The Orioles won their second straight game against Detroit, and fifth overall, last night as Matt Wieters made his highly anticipated debut.  Although it was raining for most of the afternoon, the skies decided to clear up as Matt had a dinner date at 10:30 and wanted to get things rolling.

The action got underway pretty quickly for Wieters as the very first batter of the game, Josh Anderson, bunted up the third base line only to be gunned down by God's son himself.  After Wieters' cannon was put on display, the precedent was set, so we weren't able to see any throws down to second from our catcher as the Tigers were quite simply terrified.

In his first at bat, Matt worked the count pretty well before lining out to right, and his subsequent appearances at the plate didn't result in much success either, but there isn't any cause for concern as Wieters caught a terrific game anyway.

There are actually too many storylines to cover in one measly post, but Bergesen would have to be the third best story behind Wieters and Scott.  Last night, Brad allowed just 2 earned runs with 7 hits, 2 strikeouts, and no walks over 8 innings pitched.  His ceiling previously may have been a number 5, but judging by how he has handled ML hitters thus far, he may be able to reach the middle of the rotation if everything turns out perfectly, with a back-end starter as his midpoint projection.

I agree with Joe Sheehan in that Bergesen, like Koji, seems to fall apart quite quickly, but I'll take 5/6 innings for now with Dave watching Brad closely once the 85 pitch threshold is reached.

By the way, since coming off the DL, Luke Scott is 7 for 13 with 5 homers and 12 RBI, including a 3 for 3 performance last night with 2 home runs and 5 RBI to improve his season line to .336/.421/.664.  I really do like the guy, but trade high, Andy.

The "Battle of the Beltways" commenced tonight as the O's took a short trip southward to play the Washington Nationals in Nationals Park; the "rivalry" couldn't possibly have been more blatantly plugged by MASN.

Rich Hill performed very well once again as he gave up a mere two earned over 5.2 innings.  Dave has pulled Hill pretty early in both of his starts this year, likely in an effort to ease him back into the major league routine, but Rich has otherwise looked pretty good with an absolutely nasty curveball.

Hill's struggles last year centered around his high walk rate, and although Rich seems to be improving this season, he does still run many counts quite high, and one of his four walks tonight did come back to hurt him as Nick Johnson reached on a free pass, and was subsequently driven in by Ryan Zimmerman's dinger.

Our top two batters in Roberts and Jones were quite successful tonight, but Nick Markakis, Aubrey Huff, and Melvin Mora combined to go 1 for 14.  Credit 22 year old Jordan Zimmermann for pitching a pretty good game, but he left numerous hittable pitches over the plate which our "sluggers" simply missed on.

In the top of the twelfth with two outs already recorded, pitcher Danys Baez reached base on a weak dribbler up the third base line, despite the fact that he practically ran away from the ball as it crossed home plate.  Baez was advanced to third on a ground rule double by Brian Roberts, and eventually both Roberts and Danys were driven home on another double by Adam Jones.

Although I am still discouraged by the front office's decision to cut Pie out of the picture prematurely, Nolan has seized the day as he hit his second career home run tonight en route to going 2 for 5.  We previously presumed that Nolan would go back down to Norfolk with Luke coming back, but Reimold really is forcing his way onto this team.

The "battle of the beltways" starts tonight as our O's take on their inferiors to the south.

Rich Hill looks to make his second consecutive quality start as he faces young Jordan Zimmerman in DC.

I'll actually be going to the next two games, but tonight we get the privilege of listening to Dibble and Palmer in the same booth for as long as we care for.

Go O's.

The first pitch ended up being thrown at 10:45 due to some rain, and while the O's underscored BRob's claim of players being sluggish after delays, Kansas City conversely came out firing as seven runs were put up by the Royals in the first four innings.

The Orioles were able to consistently get their leadoff men on against Greinke, but sans Roberts' double and subsequent run scored, the 25 year old phenom was able to adjust effectively and stifle every other possible rally.

Greinke's counterpart Adam Eaton got away with quite a few pitches in the early innings, but the tide began to turn in the fourth as his hanging breaking balls and badly placed pitches were taken advantage of by Mike Jacobs and Miguel Olivo, both of whom took Eaton deep to break the game open.

With a 6-1 lead and Greinke on the mound, things didn't look good, and in fact they weren't.

Hendrickson came in and pitched pretty well as he only allowed one run over three innings; I can't say that he'll stick, but Hendo looked much more comfortable relieving Eaton than starting in the rotation.

There isn't much else to say as the O's failed to present themselves with opportunities after the first few innings, even with Greinke being pulled in the eigth for Juan Cruz.

On a separate note, it was nice seeing Montanez, Reimold, and Pie all playing over stopgaps like Wigginton, but with Hill coming up, it looks like one of the three is going to have to go down to Norfolk.  I can't see Pie clearing waivers, so we'll either have seen Reimold for a brief stint or Montanez will be the odd man out.

The Orioles finished their homestand today by dropping their third straight game in a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

By and large, Koji Uehara pitched a very good game, going 6.1 innings and giving up just three earned with seven hits, no walks, and five strikeouts.  Koji threw 102 pitches, and although he looked great through the first six innings, it has become apparent after a few starts that when he runs out of gas, things tend to unravel in a hurry. 

In the postgame press conference, Dave hinted at the fact that Uehara's location began to waver in the seventh inning, and his control just wasn't the same.  After surrendering a home run to Torii Hunter, Baez began to throw in the 'pen; however before Danys was even warm, Koji gave up a second consecutive homer, which put the O's behind 3-1. The bomb given up to Hunter was a hanging breaking ball, and the second jack to Kendry Morales appeared to be a pitch right down mainstreet.

Just when it looked like Uehara was due for the hook, Gary Matthews Jr. hit a sizzling line drive right back at Koji, who was unable to get out of the way in time.  Even after taking a blow to the body, Uehara attempted to make a play for the ball, but he soon collapsed to the ground in pain.  Although we feared the worst, Trembley, somewhat confusingly, stated in his press conference that Koji's ribs were not hit and it was, rather, his chest, whatever that's supposed to mean.

The O's gave it their last real shot in the bottom of the eighth as Adam Jones led off the inning with an infield hit.  After a passed ball, AJ was able to move over to second with none down and Markakis as the plate.  Not one to disappoint, Nicky drove in Adam with a single to right and the O's were within a run.  Despite LAA starter Shane Loux being taken out of the game, though, the O's continued to struggle at the plate as Huff got under every pitch thrown to him, and Luke Scott whiffed on an unsuccessful apparent hit and run.  I may be wrong, but I believe Luke has failed to protect the runner on numerous occasions now, yet Trembley called the play despite the count being 3-1 with only one out recorded.

George Sherrill was inserted into a no-pressure situation in the top of the ninth as  his team actually trailed by one, yet even with this change of scenery, Sherrill was still smacked around, giving up two hits in just one inning pitched.  I'm really starting to lose faith in George, and if/when he is relieved of his closing duties, it seems as if his worth will be maximized as a LOOGY rather than a set-up man/7th inning reliever as he has vastly underperformed since the All-Star break of 2008.

In an uneventuful bottom of the ninth, Wigginton, Moeller, and Mora went down 1-2-3 to closer Brian Fuentes. 

Despite the ineptitude of his teammates, Nick Markakis was able to successfully extend his streak as he has now hit in sixteen consecutive games.

I've decided to do the post-game wrap-up as no one else with front page privileges was watching the game, or at least they weren't posting in the gameday thread.

The Red Sox continued their dominance over Baltimore tonight by taking care of the O's in a fairly nonchalant manner.  

After pitching a scoreless inning to start off the game, it looked like Eaton was on his game and might just be able to get through five or six innings and give the potent Baltimore offense a shot.  Once the second inning began, though, it became evident that Eaton still stunk.

Although Boston only scored once in the second inning off of a Varitek double to right field, the Sox were smashing every ball coming out of Eaton's hand.  In my opinion, it was only a matter of time until Ortiz, or any other slugger, found the sweet spot and blew the game open.While the O's continued to struggle offensively, the meat of Boston's order came through as both Ortiz and Pedroia reached base, setting the stage for Kevin Youklis.  Youklis was able to work the count for a bit, but then he just launched a moonshot over the Green Monster and Boston took a commanding 5-0 lead in the fourth.

The following inning, the Sox were able to continue piling on as Youklis knocked in another run, this time driving home Ellsbury as the Sox led 6-0.

Eaton was pulled after the fourth after giving up six earned, and suddenly infused with a jolt of confidence, the O's loaded the bases with none down and Aubrey Huff at the plate.  The horseman clanged a double off the Monster as the bases cleared and the O's closed the gap, trailing by only two runs with four innings to go.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful; the O's stranded Wiggy on second after a leadoff single/steal, and JJ worked his way out of a bases loaded jam with a 3-2 count to Bay among other highlights.

In the ninth, Roberts was able to fit a ball through the hole between short and third, and Adam Jones was subsequently plunked on the elbow, placing runners on first and second with only one down.  Both Markakis and Huff made Papelbon sweat for a bit, but ultimately, the closer from Baton Rogue finished off the O's once again.

On a separate note, Pie was almost as disappointing as the umpiring as Felix stranded runners on base and made numerous defensive mistakes.

A great piece from The Sun in which Matt evaluates seven of our top pitching prospects including Tillman, Erbe, Hernandez, Arrieta, Spoone, Matusz and Bergesen.

RHP Chris Tillman: "Tillman has two electric pitches between his fastball and curveball. His fastball just jumps on you. It's one of those fastballs where it looks like you're going to hit it and it just jumps right by you. His curveball is probably one of the best curveballs I've ever seen. He has two big league pitches, and he's another guy that's still real young. These guys just have to get experience. When they get the knowledge along with having the arms that they have, it's going to be special."

LHP Brian Matusz: "He's polished. In the bullpen, he spots up everything. His breaking stuff, he can throw in any count that he wants for strikes. That's a huge plus for a guy just coming out of college. The one thing he's going to have to do is just controlling the arm-side fastball where he can get in on righties. Once he gets that pitch, he's going to be very tough to hit."

Definitely check the article out, it's worth a quick read.

Per Roch.

"I'm happy and ready to go," he said. "I was scared because they took my passport like that, but yesterday they gave it to me. I'm happy to be here and play baseball.

"I was traded, so I wanted to be here early, but I don't know what happened. I'm here now and I'll forget the past. I'm ready to play."

Pie hasn't been playing left field in the Dominican, but he doesn't expect the shift from center to be an issue.

"That's OK. I think I'll be fine over there," he said.

He'll be ecstatic if he can establish himself as a full-time player in the majors, something that didn't happen in Chicago.

"I'm getting an opportunity to play every day for the Orioles," he said. "I'll be ready for that. I'm going to play hard and show everybody I can do it."

At least he was playing in the Dominican. 

Outside of the usual suspects like Wieters, Jones and Tillman/Arrieta/Matusz, I'm probably most excited about watching the progression of Felix Pie.  I was never that high on Olson, even during his minor league career, and I loved this move as Pie still has a decent ceiling.

 Trembley didn't sound all too pleased when he said this,

"The factors are that he's a guy that we've counted on to get into camp and work with Crow (hitting coach Terry Crowley), plus he's out of options," Trembley said. "It's getting to the point where it's important for him to get here. We're going to start playing games and I want to get him acclimated to his new teammates and coaching staff. I would concur that I'll feel a whole lot better when he gets here."

but Felix still has ample time to get things on track.

Roch.  I'd be pretty shocked if Arrieta ends up snagging a spot in the rotation, but then again, I'm still not quite sure what five guys are going to break camp at this point. 

Although Matusz/Tillman consistently garner more hype than Arrieta, Jake has put together a fairly remarkable career thus far.  Not only did he dominate the competition in Beijing, but his stint in Frederick was quite notable, and he failed to surrender an earned run in the AFL.

Arrieta receiving this invitation may be an indicator that the FO can't decide whether they want the guy starting at Norfolk or Bowie.  Personally, I'd prefer that he begin the year with the Baysox due to the fact that he didn't even get a full season at high A, but putting him at AAA probably wouldn't be a bad decision either.  If, however, Jake performs well in Florida, and then subsequently tacks on a nice run in Bowie/Norfolk, then he probably should get called up as he won't have much left to prove.  At the least, I think we'll see Arrieta in Baltimore by August/September, likely before Tillman and Matusz.

Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today, with Rickey making the cut easily, and Rice just barely squeezing his way in.  I'm sure Jim only got in because he was in his final year of eligibility, but the guy is still deserving nonetheless.

It is, however, astounding that five percent of the writers had the nerve to not vote for a guy who had a CAREER OBP of .401, stole the most bases of all time, and scored the most runs ever.  I'm not sure how you could possibly make an argument against Henderson, as he also won multiple rings as well.

I like this quote from another sports blog,

Each year when the Baseball Hall of Fame inductees are announced, there is an inevitable shake of the head when a no-brainer selection fails to get in with 100% of the vote. In fact, it has never happened for a player on his first ballot. Tom Seaver, the great New York Mets pitcher, continues to hold the record at 98.8%. Yet he was five short of unanimity. Cal Ripken Jr., the Orioles shortstop who is a paragon of the game, could not sway eight hard-hearted baseball writers in 2007.

Or perhaps it is just inattention. As reporter Jeremy Sandler mentioned in his Rickey Henderson story on this site, Arizona sportswriter Corky Simpson failed to include Henderson on his ballot in a year in which he is the obvious, and perhaps, only choice. A deeper look at Simpson’s piece about his selections reveals a ballot stuffed with eight — eight! — candidates he believes are worthy of induction, none of whom are Henderson.

In other news, Mark McGwire's vote total actually went down.  The numbers should probably put the guy in, but people clearly want to get past the steroid era.

The link to the top 20 can be found here.

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Arizona Fall League Top 20 Prospects

1. Matt Wieters, c (Orioles)

2. Tommy Hanson, rhp (Braves)

3. Brian Matusz, rhp (Orioles)

4. Logan Morrison, 1b (Marlins)

5. Carlos Triunfel, ss/2b (Mariners)

6. Bud Norris, rhp (Astros)

7. Gordon Beckham, ss (White Sox)

8. J.P. Arencibia, c (Blue Jays)

9. Justin Smoak, 1b (Rangers)

10. Brett Wallace, 3b (Cardinals)

11. Dan Cortes, rhp (Royals)

12. Sean West, lhp (Marlins)

13. Julio Borbon, of (Rangers)

14. Sean Doolittle, 1b/of (Athletics)

15. Tyler Flowers, c (White Sox)

16. Aaron Poreda, lhp (White Sox)

17. Jason Donald, ss (Phillies)

18. Scott Cousins, of (Marlins)

19. Jeff Manship, rhp (Twins)

20. Eric Young Jr., of/if (Rockies)

Arizona Fall League Top 20 Prospects

1. Matt Wieters, c (Orioles)

2. Tommy Hanson, rhp (Braves)

3. Brian Matusz, rhp (Orioles)

4. Logan Morrison, 1b (Marlins)

5. Carlos Triunfel, ss/2b (Mariners)

6. Bud Norris, rhp (Astros)

7. Gordon Beckham, ss (White Sox)

8. J.P. Arencibia, c (Blue Jays)

9. Justin Smoak, 1b (Rangers)

10. Brett Wallace, 3b (Cardinals)

Matusz is off to a great start thus far.  I'm encouraged that Brian falls just behind Hanson, who could be considered a top twenty prospect.  There isn't much to say here that hasn't been said already, but this list is encouraging even though Snyder didn't quite make it.  Prospects 11-20 are included in the link. 

 This from the chat:

Q: Steven M from NY asks:
What's the chances of Brian Matusz starting for the Oriols this year?

A: Kary Booher: I think probably slim and none, all because there is no need to rush him. The Orioles are rebuilding and have a chance to do their franchise right finally with Andy MacPhail now sitting in the president's chair and wheeling and dealing as their GM. His job is more than to just bring in talent. It's also to change the culture of the clubhouse after years of that ship sailing aimlessly in the AL East. I think that starts with Markakis and Jones, and Wieters will eventually become that franchise's big face. There is no need to bring Matusz into the fold just yet. Let him get his feet wet in the minors, much like Wieters did this past year. But even then, two years in the minors wouldn't be bad for Matusz or the Orioles for that matter. You're talking a guy who could be in a rotation with Chris Tillman and Jake Arietta. That would be something.

Junichi Tazawa is apparently now on the 40 man roster of the Boston Red Sox.  The 22 year old would likely have gone in the middle of the first round if he were currently attending an American college.  It's rather unfortunate that the Red Sox put a mere $3 million on the board and got a solid prospect.  According to Keith Law, Tazawa was intent on playing alongside Daisuke in Boston. 

Tazawa had the opportunity that American-born amateur players would kill to get: He could shop his services to any team with no restrictions and receive his actual market value rather than an artificially depressed figure dictated by the Commissioner's Office.

It's hard to believe that Tazawa was being offered millions more and left it on the table, but with Daisuke and Okajima already in Boston, there will be a certain level of comfort.  Additionally, Tazawa was inclined to go to Boston as the Sox were the first team to initially scout him; another reason the O's should be putting money into international development instead of 30 year old DH's. 

Judging by most reports, Tazawa is behind guys like Strasburgh/Crow, yet he's still in the mix.  I don't think the O's ever stood a chance with a guy like this, but getting a 22 year old, highly regarded prospect without giving up a veteran, or a draft pick, is a huge plus.  Furthermore, it's not like Tazawa is coming into the league at 28-31 like most Japanese free agents, this guy coud be in baseball for over a decade should he pan out.  I don't mean to gush all over this kid as I've seen nothing but scouting reports, but the Red Sox gave up peanuts to get another elite prospect.  It's not a coincidence that they've been able to simultaneously sustain a contending team while maintaining a farm that churns out talent.

I think it's well deserved in both cases.  Maddon was pretty much the clear cut choice in the American League as he orchestrated a masterful run with his team.  Although he made some questionable decisions in the posteason, you can't disregard what Joe did during the 162 game stretch.  A lot of people foresaw the Rays making significant imrpovements in 2008, but not many analysts/fans envisioned Tampa Bay pushing an NL team to five and a half games in the World Series. Ron Gardenhire, who finished second in the AL voting, was in a similar situation as Maddon.  Both skippers had young, talented teams with a relatively low payroll, but in the end, Maddon led his team into the playoffs for the first time whereas Gardenhire came up just short.

The choice of Lou Piniella is a bit less convincing as Chicago had a ton of proven veterans going into the season, but you can't really pin the honor on any other guy in the National League.  A case could plausibly me made for Charlie Manuel, Joe Torre or maybe even Tony La Russa, but Piniella led his team to an impressive 97-64 record.  You can fault Lou for a lot of things, but he is a winner wherever he goes, sans Tampa Bay.

Congrats.

Scott Baker vs. Daniel Cabrera.

Minnesota comes into Baltimore just one game back of Chicago and looks to at least be competitive in this three game set against the formidable Orioles.

The lineup includes dangerous hitters like Kevin Millar, Jay Payton and slugger Brandon Fahey.

Can't watch this game on TV for another 45 minutes or so due to complications between the providers, but it's 4-1 Minnesota in the top of the fifth.

I kinda wish that I had gone to this game as a friend of mine told me that he paid a buck to sit behind the O's dugout for what will be two games in this doubleheader.

Go O's?

Pitching match up features Brian Bass against Andrew Zach Jackson.

The Orioles look to steal this game and split the series with the Indians before a legitimate team in Minnesota comes into town. 

The O's are sitting at around 1,800,294 fans before tonight's game with twelve matches left before OPACY shuts down for the year.   According to my in depth calculations, thats around 16,500 fans a night for the remaining home games, which could be a bit of a stretch all things considered. 

Since some people don't like it when I reference our draft pick standings, I'll instead just provide a link.

Go O's?

Game 1 was cancelled but it looks like the second game of the doubleheader is going to get played.  The Ravens and the Orioles worked out a while back that they weren't going to have the O's play Sunday, September 7 as it would create unnecessary competition and traffic would be a mess.  Because neither team is in the playoff hunt, the game that was postponed may just be cancelled all together.

It's Greg Smith facing Danny Cabrera tonight in this star studded affair as both teams jockey for a higher position in the draft.

Baltimore Orioles
Roberts 2B
Montanez DH
Markakis RF
Hernandez C
Millar 1B
Jones CF
Salazar 3B
Payton LF
Castro SS

Oakland Athletics
Davis CF
Sweeney RF
Suzuki C
Cust DH
Barton 1B
Crosby SS
Hannahan 3B
Cunningham LF
Patterson 2B

Not much to do tonight so I'm listening to Bowie lose while I watch the Orioles lose. Let's see if this thread breaks 25. 1-0 Oakland bottom of the first.

Go O's?