O's Win a Nail-Biter in Texas

In what had to be the most thrilling game so far this season, the Orioles defeated the Texas Rangers in Arlington 10-9.

The game went back-and-forth throughout the evening; the O's took a 2-0 lead in the first inning only to be down 4-2 in the third. The Birds batted around in the fourth, scoring five runs, and then scored another three in the fifth to take a commanding 10-4 lead.

Texas came right back in the sixth, scoring three times, and added two more runs in the seventh to make it a one-run ballgame.

The ninth inning: with the Birds ahead by one run, closer George Sherrill took the mound...and promptly gave up a leadoff double. The next batter hit it deep to right, but Nick Markakis made the defensive play of the season (so far) and snared the ball at the warning track before crashing into the wall. One away. Sherrill induced another fly ball before walking the next batter, and then a double steal put the tying run at third and the winning run at second with two outs. Sherrill then struck out Marlon Byrd on three pitches to escape with his third save in as many opportunities.

Wow. What a game...every O's starter but two had at least one hit, and five had a multi-hit game. Aubrey Huff led the offensive attack, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs.

The Birds have now won the first game of all three series and need just one more victory in the next two games to win their third straight series. The offense is hot, the defense is clicking and the pitching...well, for the most part the pitchers are keeping the O's in every game! Koji Uehara was credited with his second win, though he was charged with seven runs off seven hits in five innings. Danys Baez came on to relieve him in the sixth and allowed all three inherited runners to score before allowing two runs of his own in two innings of work. Jamie Walker struck out the only batter he faced in the eighth, and Jim Johnson got the final two outs to set up Sherrill in the ninth...

Alfredo Simon is slated to take the mound for the Birds tomorrow night...Go O's!

O' Yeah... (this will be a new addition to my post, to include anything I didn't fit into the blog...Bird Bites and O's Extra have already been taken!)

• The Birds had a season high 16 hits, and tied their season high with 10 runs
• Six of the hits were for extra bases (5 doubles and Felix Pie's first home run)
• The O's are now 1-0 in their new "Baltimore" road jerseys
• The Orioles are now 2-0 in 1-run games