The Orioles snapped a five game losing streak as Brad Bergesen perhaps had his best start in the majors to date as he pitched eight shutout innings of five-hit ball and they beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-1 last night at Camden Yards.
Baltimore’s youngsters came through that night as Nolan Reimold had a solo home run in the fifth inning, and followed up with an RBI single in the sixth inning. Adam Jones plated in a run in the first inning to give Baltimore a 1-0 lead.
The game was highlighted by some weird plays; however, there was none stranger than what happened in the first inning. With two outs in the frame, it looked Melvin Mora had a home run over the left field wall, but Seattle left fielder Endy Chavez got a read on the ball and seemed to have it in his glove — after he leaped. However, a fan in the stands extended his glove over Chavez’s and the ball landed in the stands; therefore, Mora was originally given credit for a homer, but Chavez and Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu urged the umpires to review the call and the home run was overturned.
George Sherrill earned his 12th save, but gave up a RBI single to Jose Lopez in the ninth inning.
As most of us know, the first three rounds of the 2009 MLB Draft was held last night, and the Orioles with the fifth pick selected Matt Hobgood — a high school pitcher. Obviously, the Orioles are sticking with their plan by stockpiling young arms for the farm teams…
Here’s some more info about Hobgood from the Baltimore Sun:
He struck out 101 and walked 26 in 68 1/3 innings while hitting 21 homers and batting .475 as a first baseman – numbers that landed him the Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year award Sunday.
“I go after people; I think I am a bulldog,” Hobgood said. “I’m not really afraid of anybody.”
Hobgood was listed as the 18th-best right-handed pitcher available in the draft by Baseball America but had risen in various mock drafts in the past few days. Orioles amateur scouting director Joe Jordan scouted Hobgood three times, and the righty worked out at Camden Yards on Saturday.
Jordan said it doesn’t bother him that Hobgood wasn’t rated highly by others.
“We don’t care,” Jordan said. “I am not trying to be arrogant. We worked really hard, and I think our process is sound. This is the guy we decided to take, and we feel really good about it.”
Hobgood seems like a great prospect; however, I assumed that the Orioles would have chosen a college pitcher — like Zack Wheeler — to bolster the farm, but the team focused on someone young, physically impressive, and seems to have a lot of upside.
The Orioles chose high school shortstop Mychal Givens from Tampa, Fla., in the second round. In the third round, the Orioles selected Florida International first baseman-outfielder Tyler Townsend from Delaware.
