I’m in New York City right now for All-Star week; however, yesterday, while I was at a very hot Citi Field, there was a whole lot of scoreboard watching on my end.
We all know that the Orioles closed out the so-called first half with a 7-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards on Sunday. Scott Feldman earned his first win as an Oriole, going 7 1/3 innings and giving up three runs; meanwhile, relievers Tommy Hunter and Jim Johnson finished up the game on the mound. Johnson would pitch a scoreless ninth for his 33rd save.
After 96 games, the Orioles are 53-43, ten games above. 500; however, they trail the Boston Red Sox by 4.5 games in the American League. The Orioles are in third place, trailing the Tampa Bay Rays by two games.
The big news from yesterday is that Chris Davis hit his 37th home run of the season. He had already matched his career high in a season last week, and it seems that he big slugger isn’t slowing down. Davis tied Reggie Jackson’s American League record; however, Barry Bonds hit 39 before the break in 2001, and hold the major league record. He will participate in the Home Run Derby tonight.
It was yet another exciting day for the Orioles on the All-Star front as pitcher Chris Tilman was added to the team on Sunday. He replaces Justin Verlander on the roster, who pitched yesterday.
I was a little surprised that Tillman made the team, despite 11 wins and a 3.95 ERA, but he has put together a nice body of work this season in light of some inconsistency here and there.
He joins the aforementioned Davis, centerfielder Adam Jones, shortstop J.J. Hardy and Manny Machado on the All-Star roster representing the Orioles.
I’ll be off and on this week, but check us out on Twitter at oriolepost.
