Orioles-Mariners lineups, Rupe clears waivers, Roberts' early BP, other pre-game facts
ORIOLES
Brian Roberts, 2B
Nick Markakis, RF
Derrek Lee, 1B
Vladimir Guerrero, DH
Adam Jones, CF
Matt Wieters, C
J.J. Hardy, 6
Mark Reynolds, 3B
Robert Andino, LF
Zach Britton, SP
MARINERS
Ichiro Suzuki, RF
Chone Figgins, 3B
Justin Smoak, 1B
Miguel Olivo, C
Jack Cust, DH
Mike Wilson, LF
Jack Wilson, 2B
Luis Rodriguez, SS
Michael Saunders, CF
Jason Vargas, SP
Reliever Josh Rupe, who was designated for assignment Tuesday to make room on the 25-man roster for shortstop J.J. Hardy, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk.
Second baseman Brian Roberts, who is hitless in his past 26 at-bats dating to last Wednesday at Kansas City and has just one hit in his past 34 at-bats since May 1, is on the field getting extra work in with hitting coach Jim Presley. Presley is standing about halfway between home plate and the pitcher's mound, flipping the leadoff man balls. I can't tell you specifically what Roberts is working on, though I see Robinson Cano do this drill before Orioles-Yankee games all the time.
A couple of other pre-game factoids courtesy of the Orioles' PR pepartment: Rookie left-hander Zach Britton is going for his sixth win tonight. The Orioles did not have a pitcher record his sixth win last season until Jeremy Guthrie did it Aug. 8. The last Orioles pitcher to record his sixth win in the month of May was Kris Benson on May 19, 2006.
When scoring four or more runs at home, the Orioles are 9-0, compared with 0-11 when they score three runs or fewer at Camden Yards.
With a victory tonight, the Orioles would compete their first sweep of a three-game series against Seattle in Baltimore since May 24-26, 2005.
A Baltimore native, 
Comments
Can somebody please tell me why Lee is batting third? What is wrong with Showalter. He's starting to look like Trembly. One BIG reason they do not score runs is because Lee is batting third.
Posted by: charles flinn | May 13, 2011 8:08 AM
It's not Lee that is the problem, it's the top two O's. BR is hitting.215 with a OBP of .274 -- BR's career OBP is .353
Markakis is hitting .231 with a OBP of .291 -- Markakis career OBP is .364
If your watching the games -- Lee is often hitting with no one on base and Vlad is usually hitting with Lee or no one on base. Unfortunately, Lee is not getting enough extra base hits. However, he has an OBP of .311 which isn't good but it's better than the first two and he has a career OBP of .366
The O's have an team OBP of .309 which is good for 22nd in the MLB and 11th in the AL. The batting will improve the more pitches the top of the lineup takes. At this point, the O's have faced good pitching and good teams which has forced them to be a lot more aggressive at the plate. I expect that to change with the return of Hardy's hot bat and Wieters and Jones bats heating up. Surprisingly, the O's have 10 more home runs this year by May than last year. Their OBP is 9 points lower than last year. The only fault I see with the team is the inconsistent bullpen and extra-base hits. Believe me, a lot of the management of the game can be attributed to Showalter making some good risky decisions down the stretch. Plus much better defense. No one is running away with the AL yet. They are staying competitive.
Posted by: DCN8TIVE | May 13, 2011 10:13 AM
@flinn
It's not Lee that is the problem, it's the top two O's. BR is hitting.215 with a OBP of .274 -- BR's career OBP is .353
Markakis is hitting .231 with a OBP of .291 -- Markakis career OBP is .364
If your watching the games -- Lee is often hitting with no one on base and Vlad is usually hitting with Lee or no one on base. Unfortunately, Lee is not getting enough extra base hits. However, he has an OBP of .311 which isn't good but it's better than the first two and he has a career OBP of .366
The O's have an team OBP of .309 which is good for 22nd in the MLB and 11th in the AL. The batting will improve the more pitches the top of the lineup takes. At this point, the O's have faced good pitching and good teams which has forced them to be a lot more aggressive at the plate. I expect that to change with the return of Hardy's hot bat and Wieters and Jones bats heating up. Surprisingly, the O's have 10 more home runs this year by May than last year. Their OBP is 9 points lower than last year. The only fault I see with the team is the inconsistent bullpen and extra-base hits. Believe me, a lot of the management of the game can be attributed to Showalter making some good risky decisions down the stretch. Plus much better defense. No one is running away with the AL yet. They are staying competitive.
Posted by: dcn8TIVE | May 13, 2011 10:15 AM
It's not Lee that is the problem, it's the top two O's. BR is hitting.215 with a OBP of .274 -- BR's career OBP is .353
Markakis is hitting .231 with a OBP of .291 -- Markakis career OBP is .364
If your watching the games -- Lee is often hitting with no one on base and Vlad is usually hitting with Lee or no one on base. Unfortunately, Lee is not getting enough extra base hits. However, he has an OBP of .311 which isn't good but it's better than the first two and he has a career OBP of .366
The O's have an team OBP of .309 which is good for 22nd in the MLB and 11th in the AL. The batting will improve the more pitches the top of the lineup takes. At this point, the O's have faced good pitching and good teams which has forced them to be a lot more aggressive at the plate. I expect that to change with the return of Hardy's hot bat and Wieters and Jones bats heating up. Surprisingly, the O's have 10 more home runs this year by May than last year. Their OBP is 9 points lower than last year. The only fault I see with the team is the inconsistent bullpen and extra-base hits. Believe me, a lot of the management of the game can be attributed to Showalter making some good risky decisions down the stretch. Plus much better defense. No one is running away with the AL yet. They are staying competitive.
Posted by: dcn8TIVE | May 13, 2011 10:16 AM