The Baltimore Orioles today faced an old friend down in Fort Lauderdale today, and like the old cliches goes — the more things change, the more they stay the same. In the end, the Orioles downed the Washington Nationals, 6-2, as they beat their former compadre and had a little fun with him too on the bases.
Cabrera — a frustrating presence to Oriole fans over the years — went two inning and gave up a run. He looked shaky on the mound as he walked two and struck out two; furthermore, the Orioles — who may know him better than anyone else, perhaps better than himself — stole four bases against him. Like it has been said over and over, Cabrera has the physical skills to pitch; however, he’s not learned the game at all, and it’s now up to the Nationals to get him to be the pitcher that he can be.
Meanwhile, Cabrera’s counterpart of the mound — David Pauley — was decent as he went three innings and gave up a run or four hits while walking three. He’s bounced back after his disastrous first outing this Spring, and one can expect him to still be a contender for the starting rotation.
After Pauley left the game, George Sherill, Jamie Walker, and Dennise Sarfate each threw a scoreless inning; thereafter, Chris Tillman pitched two innings and gave up a run on three hits, while striking out two. Fredy Deza closed out the game for Baltimore as he threw a scoreless inning.
Baltimore’s offense came via four big runs in the fourth inning as Aubrey Huff drove in two runs with a single, along with a Matt Wieters double and an error. Nick Markakis drove in a run in the first inning plating Brian Roberts, and Robby Hammock had the other RBI. The Orioles also had six stolen bases — including three by Adam Jones.
Well, although most do not expect Baltimore to contend this season, or even next, it’s nice to see Spring Training usher in so much promise for the organization. The competition between the pitchers — especially the young arms so far — has given a lot of hope for us fans that the losing may come to an end sooner rather than later.
