It was a glorious Opening Day for the Baltimore Orioles as they defeated the Minnesota Twins, 4-2, on a sunny Friday afternoon at a sold-out Camden Yards.
As we all know, twenty years ago, Camden Yards opened to the public and not only has become an indelible part of the city, but also helped transform the landscape of baseball.
The pre-game ceremony by the Orioles’ production team was well done and fans were excited to see the team back in town.
In addition, pitcher Rick Suttcliffe and his battery-mate from 1992, catcher Chris Hoiles re-united to open up the baseball season with the first pitch.
Pitcher Jake Arrieta started off 2012 on an impressive note, throwing seven shutout innings. He struck out four and walked two. For much of the day, Arrieta stymied Minnesota at the plate.
Arrieta was handed the ball on Opening Day and he delivered like a tenured veteran. The feat was even more astounding, considering Arrieta had surgery in 2011 and had some ups and downs in Spring Training.
That being said, let’s hope Arrieta can look at this performance and find a way to maintain some consistency.
Nick Markakis provided much of the offense for Baltimore as he drove in three runs. He hit a two-run, opposite field homer in the first, and added a triple in the sixth inning. Overall, he was 2-for-3 on the day.
Matt Lindstrom pitched a scoreless eighth inning in relief; meanwhile, left-hander Troy Patton made things interesting as he gave up two runs in the ninth inning off a Josh Willingham 2-run homer before reliever Jim Johnson came in for the save.
All in all, it was a good day for the Orioles and all of us fans. Many have predicted the team to finish last; however, let’s hope the team can bottle up this performance and use it as momentum to start the season strong.
Finally, before today’s game, both Nick Markakis and Matt Wieters recieved their Rawlings Gold Glove awards for the 2011 season.
This idiot – who resembled Daniel Bryan from the WWE – decided to trespass on the field during the game; however, Baltimore’s finest got him under control.
