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The Orioles do it AGAIN, nip Astros in 10
The Orioles won their fifth game, of their last six, tonight at Camden Yards and again they did it in late inning come-from-behind fashion. The Orioles used a Luke Scott homer in the seventh and a Kevin Millar game-winning single in the tenth to beat the downtrodden Houston Astros 2-1.
The Astros have lost seven in a row and 16 of their last 20.
The win was fantastic, of course. This one pushes the Birds to two games over .500 and, with a Toronto loss tonight, put a little more distance between them and the cellar but this win is rather bittersweet to me.
“But James, you Jeffersonian ideal, why?” you may ask.
Well, can we please get Jeremy Guthrie a run! Before Jesus and all the bones of the saints what did this man do to the hitters? Did he pour sugar in Millar’s gas tank? Did he disparage Markakis’ mother? Did he leave one of Mora’s 72 kids stay up too late whilst babysitting, thus making her extremely cranky the next morning ruining the Sunday trip to Friendly’s with Grandma?
What I ask, what!
In all seriousness the lack of run support Jeremy Guthrie hit new and absurd heights tonight as Guts pitched eight innings of three hit ball. His final line:
8IP 3H ER 8K BB
And another no-decision.
The Orioles had their chance tonight going 1-10 with runners in scoring position. Nick Markakis is batting a surprisingly low .231 with RISP this year and those struggles continued tonight.
Granted the Astros made a couple of very nice defensive plays to rob the Orioles of some runs early, and at the end of the day all that matters is the “W” but watching Guthrie toil with one great outing after another to have nothing in the win-column to show for it is quite maddening.
Guthrie has a 3-7 and a 3.50 ERA. That has to be the best losing record in baseball.
Tomorrow the Orioles will go for the elusive sweep of the Houston Astros. The Orioles have already secured a successful homestand with tonight’s win but a sweep of the Astros would be a nice exclamation point on one of the most entertaining few games that I have witnessed in recent memory.
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on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 at 11:49 pm and is filed under Oriole Game Commentary, commentary.
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5 Responses to “The Orioles do it AGAIN, nip Astros in 10”
June 19th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Great writeup.
I don’t want to piss on the parade, but all these comebacks may set a dangerous precedent.
Is the bullpen going to always deal with added pressure to keep the game close when the the Orioles are always seemingly behind? Are the hitters going to start pressing? And finally, what happens when the luck runs out? (Disagree with me, but the law of averages may start to catch up with the Orioles).
Well, the starting pitching needs to go deeper, and the Orioles have to be a lot more effective when they have men in scoring position.
It sounds simple enough, but it’s always easier said than done. In the short run, it’s entertaining for us and makes for great discussion, but for the team — their jobs could be made a lot easier.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:58 am
If anything, these comebacks add to the confidence of this team that there is no deficit they cannot come back from (unless the Rangers put 30 on em again!).
But this is what this team is. We’re not good enough to consistently win big like the Red Sox, so we take what we can get. But the belief you can win no matter what happens is invaluable when/if some of these players are in a pennant race one day!
As for Guthrie, I just try and forget the rules of baseball and what constitutes a ‘win’. It would be nice if Guthrie’s record looked better, but he was the winning pitcher last night as far as I’m concerned. He was the reason they had a chance to win in the 10th. He is by far our best pitcher and a sub-.500 record won’t change that in the eyes of fans and the organization.
PS - I’m just thrilled to be excited about baseball again. These guys are so fun to watch!
June 19th, 2008 at 11:44 am
These comebacks are giving me heart problems.
Seriously I can’t take it anymore. I LOVE the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings lately, but I can’t take them anymore! They are fun to watch, but they are nerve wracking as well.
Once in a while I need a nice 12 run lead going into the 7th so that I can relax for a change!
June 19th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Mike B- treat the games like the NBA. I just turn on the game for the last few minutes now
June 19th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I was at the game last friday and I heard numerous people criticizing the early-exiters for “missing the best part of the game.”
It used to be that I would cringe and cross my fingers during middle relief and especially when Chris Ray took the mound. Now when Sherill exits the pen the place erupts in cheers. It’s great! I love flipping up the brim of my hat and looking like a goof as I exit the stadium.
I’m worried about the endurance of the bull pen as well. It’s always best for the starters to go deep as possible, but the O’s the last couple of years have certainly proved what happens when the bullpen isn’t thoroughly rested. Guth’s 8 innings is certainly a good precedent. Let’s hope Burres can pull out a better start than last time.
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