Out-of-this-World Offense Continues; Hurricane Irene Impact Update

Before getting to last night’s game, I just wanted to let you know of what’s going on for the rest of the weekend. As most of you know, both games of today’s scheduled double-header with the Yankees were postponed so that tomorrow will be a Sunday double-header with the first game at 1:35 (Sunday’s original game) and a 7:35 game (tonight’s original game). Those of you who were planning to go tonight, can go to tomorrow night’s game or exchange your tickets for another game. Then, Monday was a scheduled off-day and now today’s original day game (which was ALSO a make-up) will be played Monday at 7:05. Again, if you had tickets for today’s game (aka for the original game a few months ago) then you can go to Monday night’s game or exchange your tickets for another game. I know that’s confusing but basically: no baseball today, 2 games tomorrow, and a game Monday night before the scheduled series with Toronto.

Now, onto bigger and better things. Last night, the O’s got sweet, sweet revenge against the Yankees with a 12-5 win. Half of those runs came in the 2nd inning as the offense smoked a struggling A.J. Burnett. But first, let’s look at the pitching. Tommy Hunter pitched a solid 7 inning giving up 7 hits and 4 runs (all of which came on home runs) with no walks and 4 strikeouts. He never got into any trouble since the most damage came on a 2-run homer by Nick Swisher. He dominated and although it wasn’t technically a quality start, he’s put out the 5th straight solid outing by starters. With this win, the Orioles have now tied their season-high winning streak at 5 and look to rest up on the off-day before trying to win their 6th straight. What if they sweep the Yankees? I doubt it’s going to happen but it’s a nice thought that seems somewhat possible at this point because of how great this team has been playing.

As for the offense, what else is there to say besides 12 runs. Mark Reynolds started off that 6-run 2nd inning with a solo home run, his 30th of the season. Then 4 consecutive doubles: Ryan Adams, Nolan Reimold, Matt Angle (first major league RBI), and Andino to score 3 more runs. Finally, J.J. Hardy capped things off with a 2-run homer, his 25th, making it 6-0. Hardy had an RBI ground-out in the 4th before Nolan Reimold hit a 2-run triple to make it 9-1 in the 5th. To cap things off and add just that extra insurance in case Showalter would put Kevin Gregg in, Matt Wieters slammed a 3-run shot in the 6th scoring Markakis and Guerrero as well to make it 12-1.

This game was a great one to have since before the game, the Orioles had a tribute for Mike Flanagan, the former Orioles pitcher, front office executive, and broadcaster who took his own life by shooting himself in the head a few days ago. His number, 46, remained on the out-of-town scoreboard all game, there was a moment of silence, a video tribute, and the Orioles debuted their remembrance patches that will remain on their uniforms for the rest of the season (a black patch with his nickname “Flanny” in white).

I’m really not sure what has gotten into the Orioles recently. I made a joke with a few people that after the earthquake, hurricane, and now the O’s pitching really well and winning 5 in a row, that maybe the world really is ending. But, I don’t think so. Something has changed in this team, their attitude, their playing, everything. They look like they did in April. Who knows what the difference has been but, honestly, who cares? As long as they keep it up and continue to win games, I’m good.

On Sunday’s double-header, Zach Britton (7-9, 4.54 ERA) takes the mound at 1:35 to go against Ivan Nova (13-4, 3.97 ERA). At night, it’s Brian Matusz (1-6, 8.92 ERA) against Freddy Garcia (10-7, 3.16 ERA) and finally Monday, is Jeremy Guthrie (6-16, 4.42 ERA) versus C.C. Sabathia (17-7, 2.99 ERA).