Imagine if Buck Showalter had been with the Orioles earlier…
In all seriousness, the Orioles won their 9th out of 11 games since Buck Showalter took the helm of the team, as they defeated their American League rival, the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-0. The shutout on Friday was only the second on the year for the Baltimore.
Jeremy Guthrie pitched six shutout innings and the bullpen – Koji Uehara and Mike Gonzalez – preserved the lead.
Adam Jones had a two-run triple in the first and Felix Pie had a RBI-double in the first inning off James Shields – who started for Tampa and took the loss – for a quick three run lead.
Josh Bell added an RBI-single in the fourth and Luke Scott hit his 22nd homer in the seventh (just imagine if he was traded).
It’s good to see Uehara and Gonzalez healthy and productive – obviously, they both have had a tiny role in the surge of the Orioles as of late. As well, Luke Scott has not been in a prolonged slump for a good long while and has been hitting for the better part of two months. In fact, it would be safe to say that Luke has carried the team at times.
Well, it’s good to see the Orioles are climbing in the loss column; however, the question I have is this – where was this team for the first 2/3 of the season?
It’s crazy.
While I don’t think the success of Baltimore has been about Buck Showalter – it might be.
This is what Jeremy Guthrie said after the game (from the Orioles.com): “It’s not a coincidence that we’ve turned it around since Buck showed up.”
He adds: “We know what he expects and we’ve played good baseball with him here. No magic formula, but maybe just a good shift in gears for us.”
Really. Could these guys not have as well as they have under Juan Samuel, or Dave Trembley? That’s confusing. Are these guys not professional athletes? Do they need that much extra motivation to win? Whatever is going on – it keep it up, but I’m perplexed.
Maybe we are seeing a little of the Orioles that most envisioned before the season. Or, this team could be just in a lucky stretch.
Finally, the two teams engaged in a retro night on Friday, and the uniforms that Baltimore wore were beyond hideous. I assume the Orioles were looking to turn-the-clock-back to 1971; however, there are some things that should left behind.
Seriously, some people may like it, but those threads the team wore last night kind of hurt my eyes. Maybe they can wear the orange jerseys with white pants for future retro days in the future, but um, keep the orange pants locked away. Then again, I know the Orioles have done some games at home and away where they have worn some cool throwbacks — why can’t some of them be part of the regular jersey rotation?
The cartoon bird caps can stay, though. The Friday night “O’s” cap, I never have really cared for.
