O’s Win Behind Strong Effort By Bedard, 4-1

Erik Bedard gets the much coveted 15th win of the season. Chris Ray got his 32nd save.

Bedard was just awesome last night. He went 7 innings and only let in one unearned run. He only allowed 4 hits and a walk, while striking out 10 batters. His ERA is down to 3.62 and he got his first 15 win season under his belt. Great game. Todd Williams came in and was unaffective again. He allowed 2 hits before being pulled. Brian Burres came in and got an out before Chris Britton came in and finished the inning without giving up a hit or walk. Chris Ray loaded the bases in the 9th before getting out of it without letting in a run. He needs some rest after these past couple games.

The offense wasn’t too good, but did enough to win with Bedard on the mound. The big hit was Corey Patterson’s 3-run homerun, his 14th. David Newhan had a double and so did Ramon Hernandez along with another hit. Miguel Tejada and Jay Gibbons had the other hits. A nice win against the AL East cellar dwellers.

Markakis watch: 0-3 (.300)

Tonight its another face off with the Devil Rays. Adam Loewen (5-5, 5.31) gets the nod against Jason Hammel (0-3, 6.53). Go O’s.

O’s Somehow Win In Extras, 12-8

Chris Ray blows the save, then gets the win. He’s 3-4.

Daniel Cabrera started, but he didn’t pitch good a tall. He only went 4 innings, giving up 6 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks. He struck out 6, but that doesn’t matter when you walk so many batters. I think Cabrera would be the first pitcher I trade in a big deal. He may be the most valuable to other teams and he’s just too inconsistent. Rodrigo Lopez came in next and pitched 2 perfect innings of baseball. The 7th was scoreless with the combination of James Hoey, Brian Burres, and Chris Britton getting an out each. Todd Williams started the 8th, but wouldn’t make it out of it. He allowed a run before Chris Ray was called in. Ray blew the save, but pitched over 2 innings to eventually get the win.

The offense was in full force today, thank goodness. Without it, we wouldn’t have stood a chance. Brian Roberts had 3 hits. Melvin Mora had 2, one being his 16th homerun. Nick Markakis also hit his 16th homerun. Ramon Hernandez went 4-4 with 2 doubles. Kevin Millar hit a homerun, his 14th, as part of a 2 hit game. Corey Patterson had a single and his 41st stolen base. Chris Gomez had 4 hits, including his 2nd homerun of the season. Him and Mora also had stolen bases.

Markakis watch: 1-5 (.302)

I like the O’s chances tonight. We’re playing the Devil Rays who are like the only team worse than us, and we have Erik Bedard (14-9, 3.76) pitching. Tampa Bay sends Tim Corcoran (4-8, 4.75) to the hill. Go O’s.

More to come…

O’s Get Shut Out By Tigers, 2-0

Kris Benson gets another hard luck loss, he’s now 10-11.

Benson pitched great, but when your offense only gets you zero runs, its hard to win. He pitched all 8 innings for the birds with 7 hits against, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts. Benson has been very unlucky this year in terms of decisions. He leaves games with leads, only to have the bullpen lose it. He pitches complete games, only giving up a couple of runs and still manages to get the loss. Regardless of record, when healthy Kris Benson has been a big plus this season.

Ah, the hitting… where to begin. So far, the tigers have held our offense to 2 runs in 18 innings. Just nothing doing last night. Nobody had more than one hit, we had 6 total, and there were only 2 extra base hits. Miguel Tejada had a double and Corey Patterson had a triple. Melvin Mora, Kevin Millar, Chris Gomez, and Fernando Tatis had the other hits. Just a sad performance, but kudos to the Tigers pitching staff.

Markakis watch: 0-4 (.303)

Daniel Cabrera (7-10, 4.84) goes in the series finale with those pesky Tigers. Wilfredo Ledezma (2-3, 3.13) goes for Detroit. Go O’s…and go Ravens today against the Raiders.

O’s Get Clobbered By Tigers, 17-2

3rd time wasn’t the charm for Hayden Penn, he drops to 0-3.

Unbelievably, Penn managed to lower his ERA by almost 10 points. Unbelievable because he gave up 7 runs in 3 and 2/3rd innings. Just got knocked around again with 7 hits and 3 walks. I don’t know why this is happening, could be fatigue or trouble grasping Mazzone’s philosophy, but it is not because he doesn’t have what it takes. The kid is 21 years old and dominated the minor leagues. He will be a quality pitcher for us, just doesn’t look like its going to be this year. Unfortunatly, no other pitcher did any better really, nobody that pitched for the O’s tonight left without giving up at least one run. Russ Ortiz went back to his old ways, giving up 2 runs in just over an inning of work. Winston Abreu was smashed for 5 runs while only getting one out. Sendy Rleal gave up 2 runs in his inning and change. Julio Manon closed it out by giving up only one run in the final inning. The Tigers hit 4 homeruns tonight. Wow.

The offense pretty much laid an egg too. There were a few bright spots, but only 5 players had hits in the game. Brian Roberts had a pair of singles and also a pair of stolen bases, to give him 35. Nick Markakis went 2-3 with his 15th homerun and a walk. David Newhan had 2 hits including his 4th homerun. Chris Gomez had two singles, and Miguel Tejada had another. That was about it, the Tigers took out all their frustrations on the lowly Orioles.

Markakis watch: 2-3 (.306)

Tomorrow night, Kris Benson (10-10, 4.66) gives it another shot after his bout with strept throat. His adversary for the night will be Nate Robertson (12-12, 3.84). Go O’s.

O’s Go Back To Losing Ways, 6-5

Rodrigo Lopez gets the loss to lower his record to 9-16.

Adam Loewen started the game, he didn’t pitch great, but he didn’t pitch terrible either. He went 5 and a third innings, striking out 2 while walking 3, giving up 6 hits and 3 runs. He wasn’t as sharp as he has been, but it was nice to see him battle a little and leave the game with the lead. Unfortunatly the bullpen couldn’t keep it for him. Chris Britton finished off the 6th inning, no problem. James Hoey continued to struggle and gave up a run, but we still had the lead at that point. Brian Burres helped Hoey get out of the inning. Todd Williams was charged with the tying run in his limited action. Chris Ray finished off the 8th. Lopez came in for the 9th, and was just too wild. He walked 3 and gave up a hit to bring in the eventual winning run for the Red Sox. Bruce Chen would get the last out.

The offense consisted of the bottom of the 4th, when the O’s scored all 5 of their runs. The hitting was distributed pretty evenly, with everyone but David Newhan getting a hit. Jeff Fiorentino and Ramon Hernandez each had two. Brian Roberts, Melvin Mora, and Chris Gomez all had doubles in the game. The O’s had a chance in the bottom of the 9th with Mora on 3rd with one out, but of course we couldn’t get the runner home.

Markakis watch: 1-5 (.304)

3rd times a charm? Hayden Penn (0-2, 36.82) sure hopes so. He’ll get his shot against the Detroit Tigers and Jeremy Bonderman (11-8, 4.18). Go O’s.

O’s Shut Out Sox, 4-0

Erik Bedard continues his brilliance, gets his 14th win.

Bedard was masterfull last night. He pitched 7 innings of shut out baseball, giving up only 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 batters. His ERA is now down to 3.76, his lowest since May 5th. I think Bedard’s emergence is one of the most exciting things about this season. Todd Williams and Chris Ray combined to finish off the game, pitching a scoreless inning each. Great game for all pitchers involved.

The hitting wasn’t too shabby either. Every player had at least one hit. Kevin Millar hit his 13th homerun of the year. Ramon Hernandez stayed hot, going 2-3 with a walk. Miguel Tejada had 3 hits, getting out of a (very) small funk. Jeff Fiorentino went 1-3 with a walk. He should be playing every day in left field for the rest of the season IMO. Lets see what he can do while we have him up here. So a great game on both sides gives us our first win since the series opener against the Yankees, which Bedard pitched.

Markakis watch: 1-4 (.305)

Tonight, its Adam Loewen’s (5-5, 5.32) turn to shut out the Red Sox. The O’s will be hitting off of Lenny DiNardo (1-2, 7.42). Go O’s.

4 Run 9th Not Enough, Sox Beat O’s 6-5

Daniel Cabrera takes the loss to become the third O’s pitcher to make it to double digit losses. He’s 7-10.

Cabrera didn’t pitch terrible, but it was certainly not a dominating performance. He went 5 2/3rds, struck out 8, walked 3, and gave up 8 hits and 3 runs. Chris Britton got the last out for him in the 6th. Then Brian Burres came in for one batter and retired him. Then Julio Manon came in and did not do his job. He was lit up for 3 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks in one third an inning. Russ Ortiz came in for the end of the 7th and all of the 8th, he pitched (…) perfectly. Sendy rleal pitched a perfect 9th before we came up just short. If those rumors are true that we could have Mark Texiera from the Rangers straight up for Daniel Cabrera, lets do it. Cabrera could become the best pitcher in baseball, but Texiera already is one of the top young hitters of baseball.

The hitting wasn’t bad last night, just came up short. The offense had 14 hits, just not enough for extra bases. Melvin Mora had 2 hits including a double. Ramon Hernandez is on a homerun hitting tear, he hit his 20th of the season and his 4th in 3 games, along with another hit. Nick Markakis went 3-3 with 2 walks. Chris Gomez had another multi-hit game, this time with 2 singles. Kevin Millaralso had 2 hits on the night. The only players that didn’t get a hit were Miguel Tejada (0-5) and Branden Fahey (0-2).

Markakis watch: 3-3 (.305)

Tonight, its the Red Sox again. Erik Bedard (13-9, 3.91) hopes he can break our losing streak against Tim Wakefield (7-8, 4.14). Go O’s.

O’s Blow Lead Again, Lose 9-6

James Hoey got blown up in the 7th and got his first loss.

Rodrigo Lopez started the game after Kris Benson got scratched with a sore throat. Rodrigo didn’t pitch bad, going 6 innings and only giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks in an emergency start. He struck out 5 batters too. He left with 5-2 lead and optimistic he was going to get his 10th win of the season. It wouldn’t be. Hoey came in and gave up 6 runs on 4 hits and a walk in 2/3rds of an inning. Brian Burres came in for his second appearance of his career and did much better. He pitched 1 and 2/3rds of perfect ball, striking out one. Chris Ray finished off the game, but not before he gave up a homerun to Alex Rodriguez. In Hoey’s case, he didn’t get hit very hard and there was a ball that should have been caught, I think hes not as bad as this looks.

The offense wasn’t too bad last night, scoring 6 runs on 11 hits, but it wasn’t enough to combat the Yankees 9 runs. Chris Gomez had a good game, going 3-4 with a double. Ramon Hernandez remained hot with anotehr homerun tonight, his 19th. Melvin Mora had 2 hits, Kevin Millar hit a double, and Fernando Tatis hit a triple. Everyone else had a hit except for Brian Roberts. As sad as it might be to say it, we need Luis Terrero back on this team.

Markakis watch: 1-5 (.300)

Tonight, the Orioles look towards Daniel Cabrera (7-9, 4.84) to end the losing streak against Kason Gabbard (1-3, 3.93) and the Boston Red Sox. Go O’s.

Penn Gets Roughed Up Again, O’s Lose 9-4

Hayden Penn falls to 0-2.

Penn improved a little, His ERA went from 108.00 to 36.82, but he still did terrible overall. He managed to go 3 innings this time, 7 runs counting against him to go with 9 hits and 2 walks. He gave up 3 homeruns. Russ Ortiz relieved him and went 2 scoreless innings. (Besides letting in Penn’s 7th run.) Winston Abreu was next and pitched poorly for the first time since coming up. He gave up 2 runs in a third of an inning. Bruce Chen finished the inning and another one without letting in a run. Chris Britton and Julio Manon also pitched scoreless innings in the game. Penn is off to a slow start, but remember he is only 21. It might take him some time, but he will be successful at the major league level.

The offense consisted of Ramon Hernandez. The rest of the lineup might as well not participated. Hernandez had 3 of the 6 hits, including his 17th and 18th homeruns and all 4 RBIs. Fernando Tatis had a double and Brian Roberts and Chris Gomez contributed a single each to round out the hitting. It was the 80th loss of the season for the O’s. If we win out we can salvage a winning season…

Markakis watch: 0-4 (.302)

Tomorrow night is the series finale before the Red Sox come into town. It’ll be Kris Benson (10-10, 4.66) for us, Randy Johnson (16-10, 4.76) for the Yanks. Go O’s.

O’s Lose Pitcher’s Duel, 3-2

Adam Loewen gets the hard luck loss, hes now 5-5 on the year.

Loewen pitched excellent, but the offense couldn’t give him any support. He lasted 7 innings and gave up 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and struck out 6 batters. Loewen has performed very well against the Yankees this year, going 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 4 starts. That is very encouraging, obviously, as the Yankees have the best lineup in baseball. Rodrigo Lopez relieved Adam and pitched the final 2 innings. He gave up a run, a walk, and 2 hits. You have to think that Lopez is gone after this season. He did some positive things in his career here, but the time has come.

As noted before, the offense couldn’t give Loewen any run support. We managed 2 runs on 9 hits. Nick Markakis had 2 of those hits. So did Kevin Millar who hit a double and his 12th homerun. Brian Roberts, Miguel Tejada, Jay Gibbons, Raul Chavez, and Brandon Fahey had the other hits in the game. I’m hoping the end of the season comes quick because there really isn’t too much to get excited about anymore. Markakis and the young pitchers about the only things worth watching for.

Markakis watch: 2-4 (.305)

Speaking of those young pitchers, Hayden Penn (0-1, 108.00) gets a chance to redeem himself after the spanking he got the last time out. If he pitches that bad again, we may have to worry, but I strongly doubt it. He will be going up against Jaret Wright (9-7, 4.62), who the Yankees should be embarrassed they signed for that much money. Go O’s.