The Orioles faced the Houston Astros today on the road and won, 6-4. Well, today’s big story out of the game us centered around the performance of young pitcher Zach Britton.
I caught most of the action today on Gameday radio stream on mlb.tv and once again the Orioles played fairly well in their victor, except towards the end of the game.
Spring Training can only tell us so much about a player – as they always say – however, if I were a betting man right now, Britton would make the team.
Brittton, on top of his excellent performance against the Yankees last week, threw four scoreless innings on Saturday. He would walk and strike out two, while allowing four hits.
Since I saw in Clearwater to start off Spring Training, Britton has really impressed me. It remains to be seen if the Orioles want to leave him down in the minors for more seasoning – or let him do his work in the Big Leagues.
On the other hand, Chris Tillman – who is also vying for the fifth starter spot – may find himself closer to starting his 2011 season down in Norfolk. I know Tillman has an option for the minors left, and so far from what I have seen his inconsistency would cost him a chance coming up north with the Orioles.
He went 3 2/3 innings and allowed three runs – only one earned – on four hits. Tillman’s outing was sullied by a throwing error by Brandon Waring; overall, he did throw three scoreless frame before the trouble came about in a four-run eighth inning.
Ryan Adams – who has been hot with the bat – had three hits and drove in a run; meanwhile, Brandon Snyder and Robert Andino each plated in two runs.
