David Hernandez, filling in for injured starter Koji Uehara, pitched 5 2/3 strong innings in his Orioles debut. Hernandez allowed just one run on five hits, while walking four and striking out three. The bullpen took care of the rest, as Matt Albers, Jim Johnson and George Sherrill combined to no-hit the Tigers over the final 3 1/3 frames.
As far as the offense, DH Luke Scott pretty much took care of it...Scott went deep in the second inning to give the Birds a 1-0 lead, and then knocked a 3-run shot in the eighth that all but sealed the deal for the O's. After Detroit had tied the game at one in the fifth, Nolan Reimold hit a shot of his own to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead...it was Reimold's third homer in as many games...Scott has been on a tear as well; he's now hit three home runs in his two games back from the DL.
All-in-all, this is an exciting time to be an O's fan...and it only gets better later tonight, as Matt Wieters makes his Major League debut (I feel like I've typed that phrase a lot this week!). The Birds are hot right now, and are only six games out of first in the division...this is a brand new team with something to prove, and the best is yet to come! Brad Bergesen takes the mound for the Birds (22-26) Friday night...Go O's!!!!!
O' Yeah...
- Relief pitcher Chris Ray was sent down to Triple-A Thursday to work on his command...I thought Ray would eventually win the closing job (as did the majority of fans who voted on my poll)...I wish him the best of luck and hopefully we'll see him at his top form soon
- According to Orioles.com and the Elias Sports Bureau, the Birds are the first team in the "expansion era" to have four rookies win their first start in the majors in the same season...Koji Uehara, Brad Bergesen, Jason Berkens and now David Hernandez have accomplished the feat
- If you have a quick second, please vote on my new poll...it will only be up for a day or two
- Results of my last poll: (At this point in the season, who is your Oriole MVP?)... 33 votes, 28 for Adam Jones (84%), three for Nick Markakis (9%) and two for "other" (6%)...
the dynasty begins friday. <3 jeff cernik
ReplyDeletewe are pretty much set now, We have our Line-up, and we are pretty much sit with the Pitching Rotation, we just need to keep the bullpen rolling
ReplyDeleteThe O's Dynasty...I Love It! Thanks Jeff! And Matthew, I agree completely...thanks again for the comment. We're less than ten minutes away from game time...I'm so freaking excited...Go O's!!!!!
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