Wow, the Orioles are on one heck of a roll. For the second night, they beat the Toronto Blue Jays, this time shutting them down, 3-0.
Baltimore has won three in a row.
Jason Hammel – who has been a big-time revelation for Baltimore – had yet another impressive start, stifling the Blue Jays with seven shutout innings. Pedro Strop got the save, his second on the year, despite allowing two runners to reach base in the ninth innings. Matt Lindstrom threw a scoreless eighth inning.
Well, Hammel is 3-0 and has a 1.73 ERA. I wondered why the Orioles traded for him, and perhaps Dan Duqette knew something we didn’t.
Chris Davis and Wilson Betemit each hit solo home runs to lift the Orioles to an 11-7 record and still hold first place in American League East. Adam Jones drove in a run during the eighth inning. They defeated Kyle Drabek – who gave up two runs in five innings – on the night.
It was nice a night out, but only 10,415 fans showed up to Oriole Park. The team is winning, playing some great baseball, going it at hard and showing everyone that the demise that many were expecting from the black and orange may not be. Too bad more people could not have seen it.
Yes, it is still early, but the strong play of the Orioles is encouraging. However, if they are to keep it up throughout the season and stay competitive – they must cut down on the errors. The Orioles made two more errors – courtesy of Wilson Betemit at third base – and that will kill a team, especially if the pitching is off for a night.
The Orioles go for the sweep on Thursday, and then host the Oakland Athletics over the weekend.
Despite the winning, the Orioles have a few issues. Jim Johnson is sick and has been in the hospital for a number of nights, Robert Andino has left the team for a few games as his wife had a baby – therefore, Jason Berken has been recalled; plus Tsuyushi Wada’s elbow is ailing and could be on shelf for a while.
However, the Orioles are still winning.
