Hitting Hot

Orioles take a 2-1 series lead against the Twins with their 5-4 win tonight. So, at least for now, the O’s avoid another loss and have a winning streak (I know it’s only 2 games, but still, it counts, right? Well, I’m saying yes it does to make myself feel better).

Britton pitched a fine game going 6 innings with 3 runs 5 hits and 3 strikeouts. He gave up a home run to Michael Cuddyer in the 2nd followed by a 4 ball pitch walk. I was nervous. I was thinking: No, this team cannot lose another one. If they do, I’m going to tear my eyeballs out. Or at least, turn the TV off. Luckily for me and my eyeballs, he pulled himself together and is now the only starter on the roster who has gone 6 innings or more in all of his starts.

Jim Johnson pitched a perfect inning. Koji Uehara struggled giving up 2 hits, a walk, and a run to allow the Twins to come within one. Before Uehara had this inning (a bad one for him), I thought he would pitch the 9th inning as well. Since he struggled, Kevin Gregg started warming up. I almost turned the TV off immediately, not wanting to see the results. Luckily, he pitched a perfect inning as well and got the save.
Note: He almost didn’t. Denard Span hit a long fly ball to center field that looked like it was going out of the park, but AJ made a great catch at the wall to get the out.

Markakis finally got a few hits to get him out of his slump. Vlady and Wieters hit another home run. AJ had a 2 RBI double. Lee and Reynolds went 0-4 and 0-3, respectively, but that kind of seems like the story with them. I’ve learned to expect a DP when Lee is up with a batter on and if no one’s on, a ground out. And, obviously, you expect strikeouts with Reynolds.

The team was all together again tonight. Every aspect played well; not as well as last night but the O’s haven’t played that well since 2007 (12-0 shut out). Getting 5 runs in a game is sufficient to win as is the starting pitching giving up 3 runs. It’s not a perfect game by any means but it’s a game you’ll win 75% of the time.

Getting a win tomorrow night is crucial. It’ll bring us to .500. I’d actually prefer a 1-0 or 2-1 game. A low-scoring, pitchers’ duel sorta game. They’re sometimes more exciting and I feel are more important and confident boosters. These last 2 games have proven the offense is there, so now I think it’s time for Guthrie to have a dominant outing tomorrow night, like he did opening night against the Rays. If they have that (so a combo of high scoring games and a great defensive game), they can have a very high confidence when they welcome the Yankees in town followed by the Red Sox. They really need AT LEAST one win against the Yankees, if not win two out of three. The Red Sox will be an interesting series. They aren’t doing well at all, as everyone knows, but how will the O’s do against them? They aren’t used to seeing a bad Red Sox team.

Speaking of Boston…I often recall that game we played a few seasons back when the O’s were down 10-1 in the 8th and came back to win the game 11-10. That is the greatest game I’ve ever seen in my life, or remember seeing anyways (hey, I’m only 18). What about you? What’s the greatest O’s game you’ve seen. That one where they just blew you away. I’ll tell you what, that game against the Red Sox had me talking about it for days. I was telling all my friends about it, who, by the way, probably couldn’t name every position on the field. That game will always be remembered in my mind. So, just curious, what game is like that for you?