles pitching threw eight solid innings, it was that one where things weren’t right that caused the problems.   All six Devil Rays runs came in the fourth inning and Steve Trachsel gave up all of them in the 6-4 loss.  Jon Knott hit a three run pinch hit homer in the eighth inning to make the game look closer then what it was.

Today, Erik Bedard had a tough time and he was tagged for single runs in each of the first three innings but two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth gave the Orioles the lead for good.  Bedard struck out eight in just 5 2/3 innings and he improved to 3-1 on the season.  Nick Markakis hit homerun number three and Miguel Tejada went three for four with two runs in the 6-4 win.

So the Orioles are 8-7.  If you had asked me at the beginning of the year whether I’d take an 8-7 record after 15 games, I would have been all over it.  Next is the Blue Jays as the roll into town for three games.   Danny Cabrera will take on A.J. Burnett in the opener.

Don’t look now, but the Orioles are twelve games into the season and they’re .500.  After three straight wins over the Royals, the Orioles sit at 6-6 and they’re in the mix in a tight AL East race.  Yeah, it’s early but Orioles fans can’t be too picky.

On Thursday, Jay Gibbons had a walk off RBI single in the bottom of the tenth to break a 1-1 tie in the Orioles 2-1 win over the Royals.  Steve Trachsel had a nice start to keep the Orioles in it and he gave up just one run on three hits and a walk in seven innings in what was his best start of the season.  Chris Ray picked up the win after a perfect tenth inning.

On Friday, Nick Markakis got the stick going and he hit a grand slam in the 8-1 win.  Erik Bedard picked up the win with a very nice outing and he gave up just one run on five hits and four walks with nine strikeouts in six innings.

Then on Saturday, Chris Gomez hit a grand slam to push the Orioles to a 6-4 win that finished the sweep.  Danny Cabrera had a mediocre outing but he was picked up by the pen, which shutout the Royals through four innings.  Scott Williamson picked up the win and Chris Ray saved it with a shutout ninth.  Alberto Castillo finished the game with two hits and two runs.

Then yesterday’s game was cancelled with all of the rain.  Next up is a three game series in Tampa as the Orioles head south.  Adam Loewen gets the start in the opener tonight.

Three series down, two series lost.  This is the way it’s been for Orioles fans for some time though and this week was no exception as the Tigers came into town and took two of three from the Orioles.

Things got off to a good start on Monday as the Orioles opened Camden Yards.  They jumped all over Chad Durbin for four runs in the third inning and then they tacked on two more in the fifth for good measure.  Kevin Millar homered and Brian Roberts had two hits and two runs in the 6-2 win.  Of yeah, Danny Cabrera threw a really nice game as well.  He gave up just two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts (yes, no walks!!!) in 7 2/3 innings. 

Then it went downhill from there.  A decent start by Jaret Wright went to waste as the Orioles scored just a single run.  Corey Patterson went yard in the eighth and that was the Orioles got in the 3-1 loss.  Even worse was last night where the Orioles didn’t score until the twelth inning.  Adam Loewen and six relievers combined for an eleven inning shutout before Kurt Birkins gave up a grand slam homerun in the top of the twelth in the 4-1 loss.  The lone run came when Corey Patterson scored on a balk of all things.  The team managed just six hits in twelve innings though, and that’s not going to cut it.

Next up are the Royals, who roll into town today for a four game series.  Steve Trachsel will get the start in the series opener tonight.

Happy days.  The Orioles went into Yankee Stadium and took two of three from the former division champs.  They got off to a good start on Friday witha 6-4 win.  Nick Markakis and Jay Gibbons drove in two runs while Melvin Mora had three hits and two runs.  Adam Loewen pitched five solid innings and he gave up just two runs on five hits.

Then the pen failed us on Saturday.  The Orioles jumped out to a 7-3 lead but saw it disappear with a three run shot by Jason Giambi and then a walk off grand slam by Alex Rodriguez.  Melvin Mora had a big day with a homerun and five RBIs while Chris Ray took it on the nose with the A-Rod homer.  This could have been a sweep but oh well.

Yesterday, Erik Bedard got off to a rough start but he calmed down and picked up his first win of the season.  He gave up three runs (all in the first inning) on five hits with five strikeouts.  This time, Chris Ray got it done and he picked up the save.  Kevin Millar had the big game at the plate.  He went two for three with a homerun, three RBIs and two runs.

The home opener is this afternoon as the Tigers roll into town.  Danny Cabera gets the start and a win would give the Orioles a three game winning streak.  And they’re sitting just a game and a half out of first as only the Blue Jays have a winning record in the division.

It’s already getting ugly for Orioles fans and I’m going to have to break out those Earl Weaver years retrospectives sooner just to lighten the mood.  The Orioles were swept by the Twins and this time it was Ramon Ortiz who did a number on the Twins.  While that was happening, Jaret Wright was getting shelled to the tune of six runs (four earned) in 2 1/3 innings.  Give some props to the pen for not letting it get too out of hand but it didn’t matter because the Orioles had no punch.

The Orioles scattered six hits in the game.  Melvin Mora doubled, scored and drove in a run while Brian Roberts tripled and scored.  And guess what, it doesn’t get any easier because the Orioles roll into New York for three games.  I’m having 1988 flashbacks.

I guess we should get used to this.  This time, the Orioles had the pitching with Danny Cabrera throwing seven solid innings.  Unfortunately, the hitters racked up only two runs on five hits.  Your two runs came on a Melvin Mora solo shot and a Aubrey Huff RBI single.  Huff actually had a pretty solid game.  He had two hits and a walk.

Cabrera gave up three runs on six hits and four walks with nine strikeouts in seven innings of work.  Jamie Walker and Chad Bradford each threw a shutout frame to finish up the game.  Tomorrow, it’ll be Jaret Wright on the mound.  Maybe we can get a couple of more hits.

Erik Bedard took it on the chin today.  I didn’t realize the Twins offense was this good until I saw them on TV today but man do they have a solid middle of the order.  Bedard saw it too, to the tune of six runs on ten hits and he didn’t even make it through the fifth inning.

Miguel Tejada had the only homerun of the game for the Orioles.  Tejada, Aubrey Huff and Jay Gibbons all had two hits in the game.

Danny Cabrera will get the start tomorrow.  It sure would be nice if the Orioles didn’t bury themselves so things at least stay interesting through, say, July.  Sigh.