In the midst of their annual August/September swoon, the O's took 2 of 3 from the Yankees in the Bronx this week. Winning a road series for just the 5th time in 19 tries makes this O's fan feel like there may be hope (for next year).
All 3 starters turned in solid performances. Erik Bedard pitched 6 innings allowing 1 run in Game 1. Adam Loewen pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing 2 runs in Game 2 and Rodrigo Lopez pitched 7 innings allowing 2 runs in Game 3. It may be the first time all year the O's have turned in 3 consecutive solid starting pitching performances.
For Games 2 & 3, Nick Markakis was moved up to the 2 slot (from 8 or 9) in the batting order and responded by going 3 for 8 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.
The O's hit 5 homers in the 3 game set, none of them by Tejada (Millar, Roberts, Markakis (2), Tatis). The O's have hit precious few dingers the last 2 1/2 months. It's more likely that this was a lapse in Yankee pitching than a power surge by the O's lineup, but either is positive.
Russ Ortiz pitched a 1-2-3 8th in the Game 3 win. Of course, with a 10 run lead, there was no pressure involved, but it still represented Ortiz' 2nd straight effective appearance, which, albeit small, is still a milestone on his road back to (hopefully) recovering his form.
No comments:
Post a Comment