Sunday, August 14, 2011

O's Avoid The Sweep

The rain held off, the bats warmed up and the pitchers held on as the Birds took down the Tigers 8-5 on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards.

Jo-Jo Reyes picked up his first win as an Oriole, pitching six solid innings of one-run ball. Reyes allowed just four hits and two walks while fanning four. The one run he surrendered, a solo shot, came one pitch after Nick Markakis and Robert Andino allowed a foul ball to drop in-between them.

Markakis more than made up for his poor judgement on the play...Nick went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs in the win.

The rest of the club held their own... the Birds collected 14 hits overall and scored in four of the eight innings they were at the plate.

After Reyes was pulled, Willie Eyre pitched two scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while fanning two. With the O's up 8-1, Kevin Gregg took the mound for the ninth. That's when things got ugly...

Gregg allowed three straight singles before walking the bases loaded not once, but twice, before being pulled in favor of Jim Johnson. Suddenly, a blow-out became a save situation, and Johnson bailed Gregg out with a strikeout, a grounder, an intentional walk and a fly-out. I'm still amazed it came to that...Gregg is decent in save situations, but he has been horrendous when the game isn't on the line.

Regardless, a win is a win. And I'll take it. The O's went 3-7 on the homestand and now head West to Oakland to begin a ten-game road trip. Tommy Hunter gets the nod Monday night...

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