Rays Rock O's in Series Finale

The elusive sweep evaded the O's yet again on Sunday, as the Tampa Bay Rays left Baltimore with an 11-3 victory.

Adam Eaton, making his first start as an Oriole, lasted just four innings and was charged with four runs off eight hits. Eaton walked two, struck out six and threw a wild pitch. Brian Bass came on in relief and looked exceptional...in 3 1/3 innings Bass gave up seven runs on eight hits (FOUR of the hits were home runs!). This is what I was afraid of...in my opinion, it should have been Bass, not Matt Albers, demoted to Triple-A. On the bright side, Bass did eat up some innings so the Birds should have a fresh bullpen for the road trip. Dennis Sarfate pitched the final five outs, allowing just one hit and no runs.

The O's bats were held silent by Rays' ace James Shields. Shields pitched seven strong innings, allowing just three hits and striking out three. The Birds finally got on the board in the ninth inning, scoring three runs, but it wasn't enough...at least they avoided the shutout.

All-in-all, this was still an incredible start to the 2009 season The O's won their first two series for the first time in over a decade, and the wins came against division rivals. The Birds haven't had a winning season against the Yankees since 1997, and last year went 3-15 against the Rays, so this was a welcome change...if they can keep this up, the Orioles have a legitimate shot in the A.L. East.

The Birds begin a three-game set in Arlington, Texas tomorrow night...Koji Uehara is slated to start the series off...go O's!