Tillman Dominant In 6-1 Win

W – Chris Tillman (1-3)     L – Cliff Lee (8-4)

What a difference a couple of weeks make. Chris Tillman looked like a different pitcher out there last night, more like the top prospect that hes been coming up the minor league system. He had much better command of his fastball, his velocity was back to normal, he was throwing his curveball for strikes, mixing up his pitches, and showed off his new cut fastball on a few occasions. He carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning but that hope was ended when Ian Kinsler grounded a seeing eye single into left field. Tillman bounced right back and retired the next two batters. He came out for the 8th and you could tell he was tiring. He gave up an unearned run when Adam Jones played a line drive single into center into a triple as it bounced off his leg and rolled towards the wall and then a wild pitch allowed the runner to score. Tillman came back and retired the next batter before being replaced, leaving his line at 7.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, 3 K. He didn’t strike out many guys but thats alright when you command the zone as well as he did. Hes typically been a flyball pitcher throughout his career but he got 11 outs on the ground last night, compared to only 7 through the air. If he can keep that up he’ll be fine. At 22 years old theres still room to improve and reach his full potential. Will Ohman came in and got both left handed hitters he faced out to end the 8th inning. David Hernandez pitched a scoreless 9th but not before giving up two singles. He also struck out a pair of batters.

The offense spoiled Cliff Lee’s Rangers debut after the big trade on Friday and it started right away in the 1st inning. Corey Patterson led off with a double after his late inning heroics Friday night and scored on Miguel Tejada’s single into right field. Then we busted out the long ball in the middle innings. Nick Markakis led off the 4th inning with a solo homerun, Cesar Izturis of all people knocked one out in the 5th – a solo shot, and Adam Jones crushed a two run bomb to dead center field after Ty Wiggington singled in the 6th. We added an insurance run in the 9th. Jones led off with a single and moved to third on a Jake Fox single. Craig Tatum hit into a double play but it allowed Jones to come in and score. The Orioles finally busted through against Lee as hes been very effective against us in the recent past. The fact that the Orioles were able to come into Texas and beat the Rangers in the first three games of the series is pretty impressive. Texas has been playing good ball and was sitting on top of the AL West by five and a half games coming into the series.

Player of the game: Chris Tillman – 7.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, 3 K, W (1-3) (5.64 ERA)

The Orioles will try to finish off the sweep this afternoon. The hope rests on Jake Arrieta’s (2-2, 4.96) shoulders to follow up Chris Tillman’s great outing. CJ Wilson (7-4, 3.24) pitches for Texas.