It was a glorious Easter Sunday for the Baltimore Orioles as Jason Hammel had a no-hitter going through seven innings, and they defeated the Minnesota Twins, 3-1, to earn a series sweep.
Right now, the Orioles are 3-0 on the season and are tied for first place in American League East with the Tampa Bay Rays. For a team that was expected to be bad and see their pitching struggle, so far the Orioles have gotten one impressive performance on the mound after another.
On Sunday, it was Hammel’s turn. He went eight strong innings, gave a up a run, and retired 21 hitters in a row before Justin Morneau lined a double – that Nick Markakis inexplicably misplayed.
Newly acquired from the Rockies in a trade for Jeremy Guthrie, the fans at Camden Yards gave Hammel nothing but love after giving up the hit. Josh Willingham plated him in a few moments later; however, the significance of the day was not lost on anyone.
It had to be one of the finest performances by an Oriole pitcher that I’ve seen in a long time.
Baltimore once again got timely hits as J.J. Hardy’s homer – a solo shot – in the first inning gave them a 1-0 lead, and Wilson Betemit’s two-run double in the sixth innings raised the score to 3-0.
That being said, Hammel didn’t need much more on the offensive front by the Orioles.
Jim Johnson came on the mound in the ninth inning and got the save, his second on the year.
Only 14,738 showed up at Camden Yards after a sold-out Opening Day and well over 30,000 on Saturday. It would have been nice to see more fans in the stands, but with Easter and all, it is certainly understandle.
However, the performances that we as fans have seen over this weekend from the Birds have been very impressive. Maybe all the gloom and doom may be unfounded by many concerning this team – but then again, they only have 159 games to go.
Well, Boston and New York are both 0-3 heading into Monday.
Crazy.
The Evil Empire comes into town from Monday-Wednesday, and the Orioles are playing very well. Can the Birds change recent history against the Bombers?
Really, the Orioles must do their best to pitch consistently, avoid walks, challenge the Yankees at the plate and keep them from having the big inning. If they can do that, the Orioles should do well this week.
