Around the Diamond

The Orioles completed the sweep of the doubleheader with a 6-1 win on a night where we honored the memory of Earl Weaver. Let’s go around the diamond and focus on “Pitching, Defense, and the Three Run Homer” in honor of the Earl of Baltimore.

Box Score

First Base

When are we going to be able to see a complete game by a starting pitcher? I’m tired of the rotation being unable to get through these games and continuing to tax the bullpen. We want to point out issues in the bullpen with Strop. Well, I’m willing to point the finger right back at the rotation for not being able to get through the 7th inning. Chen pitched similar to all of our rotation extending innings by going to full counts and then walking the batter.

However, I’m willing to take a step back and point out that Chen after the first inning did manage the game well. He minimized the damage when players got hits and walks and coasted through the game allowing the bullpen to come in to try and get the win. And we turned to the always consistent, Tommy Hunter…..wait, what? Tommy Hunter came in for the 7th with a 6-1 run lead and all of Baltimore felt that no lead was safe at this point. However, Tommy did not go boom. He gave up a few hits, but effectively worked for three innings in order to pick up the old-school save. That’s a big moment for Hunter as he prevented the Orioles from having to use more of the bullpen (Patton and McFarland). Tip of the cap to him on this night for a nice showing.

Second Base

One of the ways the Orioles were able to get out of jams was with the double play. The Orioles turned three double plays last night, which help to eliminate those single and walks that plagued the pitching last night. The Orioles also had no errors compared to the Dodgers two errors eliminating extra outs and keeping the pitch count down for the game.

Third Base

Where as the bottom of the lineup has been contributing over the past few games, this game the top of the lineup delivered in a big way. Machado and McLouth both were dynamic in the fifth inning (BB, Double, RBI, 2 R) and sixth inning with two outs (Single, HR, 3 RBI, 2 Runs). But let’s focus on the three run homerun. The game is close with only a 3-1 lead and two outs in the sixth. Manny comes up and puts the game away with a drive to left field. Of course, we enjoyed a little one finger salute as well to Carl Crawford from the first row of Left Field as well (@MattyBoh10 for those wanting to send him a message).

This emphasizes the importance of the three run home run and how quickly it can change the direction of the game.

Home Plate

The best way to honor Earl is to show up to the game. And Baltimore did just that with its second sellout of the season and a 10,000+ walk up to the box office last night. That’s absolutely amazing and a sign of things turning around in Baltimore. Folks are saying its a Saturday Night and folks are saying they’d prefer to go to the Stadium over going to the movies, bar, or staying at home. It also helped that the Dodgers were in town for the first time since 2002. However, color me impressed with this showing and I hope we continue to see throughout the season.

Summary

This one was for Earl. Taking both games of the doubleheader is no easy task. We win another series and we set up the possibility of the sweep today. Let’s go take care of business.

Around the Diamond – O’s 6, Dodgers 1