I found myself sitting in a computer lab at school in the bottom of the 7th inning - I had an exam fast approaching and I said to myself, well, I'll leave after this inning ends (was watching its progress through Gamecast). Two outs when Freddy Bynum comes up, nobody on, so I figure it won't be long now.

Then Bynum gets on. Quiroz comes up. Oh, our sub-Mendoza backup catcher... this'll be over fast. Then HE gets on. Now it turns over to Roberts. Two outs, the count gets worked to full, but it's the Red Sox - I expect some heartbreaking strikeout. No, no, Roberts walks. We're still going.

I'm thinking, I might be late for my test here - who's up now? Oh, my God... Jay Payton. The GameCast made it so clear. Jay Payton, hitting .218 and who gets brought in - Okajima with an 0.50 ERA.

First pitch, foul ball, strike one. I'm sitting there and I know he's going to choke. I've got to go take my test. I'm begging him to get it over with. Then there is the agonizing delay on GameCast that I KNOW only happens when the next pitch gets put in play. What will it be, I wonder? A weak grounder to the pitcher? A lazy fly ball to center field? A high pop-up that gets run down in foul territory?

J Payton homered to left ...

Didn't see that one coming. Kinda wish I was in my car to hear Joe & Fred call that one on the radio.

I was a little late to the exam, but lucky for me the prof is an O's fan and I had good news.

What a difference a year makes.

Jay freakin' Payton! Who would have guessed?

I certainly James Hoey and Troy Patton come back strong next year but I think it will be longer for them both to get back 100%. But of course that depends on the player too. yeah I have to agree Roch that Manny was safe and was lucky not to be ejected. I thought Albers would come out for the 9th rather than Sherrill because he pitch 1 2/3 Tuesday. I loved the way that Cabrera was shown dancing in the dugout after Payton's GS. But I thought Payton should have come out of the dugout to accept the applause. It was him who hit the GS not Cabrera. It was Payton's time to shine at that time. Bynum needs to be a little more aggressive at SS but he is still learning and I think he will be ok. If you would have asked me that the Orioles would be 21-19 after 40 games I would have told you get your head examine. But here they are in 3rd place Hope somebody tells ESPN that after they omitted it last night.

Great games, guys!! I'm very proud of this team -- came from behind to beat the "mighty" Red Sox not once, but twice! Now that's entertainment!

Manny was safe, yet when was the last time we've seen a call like that benefit the Birds?

These O's wont give up !
Saw Nick Markakis made that spectacular diving catch in the 6th , what a play.
Saw Jim Johnson come to mound , bases loaded , no outs ., and he shuts the Red Sox down? priceless .
I sense a magic in this team chemistry.

Go O's !

Good Game tonight!! Seriously people, you are going to hate on Jay Payton after he basically won that game for us. I'm not a huge fan of his tonight, but he smacked that ball and he did it at the perfect moment. Why get all mad because he didn't come out of the dugout? It probably would have been embarassing for him if he came out waved and then the BoSox came back and won it. Better to play it safe and not get all cocky.

Just appreciate the win and the effort from all our players and stop looking for the little things to pick at. GEEZ!

Go O's!! Get some rest and lets sweep those weenies from DC! See ya on Saturday night!

Is this the same Brian Roberts who swung at the first pitch of the game and made an out?

I am thrilled for this team, and I will be even more thrilled when they stop making stupid decisions on an individual level and start *really* thinking about The Team.

Roch, bad idea to trade Sherrill, right? What more does the guy have to do to prove that he belongs in that role. I understand about Chris Ray and Bob McCrory--oops, almost forgot Danny Baez--but i don't care anymore. And not to mention the hat thingy. He's starting to become a face on this rebuilding club. ( I hope i didn't jinx him) Your thoughts

Thank god they didn't have to use walker in this game.Well that is 2 down and 16 to go with boston. If we take one day at a time and just play good defense with the way we are pitching then we will be ok .I still believe that this eastern divison will be very competive with all the teams knocking each other off. The last place team won't be any more then 12 to 15 games out unlike other years when the last place team was 25 or 30 games out.

Roch, Thanks for the great updates.

Who would have thought in spring training that 1/4 of the way through the season Cabrera would be the ACE of the staff. Glad to see he's finally throwing strikes. Also glad to see he's not falling apart after a bad pitch or inning. The guy has really matured this year.

Who would have thought that trading away the teams best hitter and pitcher would result in .500 ball 1/4 of the way through.

I felt before the road trip if the O's could return home at .500 and the pitchers had started going 7 innings a start there would be promise to the season.

I'm still worried that they have allowed more runs than they have scored. As much as I like Millar, he (and Roberts) needs to get hot.

Jay thanks for the GS. Keep up the good work. The fans appreciate it and the next time you will know they want you to come out for a curtain call. Shame on the negative posters.

If you want to see the magic video that Roch reference earlier its available here

I was at the game today and I am impressed with the guts of this team. I also was glad to hear the massive applause for Jay Payton's grand slam. Way to go O's!!!!!!!!! I am hoarse and can barely talk from cheering on the O's, but I'm not complaining!

My dad is from just outside Philadelphia, and while the Orioles are obviously my first love, I am somewhat of a Phils fan by default. Does anyone remember when Jayson Werth was a hot catching prospect in the Orioles system? He's playing a passable center field for the Phillies now, and raking while he's doing it. What a transition.

FLAT BREEEEEEZY!

FLAT BREEEEEEZY!

FLAT BREEEEEEZY!

FLAT BREEEEEEZY!

FLAT BREEEEEEZY!

FLAT BREEEEEEZY!

Ugh, Hoey has a SLAP tear?

That's a dangerous injury. Good luck in rehab...

Check out the video the O's are now playing after home victories. It is hilarious.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5fece_orioles-magic-2008_sport

Loading up on young arms is paying dividends for the Os. When Patton went down, there were several guys fighting to take his place, and they're doing well. The bullpen didn't depend on on Hoey making the team and having a break out year. There were several pitchers to fill the spot he would have had -- and what more could you ask from Albers and Johnson. Hopefully some day soon the Os will have the chance to trade some of the excess arms for a slugging infielder.

FOUND IT!!!! Enjoy!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5fece_orioles-magic-2008_sport

Hopefully we can expect monthly installments with new players each time..... Keeping Millar as lead singer of course.... HAHA!

I think the only people that see this team is resilient are the O's and O's fans. I don't think anyone has caught on to the fact that you do have to play this team for 27 outs. Two great games with pivotal plays made by the Orioles and two come from behind victories. What do they spend all their time analyzing? The problems the Red Sox are having and "Manny being Manny". Nothing to do with the O's. I'm quite pleased with it actually, keep it a secret. We'll keep winning close games.

I must say I'm rather surprised by some of the presumptuous comments dissing Payton for not coming out for a curtain call. While his attitude over the years may well be questionable, there may be reasons other than him simply being a jerk for not doing the curtain call.

Just a quick note about the Okajima vs. lefty/righty thinking: his e.r.a. is better against lefties this years, and his other stats are comparable with his numbers against right-handers.

As great as today feels together with sweeping Boston, let's temper it by saying underestimating Washington would be a mistake. They're weak at the moment, but we could spoil our own good news by letting down against them.

The 2008 Orioles Magic video is on youtube. LOVE IT!!!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YacN3Ek2B_8

Any word on where we can find that Oriole Magic video online?

Brian--When you said "Payton, I predict, will ground into 2 DBs tonight" I figured you had made a typo and wanted to say "DPs" and that you may have forgotten that the game was being played in the afternoon rather than at night.

Watching Payton's line drive grand slam to left, though, leads me to believe that you may have been onto something.

Reviewing the clips of the shot, I think
the two guys battling for the ball 13 rows up were Bruce Laird and Rick Volk.

Nice two-game results against the Red Invaders, but still we play second fiddle. ESPN shows the Manny Moment over and over, and that somehow overshadows a great accomplishment early in the season by the O's. But who cares. We sweep, Cabrera continues his roll and we are in good standing in the standings. Time to whack the Nationals.

Mark Brown - great story!
Custard Doug -??? Am I the only one who has no clue what you are saying?

I am 25 years old, and one of my earliest memories of the Orioles is the 1989 "why not?" season.

an appropriate quote from Time Magazine 10/02/89:

"The meek shall inherit the earth. In a rational universe, the Orioles (losers of 107 games last year) have no business nipping at the Blue Jays' heels. Aside from their lone star, indestructible shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., the O's represent an amalgam of rookies and major-league rejects. A typical lineup includes six players who have been released or traded cheaply by other teams. Jeff Ballard, their junk-balling star pitcher, had a career record of 10-20 before this season. Cleanup hitter Mickey Tettleton never clubbed more than eleven homers in a year; in '89 he already has 25.

As the O's clubhouse T shirts ask, WHY NOT?"

I haven't seen determination, hustle, and gritty baseball like this since I was seven years old. 1989 = 2008. WHY NOT?

Espn , and other national baseball media are ignoring or disrespecting Os or O's fans?
Hey , that great ! O's and us fans can use that as an advantage . So the national media/other clubs underestimating us ?
Thats ok ! I take the wins over headlines/highlights anytime !

Go O's !

Don't know what the standings will look lke at season's end...and really don't care...yet.

What I like is watching a team that never seems to give up and plays all 27 outs day in and day out. If you beat them, you'll have earned it.

Hats off to Dave "What took so long for you to get here?" Trembley...his team plays hard and he isn't afraid to call somebody out for not playing hard. No Prima-Donna treatment on this club.

I like it.

Thanks to the O's for a great season so far!

Thanks to those who posted the Orioles Magic video. Man, is that funny stuff!

LOVE THE NEW VIDEO! Seeing fleeting images of Wild Bill mixed in actually gave me chills.

Roch,

Another stat to smile about:
Seattle Mariners 16-26

I was in my car driving right near the harbor when he hit the grand salami. I started yelling out my windows and honking my horn. I noticed one car who obviously was listening to the game too.

Everyone else, especially the pedestrians, thought I was crazy.

O Bird

Was that our first day game victory?

Eat it Pedroia.

Hey Roch,

Who is David Hernandez, and why is he putting up monster numbers at Bowie?

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=David%20Hernandez&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=456696

And who's the kid with a 40: K/BB ratio? What's in the water cooler down there? Have they patented it yet?

Bob the 1st , I agree , the O's get no respect , if they keep this up it will change , remember the O's have ten years of pretty bad stuff to erase from peoples minds,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Hey Roch, is Frederick's Jake Renshaw (the player named later in the Trax trade last year) quitely becoming the sleeper steal of the McPhail era? Is he regarded as a major league prospect or is he just an A-ball wonder? What about Jason Berken and Zack Britton, each of whom also pitched well last night, for Bowie and Delmarva respectively. Perhaps our arms stockpile is even deeper than the top names everyone knows.

I think the Payton slam off a lefty illustrates why we can't give up on Jamie Walker. The lefty/righty thing is real. We don't have anyone else to fill the lefty set up role, and the odds the guy has simply lost it for good overnight are low. Plus, if the guy can get on track perhaps we can get something for him like the Moore, Cherry (one shutout inning in Bowie last night) and Renshaw package the Cubs gave us for Trax last year. That's probably just as important a reason not to give up on him.

What a great day to be at the yard yesterday. I loved seeing the Red Sucks nation shutting up and the fans of the Orange and Black taking over.

I'm still riding the high after that game.

I think my favorite part - more so than even winning the game - was the reaction of the crowd when everyone realized the ball that Jay Pay hit was going out of the Yard. There have been some pretty good reactions to comebacks so far this season, but yesterday BY FAR was the loudest I've heard Camden roar in a loooooong time.

Just watched the O's Magic video , man i love it !
One interesting about Millar , he bats right-handed but in the video he plays bass guitar left-handed ?
I was just curious

Go O's

Tim & Terpfan: Jason Berken might be for real. He's out of Auburn, and Baseball America labelled him as a big sleeper last year, the sort of pitcher that could move quickly through the system. They were a year off, as he dropped out of their Orioles Top 30 this year. Those K/BB numbers can't be ignored, especially when you fold in that he's not giving up the long ball. This general profile from BA and associated minor league accomplishments are very much like what James Shields did before his 2006 call-up. Sometimes you don't need the hype to be a really solid prospect.