After winning the series against the Yankees and the Devil Rays on the road by taking 2 of 3 in each, the O's hosted the Yankees for their second series this season. Thus far, the pitching has been a big surprise in a good way. This series would be much harder to win because the Yankees know what to expect, yet they let the O's take all three games in Camden Yards.
Bruce Chen looked like the ace of the O's by allowing only one run in 8 inning during the first game. He had plenty of run support when the O's lineup scored 8 runs. The game was tied until the 7th inning when Miguel Tejada and Sammy Sosa both hit homeruns back-to-back. The O's were facing Carl Pavano in this game. Everyone remembers how he turned down the O's to be closer to home in Conn. Both of his losses so far this year has come against the Orioles. In the first game, the O's got poetic justice when Melvin Mora lined a base hit off of Pavano's head and knocked him out of the game in the first series. It looks like the O's got lucky not to pick up Carl from free agency considering how well Bruce Chen is doing. W,8-1!
The second game of the series looked like the second game in the first series. By the top of 7th inning, the Yankees had a 3-2 lead, and they added to during the 7th inning by scoring 3 more runs. Rodrigo Lopez allowed 4 runs, one in the 7th, before being relieved by Steve Kline. The wheels seemed like they were falling off when Kline took the mound. Brian Roberts and Miguel Tejada couldn't get on the same page, resulting in a couple of missed double plays that allowed 2 more runs to score. The O's looked like they were down and out. Enter Slammin' Sammy. Sammy didn't hit a home run like everyone expects everythime he enters the batter box. Instead, Sammy hit a lead off double at the bottom of the seventh inning to start off with. Javy Lopez singled and Sosa made it home. Matos came up 2 batters later and hit a single to move Javy Lopez to third, which allowed Gibbons to bring him home during the next at bat. with a double. Enter the "Game Breaker". Brian Roberts steps in and launches the third pitch he sees. The next two inning were intense with the Yankees threating in both, but B.J. Ryan got the O's the win by pitching out of a bases loaded situation and the 9th inning with a runner (Sanchez) on 2nd to earn the save(2). W,7-6!
For the final game, the Orioles were up against Kevin Brown, who was making his season debut. Melvin Mora got the game started by hitting a homer in the first inning to get the game started. Sosa also singled to drive in Tejada in the first to give the O's a 2 run lead in the first. The O's sent 7 batter to the plate in the first inning, so the O's entered the 2nd inning with Larry Bigbie, Geronimo Gil, and Roberts scheduled up. The first two batters were retired, and the fun began. The O's loaded the bases for Miguel, and he didn't disappoint. Miguel Tejada hit his 8th career grand slam and gave the Orioles a 6-0 nothing lead in the 2nd inning. Cabrera had to just hold off the Yankees to earn the win, and he did just that. Daniel Cabrera gave up 3 runs in 6 inning for his 1st win of the season. Steve Reed gave up one more run in the game to A-Rod, and the Yankees were stopped in their comeback tracks with Steve Kline and B.J Ryan(non-save situation) shutting them down. The O's tacked on 2 more runs in the 7th for insurance, and the O's complete the sweep. W,8-4!
As good as the O's have been playing, ESPN radio and ESPN(tv) have not acknowledged that the O's are, but have mentioned that the Yankees are in a slump. Even one of Baltimore's announcers during the 2nd game of the series had to bring up that the O's were in the position last year. Hey everyone of you non-believers, the O's have taken 5 out of 6 games from the Yankees. The O's didn't have to go up against the Yankees last year this early. The first 12 games the O's had in '04 were against the Blue Jays, Tampa Bay, and the Red Sox. The O's play Boston on Wedsday and Thursday this week, and we will really see if the O's are for real or just pretending. I am going with the first.
Posted by helimech24 at April 17, 2005 11:17 PM | TrackBack