Yesterday was the 106th game for the Orioles on the season; however, the feeling was a different at Camden Yards last night.
New Oriole manager Buck Showalter got his troops to defeat the Angels, 6-3, last night at Camden Yards. There was a little less than 17,000 people at the park, but they greeted Showalter warmly and hope he can help be part of the turnaround with the organization.
The Orioles are now 33-73 on the season.
Jeremy Guthrie got the win as he went seven innings, gave up three runs and finally got some ample run support on the evening. Reliever Mike Gonzalez continued on his road back by pitching 1 2/3 no shutout ball, and Alfredo Simon things up.
The Angels got on the board with a Howie Kendrick two-homer in the 5th inning; however, the Orioles got on the board with a Matt Wieters RBI-double in the bottom of the 5th. They took a 3-2 lead as Luke Scott hit a two-run homer in the 6th (his 19th on the season).
A few batters later, they added an insurance run as Josh Bell added a two-run double and secured their advantage.
Baltimore added another run in the eighth off a Wieters RBI-single that floated to left.
Overall, it was a good night for the Orioles. One game does not make a season and you can’t judge much from Showalter’s first game, but the team played a lot differently and made far less mistakes than usual. Plus, for once I felt a little less afraid about Baltimore blowing a lead.
As for Showalter, I feel good that the team has someone of his caliber and experience at the helm.
I liked the fact the Buck wears stirrups, actually ran to the pitching mound to make changes, and looked like a throwback from the 70’s-80’s – ala an Earl Weaver as some in the media have mused.
Lest we forget that we also had Mike Hargrove who managed quite a few good Indians teams back in the 90s, but I hope that Showalter works out.
During the post game presser, he said all the right things – again – and is willing to not manage scared – and have confidence in his guys.
I hate to say it, but Showalter’s demeanor was a lot different from the managers we’ve seen in the past.
Really, I hope that some of the guys play with a lot more fire with two months left in the season.
It will be interesting to see if some of the players have who not shown hustle or slacked off the in the past don’t change their ways under the new manager.
Finally, as for Rick Dempsey, it is sad to see he didn’t get the manager’s job; however, there’s no doubt that Showalter was the man for it.
