Game Preview 07/16: Time to End This Streak

Let me start off with a letter.
Dear Orioles,
Please stop torturing your fans already and win a damn game. I know what your plan is. Lose a bunch of games and play terribly in the first half of the season on purpose to trick the competition and then win every single game of the 2nd half and blow everyone away and win the division and make the playoffs and win the AL pennant and go to the World Series and win the World Series. I know that’s your plan but it’s not working because you already lost 2 games of the 2nd half of the season. So, how about you scratch that idea and just start playing baseball like your paid millions of dollars to do it (oh wait…you are) instead of like 5-year-old girls and give your fans something to cheer for for once.
Sincerely,
A lifelong, ashamed fan.

Okay so maybe that wasn’t the Orioles plan exactly but I have to think it may be an option to make myself feel better about rooting for such a horrible team. I’m really getting tired of the team losing. I know everyone is. It’s just ridiculous. They’re starting to look like last year’s team. Or worse, the season they lost 107 games. Yeah, sorry to make you remember that again. To try and end the streak tonight is Alfredo Simon. Great, I already don’t like the chances since this guy probably killed someone AND isn’t even a real starter. He also has a hamstring problem at the moment and by the way, he’s going back to the Dominican Republic tomorrow for a hearing so he probably won’t even be focused on the game cause he possibly could be going to jail for the rest of his life as of tomorrow. Great. His last outing against the Red Sox wasn’t too bad though. He was only out for 4 2/3 innings but he allowed only 3 runs on 8 hits with 3 walks and a strikeout. Unfortunately, he got the loss because the Red Sox held the Orioles to a shut-out but not a bad start for a relief guy. His ERA is at 4.85.

Countering Alfredo Sauce is Carlos Carrasco, the Tribe’s righty. He’s sitting at 8-6 this season with a 4.28 ERA. He actually reminds me a lot of Arrieta. A decent record, an o.k. ERA, a strike-out pitcher with a solid fastball and change-up. He was signed by the Phillies in 2003 as an undrafted free agent. He was ranked the 41st best prospect in baseball by Baseball American entering the 2007 season and was considered the Phillies best prospect in 2008. He spent all of his time on the Phillies Single and Double-A teams. On July 29, 2009 the Phillies traded him as well as Jason Donald, Lou Marson, and Jason Knapp to Cleveland for none other than Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco. We all know who got the better deal in that trade.

He’s coming off of 2 consecutive losses and his last outing especially didn’t go too well. He lasted only 3 innings giving up 7 hits and 5 runs with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. The start before that he lasted an extra inning going 4 but giving up 10 hits and 6 runs.