The Baltimore Orioles finished their last game before all the All-Star break with a victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, 4-2, thanks to a nice outing by youngster Brad Bergesen and two RBI’s by Brian Roberts. George Sherrill — who perhaps deserved some All-Star consideration this year — earned his 20th save of the season.
Bergesen is 6-3, and one has to think considering where he started, plus what he’s done in the majors, one has to think he’s the potential ace of the staff. It’s nothing short of amazing what he’s done in the majors, and one has to think he’s definitely here to stay. Bergesen may not the be the best pitcher in the stable of the much-hyped youngsters — but he throws strikes, pitches to contact, and actually goes fairly deep into games, something that every team looks for out of a hurler. He’s definitely someone we should look for to get Rookie of the Year consideration.
Baltimore took a 2-0 lead thanks to a RBI-double by Brian Roberts and an RBI-single by Nick Markakis. They look a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning off a solo home run by Oscar Salazar — his second of the season. Toronto came within one of the lead, 3-2, in the seventh inning as Dave Delucci and Marco Scutaro drove in runs and knocked Bergesen out of the game.
After Bergesen was pulled from the game, Danys Baez got the final out of the frame, and in the bottom of the seventh inning, Baltimore added a very important insurance run as Roberts drove in his second run of the game with an RBI-single to plate Cesar Izturis.
The play of the game probably came in the top of the fourth inning, as Adam Jones — who is also hurting (and it’s kind of great he’s playing right now as he is) — made a ‘web-gem’ worthy catch as he leaped over the wall near the bullpen area to rob Toronto’s Alex Rios of a probable home run.
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Finally, the Baltimore Orioles hosted the much talked about ‘2110 Eutaw Street’ promotion out in the center-field/bleachers seating area to celebrate the outfield duo of Nick Marakis and Adam Jones. Obviously, the ‘2110’ in the tagline honors both Markakis and Jones by combining their uniform numbers and perhaps starting a tradition at Camden Yards.
The seats for Sunday’s promotion were sold out, and while there some empty seats that I saw from time to time, the area was pretty much full for the duration of the game. For the most part, one would assume that the promotions will be used for teams that traditionally draw low to fair attendance, and based on what has been discussed on MASN and the various radio outlets, there’s a strong demand for it.
Now, I sat in section 96 for the first half of the game, and found it pretty lively at times, plus I am very thankful it was not 96 degrees out with the sun blaring over me. Both Markakis and Jones did toss balls into the stands — after their warm ups in the outfield before the top of every inning — plus, every fan who purchased a ticket received a T-shirt.
The Roar from 34 Blog has an interview with Greg Bader — Director of Communications for the Baltimore Orioles — as to how the event came about and it was spearheaded by 105.7 FM’s Anita Marks (who was actually in attendance for Sunday’s game).
I spoke with my buddy — who swapped her regular seats from her season ticket package for today’s game — as well from an acquaintance and another person (a Mets fan from upstate New York who was doing a tour of ballparks) appreciated the idea. We liked the idea that the players were interacting with fans in the Eutaw Street area, but my buddy & I feel that there could be more done with the promotion as time went along; overall, the promotion on Sunday was a good idea by the team.
There will be three more opportunities for fans to purchase tickets for ‘2110 Eutaw Street’ (dates below):
- SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ 7:05 p.m.
- SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 vs. Cleveland Indians @ 1:35 p.m.
- SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 vs. Texas Rangers @ 7:05 p.m.
