Adam Jones as we all know has been scuffling at the plate as of late, and has seen his average dip to below .300; however, on a glorious Saturday, he earned his salary and a whole lot more. Jones hit a two-run homer to break a 4-4 tie in the twelfth inning as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in interleague action, 6-4.
Jones has probably been in pain since he got drilled badly on the wrist during the Blue Jays series (I’m sure he would never admit it); however, it is good to see him getting the big late hit plus showing power again.
Finally, he came through from the Orioles after they faced a extremely tough Phillies squad. They blew two leads throughout Saturday’s contest, but the Orioles fought through it all in the very end.
Luis Ayala got the win for Baltimore in relief; meanwhile, the starting pitching for the Orioles was better than what we’ve seen in various days.
Tommy Hunter – who was promoted from Norfolk today – pitched better than I’ve seen as late. He went seven innings, gave up three homers – all solo shots from Jimmy Rollins, Jim Thome and Hector Luna – and only threw 86 pitches in his outing. Hunter still left some pitched high in the zone; however, he was far more efficient on Saturday than I’ve seen him in the past. He kept the Orioles in the ballgame, and had a very solid start. Like I’ve said, they need everyone to pitch well and be consistent on the mound.
Pedro Strop blew a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning as the tough Phillies offense chipped away at him and Thome lined a single up the middle to plate in Juan Pierre. That tied the game at four.
For Baltimore, Chris Davis, Matt Wieters and Ryan Flaherty plated in runs.
Perhaps the Orioles should not have been in Saturday’s game; however, the Phillies made quite a few mistakes on the day and they were taken advantage of.
Philadelphia rookie B.J. Rosenburg took the loss on Saturday in relief. Vance Worley who started for the Phillies allowed three runs in six innings on the mound.
The Orioles are now 33-26 and are still in third place in the American League East. They trail the Tampa Bay Rays by a game.
I’ve got to give credit to fans of the Philadelphia Phillies. They may be under .500, but their fans showed in full force – from all over – and by the looks of it pretty much made up at least half the crowd.
They showed up to support their team, and while they have gained a reputation – at least in the DC area – for being boorish, rude and obnoxious, I did see any of that attending the game on Friday.
Finally, what can you say about Jamie Moyer? According to David Selig of the Baltimore Sun, he pitched five scoreless innings for the Norfolk Tides.
I think the Orioles signing him to a contract was a little misguided; however, they need stable arms in the rotation. If Moyer can deliver in the minors, I guess it might be worth to see if he hack it in the majors — especially the offensive-driven American League.
Maybe he can be a diamond in the rough for this team.
