The Orioles have been on quite a roll as of late, as we know. They won their fourth game in five chances this week, defeating the Tigers in Detroit last night, 6-3.
After their gut-wrenching loss in New York on Wednesday, thanks to a Nick Swisher ninth-inning homer run off Koji Uehara, the Orioles held firm on Friday. Although Kevin Millwood didn’t get a victory, the bullpen once again in as many times for the past few weeks kept Baltimore in the game.
They broke open a 3-3 tie in the eighth off a Matt Wieters’ sacrifice fly and Adam Jones’s RBI-single help put away the game for the Orioles.
Uehara bounced back from his Wednesday outing and got the save. David Hernandez got the win.
At this point, it is conceivable that the Orioles may not lose 100 games after all? They are as of this morning, 54-87 – not good, but much better than where they stood at the beginning of August.
The surge of the Orioles has been to due players coming back – healthy, much better clutch-hitting, a starting pitching corps greatly improved and the bullpen (a healthy Uehara and Gonzalez). Perhaps some players may have realized their jobs are on the line and are now playing with some initiative and hustle.
It’s good to see that the reasons above plus the influence of Showalter has brought some promise to Birdland.
Maybe for the first time in a very, very long time, the Orioles will voice the annual two-month swoon.
Then again, in the off-season, I’ll be curious to see what Baltimore does to improve the team for 2010.
Finally, you’ve got to read Roch Kubatko’s post from this week where he hears from Lou Montanez. It’s classic stuff from the outfielder, who will more than likely leave the organization due to being a minor league free agent. He speaks about his time as an Orioles, the fanbase, and critiques the organization.
I was always intrigued by him, but for some reason or another never made it as an Oriole.
If Lou can’t find a home in baseball, he could should become a columnist somewhere – seriously.
