A Win and Injury News

Orioles 3, Royals 2

As an O’s fan, you have to love these kinds of games.  Your pitcher goes 6 (or 5.2) innings, and the bullpen is flawless.  For 11 years, pitching has mostly been the problem.  When you get a great start from a guy like Rich Hill who needs to be big if this rotation is to be successful and George Sherrill finally has a 1-2-3 ninth with a one-run lead.

Brian Roberts’ average fell below .300 today, as he went 0-4, but got a big run off a walk.  The other walk that the Orioles drew today, from Melvin Mora also led to a run.  The theme so far this season for the hitters has been to work the count, be patient and swing only at good pitches. Nolan Reimold had his first big game in The Show, going 2-4, with an RBI and a double.

In terms of injuries, Adam Jones was again not in the lineup, and Felix Pie played center field, a position he appears to be much more comfortable in than left field.  He hasn’t played since Wednesday, but as of now, there is no rumor of him going on the DL. Jones leads the American League with a .370 batting average.  In non-speculative injury news, Luke Scott was placed on the 15-day DL, retroactive to Monday, May 11th.  Rich Hill is now officially off of the 15-day DL.

Felix Pie is no longer under The Mendoza Line, raising his average to .200 today with a 1-4 effort.  Tomorrow’s pitching matchup: Koji Uehara (2-3, 4.01 ERA, 42.2 IP) vs. Luke Hochevar (0-1, 36.00 ERA, 2 IP)

Looking at Uehara’s game log, other than allowing the 7 runs in Texas, which sounds worse than it was, Koji has been as good as almost anyone in the AL this season.  If you take away the 5 inning, 7 run start, his ERA is 2.90 in 37.2 innings.  With that 2.90 ERA, he would rank 6th in the American League and 15th in the MLB in the ERA category.  Hochevar, the former #1 draft pick, has yet to hit his stride in the majors, but has pitched effectively against the Orioles before.  If Uehara continues to pitch well, the Orioles will be hard to beat unless the Royals’ offense catches fire.  I’m still sad that Adam Eaton didn’t get a chance to outpitch Zack Greinke, but maybe that’s a good thing.

WIETERS WATCH: 1-4, R, 3B.  While his stat line may look underwhelming, the future of our franchise had his first triple in Norfolk, and his 3rd career 3-bagger.  The especially good thing about his effort was that the Tides only won 1-0.  Get my drift? Wieters scored the game winning run, and was the only Tides player to reach 3rd base during the game.  This Wieters Watch should become a regular feature on my posts and whoever else decides to include it.

NOTE: Michael is going on a 2-week vacation to Brazil for whatever reason, and won’t be able to post frequently.  So, Kellen and I will be sharing our insights with you, but we can’t promise to post as frequently as Mike does.

Adam Jones better get healthy soon.  I’m not digging the Felix-flavored Pie that much right now.  I do like his various wristbands though.  And he’s added two since that picture.