This weekend, the Orioles start a long, ten-game road trip, and their first stop is in Toronto, Canada, as they face the Blue Jays.
It’s a three-game set up north, and with the Orioles now 3-3, plus mired in a three-game skid, they hope to get things back in order.
The Jays are 4-2 and are atop the American League East along with the Tampa Bay Rays. A small group of experts are pegging Toronto as a team that has an outside chance at the playoffs, but not likely.
However, they have a lot of young talent and are definitely on the rise within the division. It will be intriguing to watch them throughout the season and see where they end up.
Tonight, Tommy Hunter – who pitched very well in his first outing of the season – squares off against Brandon Morrow on the mound.
The Baltimore Orioles could easily be 5-1 or 4-2; however, the New York Yankees swept the Orioles this week. They were very much in game two and three of the series; alas, the Orioles didn’t help out their situation at all in key moments. There was a key error made by Mark Reynolds in the second game of the series, and the Orioles had a few chances at the plate to take advantage, but could not for one reason or another.
Despite the negatives, the pitching – especially, the starting corps, sans Brian Matusz’s start – at least from what we have seen has been very strong. That’s a very positive sign. Then again, the season is only a week old. There are 156 games to go, but if the Orioles can be consistent in all facets of the game, the 2012 season could be a marked improvement from what we’ve in the past.
More importnatly, they have been competitive — so far.
As I said a few days ago, the Orioles are better than last year and have quality players on the roster now; however, mediocre teams cannot give good teams umpteen chances to come back. The margin for error with the Orioles is very thin, and within the American League East, you cannot give your rivals second chances at all in games.
