It was quite an afternoon for Josh Bell in Baltimore on Saturday. Over the past weeks, some have wondered if Bell had been rushed up to the majors too quickly in light of his struggles; however, against Rangers’ ace Cliff Lee and in front of a National audience, he showed the promise the Orioles had in him.
Yesterday, Baltimore beat Texas, 8-6, as they put on quite a power display. Bell has two homers off Lee and drove in five runs in easily his most productive day as a major leaguer so far, and Luke Scott along with Ty Wigginton hit back-to-back home runs to start a five-run, fourth inning.
Brad Beregsen got the win, although he was not exactly at his best. He allowed five runs in seven innings of work on the afternoon, while Koji Uehara got his major league save.
Meanwhile, Lee didn’t look much like the ace we’ve seen over the past two seasons. The left-hander only lasted 5 2/3 innings and allowed eight runs on ten hits. The Rangers needed Lee to stop their skid, and they are now 3-7 in the last ten games.
The Orioles are now 44-80 on the season.
