About last night, dear
If only the Orioles could stay in Kansas City forever, or at least play the Royals 20 or 30 more times.
The O's and Erik Bedard hung a 3-0 loss on the sad-sack Royals for a series sweep and Baltimore's fifth straight win. The Orioles are now 6-and-oh on the season against K.C. After hammering opposing pitching for the last several games, the O's played small ball in the eighth for a single run and then got a two-run homer from Nick Markakis, who was in off the bench, to put the game away in the ninth. Bedard pitched eight innings and was relieved by Chris Ray, who ended the game 1-2-3. As The Sun's Orioles' beat writer, Jeff Zrebiec, noted in his story today, Bedard has now had a quality start in his last six games (going at least seven innings in the last five) and lowered his ERA from 6.09 to 3.67.
The Orioles head to the West Coast to play the Angels as we wistfully bid farewell to Kansas City. Sigh.
* How about that Randy Johnson? I just love those old(er) guys. Coming back from a bout of tendinitis, Arizona's Johnson threw six innings of one-hit, six-strikeout ball to get the D-backs on their way to a 4-3 win over the Phillies. This was actually a historic day, gerontology-wise. The matchup of Johnson and the Phils' Jamie Moyer was a major league record for oldest opposing left-handers. Johnson is 43 and Moyer is 44. And now that the Orioles' Sam Perlozzo is out of the frying pan and Joe Torre is probably safe until we all see what Roger Clemens can do for the Yanks, my money is on the Phils' Charlie Manuel as the first manager canned. After climbing above .500, the Phils were swept in Phoenix.
* And in the NBA playoffs, the San Antonio Spurs did exactly what everyone expected them to do. Playing Game 5 of the Western Conference finals at home, the Spurs rolled over the Utah Jazz, 109-84. San Antonio dashed out to a 21-point, first-quarter lead and it was switch to Law & Order time. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker each had 21 points for the victors, who await the survivor of Cleveland-Detroit, tied at 2-2. Actually, this spells a lot of trouble for the Eastern Conference winner. Whoever takes that series (and survivor is the right word) is going to be exhausted by the time they get to a well-rested and arguably more talented San Antonio.
Comments
The one thing that is making me extremely happy this year is the effectiveness of the starting pitching. Just like in football, if you have defense you're in every game with a chance to win. When you have good pitching (and young too) you have a chance because if it's a close game everybodys head should be in the game.
Nothing has turned me off more the last few years as watching the O's lose games 8-6, 11-7 etc-etc. So lets just say a prayer that the current starting pitching staff stay healthy and happy. If everyone doesn't freak out about Gibbons, Baez and the others who have started slow I think we will enjoy this season very much. Kind of almost makes you think about the "good old days" when O's pitching was at the top.
Posted by: Bird in Orlando | May 31, 2007 10:46 AM
I am also suprised at the starting pitcher. Bedard is a stud and would have a better record if the hitting was there.But, that is baseball Cabrera is learning how to be a pitcher and not just a thrower. Did any expect Steve Trachsel to be more than a stop gap quick fix #5 starter that nobody else in either league wanted? Is Leo that good, or did we get really lucky he was available when Benson went down? The bullpen has to be given props too, for the most part they have come through and done the job. Next year, if they can get a quality everyday free agent, without breaking the piggybank. This team might have a upbeat future. I will enjoy the ride this year. But, remember two years ago, didnt we do something similiar and then Aug and Sept came and everything feel apart.
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Shusssh on that '05 season.
--Bill O.
Posted by: Captain Jack | June 1, 2007 4:25 PM