The Yankees are 8-1 against the Orioles this year, and the O’s have scored an average of just 2.2 runs in those nine games. The Yankees swept the O’s last week in the Bronx, part of a ten-game Orioles’ losing streak during which the O’s scored an average of 1.6 runs per game against their opponent’s 6.6. That streak was snapped on Sunday as the O’s pulled out a 4-3, 11-inning victory over the Red Sox.
The only change the O’s have made since leaving the Bronx is that they finally fired manager Dave Trembley, replacing him with third-base coach Juan Samuel on an interim basis. I always thought the knock on Trembley’s predecessor Sam Perlozzo was that his team would lie down on him late in the season, but that trend continued under Trembley. This year they never stood up despite being expected to finally show some signs of life. It’s wasn’t Trembley’s fault that the only members of the lineup who are hitting are 32-year-olds Ty Wigginton and Luke Scott or that Brian Roberts got hurt, but then there’s nothing to credit Trembley with either. Trembley’s winning percentage had dropped in each of his three seasons despite the perception that the team was improving its talent level. It was time to make a change, but don’t expect the team to rally around Samuel, who had been coaching third-base for the O’s since 2006.
When the Yankees began their current stretch of patsy opponents, commenter OldYanksFan suggested that the Yankees should really aim to win 12 of their 16 games against the Indians, Orioles, Blue Jays, and Astros. Thus far they are 7-3, but I think it’s entirely within reason to expect them to take five of their next six against Baltimore and Houston and not out of the question to expect them to sweep their way through the weekend, particularly given that they won’t be facing Roy Oswalt when the Astros come to town. That work begins tonight as Phil Hughes, who aced his last two starts, the last coming against the O’s, looks to keep hard-luck Kevin Millwood winless on the season.
Baltimore Orioles
2010 Record: 16-41 (.281)
2010 Pythagorean Record: 17-40 (.298)
Manager: Juan Samuel
General Manager: Andy MacPhail
Home Ballpark: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Bill James Park Indexes (2007-2009):
LH Avg-104, LH HR-115
RH Avg-107, RH HR-129
25-man roster:
1B – Ty Wigginton (R)
2B – Julio Lugo (R)
SS – Cesar Izturis (S)
3B – Miguel Tejada (R)
C – Matt Wieters (S)
RF – Nick Markakis (L)
CF – Adam Jones (R)
LF – Corey Patterson (L)
DH – Luke Scott (L)
Bench:
R – Garrett Atkins (1B/3B)
R – Lou Montañez (OF)
L – Scott Moore (IF)
R- Craig Tatum (C)
Rotation:
R – Kevin Millwood
R – Chris Tillman
R – Jeremy Guthrie
L – Brian Matusz
R – Brad Bergesen
Bullpen:
L – Will Ohman
R – Matt Albers
L – Mark Hendrickson
L – Alberto Castillo
R – Jason Berken
R – David Hernandez
R – Frank Mata
15-day DL:
RHP – Koji Uehara (right elbow strain)
RHP – Alfredo Simon (strained left hamstring)
RHP – Jim Johnson (slight tear in right elbow)
60-day DL:
2B – Brian Roberts (herniated disc)
OF – Felix Pie (surgery to repair ruptured latissimus dorsai)
LHP – Mike Gonzalez (strained left shoulder)
Typical Lineup:
L – Corey Patterson (LF)
R – Miguel Tejada (3B)
L – Nick Markakis (RF)
R – Ty Wigginton (2B)
L – Luke Scott (DH)
S – Matt Wieters (C)
R – Adam Jones (CF)
R – Julio Lugo (2B)
S – Cesar Izturis (SS)
Looking forward to some grilled (on the stove top) cheap steak and equally cheap San Giovese, with the bloviacious and screeching sounds of Sterling and Waldman (respectively) on the ol' radiophone.
Go Phil Hughes!!
Go Hughes, Go Strasburg, Go Stanton!!!
Go Rule 4 Draft!
butterflies for Stras?
[3] Butterflies for blue. Missed a curveball right down the middle. booooo
[4] Seriously, that was a *perfect* curve.
Robot. Umpire. Overlords.
Mercy. That changeup.
Geez. 2-0 Yanks. Missed something good.
Holy wow, that Strasburg curveball is *insane*.
[7] Just in time to see a Teix hit! They're an endangered species right now.
Good to see Karstens is still Scary Flyball Guy!
And Cano just keeps on hitting.
Back to Stras
Yankees leading, but less than a half-inning of Yankees radio broadcast and I am contemplating switching on the TeeVee for TB v. Toronto. I must remain strong...must listen to some of Hughes' start.
Crowd is bonkers. The gas-face.
Did Stras just throw an 90mph changeup?
and an 80mph curve that broke 3 feet? down and left?
In what possible world was that a scouting report?
Go Swish!
And Hughesy!
Is this Strasbourg character available for viewing somewhere that isn't mlb.com?
Stras Ks the side, 4 so far in 2 innings.
[16] Huh?
[18} Struck out the side top 2. So far so good.
[15] Well, I saw a 98 mph sinker that ran down and away from a LHB ...
I still can't get over that Stras' changeup is faster than a Javier Vasquez fastball.
[15][22] Yeah, but can he throw the GYROBALL ??!!??!!??
Wow, no leads at all in June? O's are pathetic.
[22] Yeah, his 2-seamer sits at 96 and touches 98. So his pitches break down into:
4-seamer: sits at 98 touches 101
2-seamer/sinker: sits around 95 and touches 98
changeup: 90mph
curveball: 81-83 mph with a 3-4 ft. break, right at the end, down and left.
And he has control. Woah.
Meanwhile, this Hughes bum we got seems to pitch ok too ;).
[26] Jesus, for real!?
[27] He's all right.
So what happened to Kevin Millwood? When he first came up it looked like the Braves pitching magic would never run out. Did he run into injuries?
[26] What it appears to be, yeah. Hard to tell the 2 from the 4-seamer. The movement is also off the charts. Every single pitch moves at least 6 inches, and it's all late movement. Extremely tight spin on the curve, but it still breaks feet. I seriously have no idea how anyone ever hits him.
Singularity!
Dang what a throw.
A typical AB:
1. Fastball inside corner-100mph (strike 1)
2. Changeup low-89mph (ball 1)
3. Changeup outside corner-89 mph (strike 2)
4. Curveball down and in-81mph (strike 3)
Now Jeff Karstens is up. Which is comedic.
6 Ks already.
Second time through the order, let's see how he does.
Stras through 3: 1 hit, 6Ks, 0 BBs, 0 R.
Missed a hit there. But give him a pass.
Awesome bit of trivia from BP's Will Carroll:
Ivan Rodriguez is coming back from a quick rehab assignment in order to catch Strasburg's debut. 19 years ago, in his second major-league game, Rodriguez caught Nolan Ryan. That's a pretty nice bookend for a Hall of Fame career.
back to back hits off Stras, he's a bum!
Yay, Robbie. Clever dp in Washington.
[41] Maybe we can pick him up off waivers next week. He should slip through. He's no Sidney Ponson, but then who is?
Meanwhile, Stras just got a DP by breaking a bat with a 101mph fastball on the inside corner.
Though he just gave up a 2 R HR.
And now a two run homer. To be DFA'ed by Friday.
[45] What's sad is that the 80s Yankees probably would DFA him, or have him throw 200 pitches or something.
Granderson goes yard! What's Sterling's call?
Granderslam!
Grand(y) Slam?
OK, with the highly irritating grand slam catch phrases by Sterling, and a big Yankee lead, it's time to turn off the radiophone. See everyone tomorrow.
[46] Yup. Martin would've ruined him & Steinbrenner would have fired Martin.
[48][49] Too many late nights at Denny's, I guess...
re: Strasburg, i'm a sucker for the hype and pre-game i wondered what the odds of seeing an 81-pitch perfect game was (27 three pitch Ks).
so the sobering if flukish 2-run shot by Delwyn Young is somehow comforting.
but Strasburg's pitches are amazing to watch, no doubt.
Speaking of young phenoms. Here's why I hate the Vasquez trade:
Arodys Vizcaino, RHP, Braves (Low-A Rome): The hottest pitcher in the minors? Last five starts: 33.2 IP, 18 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 31 K
[54] My hate for that trade greatly diminishes when I get to the words "Low-A Rome." I might get back to hating the trade in about four or five years, or maybe not.
[55] Fair enough. Vasquez is fine, I just don't think we couldn't have gotten something similar somewhere else without giving up our best young pitcher.
[54] Yeah, saw that over at BP.
It hurts, but Low A is a long way away and I think the Vazquez of last year was worth the trade.
Would I make the same trade for the Vazquez of this year? Probably not, but it's not the same thing ...
[55] Hate for Rome wasn't built in a trade.
HUGHES!
Strasburg has 9Ks, in 16 outs.
[60] Just hit 101 at 70+ pitches ...
10 in 17
11 in 18
Wow! Good on the Nationals for lining up Strasburg vs. Pittsburgh. He is still nasty.
That ain't Uncle Charlie that Strasburg's brought to the park tonite ... it's Lord Motherfucking Charles.
Vicious.
This is unacceptable. Stupid Orioles.
[65] I actually think that K was on a changeup, lol.
The only curve I've seen that's as tight and breaks as much as Strasburg's is Burnett's and even then I think Strasburg's is both tighter and better controlled.
Nasty, nasty pitch.
70? 75? 80?
It's good.
How the f@%! do you 'authenticate' dirt?
A Dunn puts Stras back up for the W.
[67] I wasn't actually talking about the last pitch, but his curve in general tonite, I'm posting on 3 different sites right now ...
=)
[58]
well-played, Mauer
evening folks!
Oh, okay ... he just hit 103 at 85+ pitches ...
12 Ks
He's hitting 99 in the 7th inning .... ooooh
I'm sorry ... that's not Uncles Charlie ... that's not Lord Charles ... that's PRINCE Charles.
Christ.
13
Strasburg ain't fucking around. He works fast.
LaRoche just bailed out on a curveball that hit the *outside* corner.
14 Ks .
wowowowowowowow
Ive seen a young Gooden, and that was as good, if not better ,,,
Hmmm, so ... I think I predicted Strasburg's line for tonite would be:
5IP 6H 3ER 3W 5K
I'd just like to say, "I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, and was in no way fair comment, and was motivated purely by malice, and I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you, or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future."
Crikey. 14.
Strasburg's out of the game. Final line:
7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 14 K, 94 pitches.
I know it's the Pirates, but that's fairly amazing for a debut.
[58] More than fair
I'm already having scary visions of Fox and Espn doing many of Strasberg's starts.
shuddering.......
[86] Why is that scary?
Please let him stay healthy and not do drugs like Dwight .... please please ...
[86] Buck. McCarver. Morgan. Oh my.
[88] I'm really not worried about him being the next Doc. Now the next Prior on the other hand...
Don't mind me. Just talking to myself again. D'oh!
FYI: The most strikeouts in a debut belongs to JR Richard (1971) and Karl Spooner (1954) who both had 15.
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/wB3jq
What a stupid decision.
tex 2 for 2. man, i can dream.
[92] JR Richard is a guy I always wished I'd gotten to see. Such a sad, random end to his career ...
Nerts.
[95]
Richard was intimidating .... the glove had the loudest pop when he threw ....
HUUUUGHES!!!!
Phil going strong at 102 pitches. I like that.
Robinson Cano is hitting .368..wow..
Flipping Cano and Teix in the batting order would be insanity. imo. What a waste of print today.
this Cano guy can hit.
Po has not been hitting well since coming back.
Granderson on the other hand has been doing quite well.
Gritner gets the FUGLIEST hits!
Not that I'm complaining ...
NICK THE MOTHERFUCKING STICK.
Yes. Love them O's.
there we go!
Teix is 3 FOR 3!
2 BB!!
HR!!!
Excellent!
Even this Tex scrub can hit off these guys.
I do believe the Orioles could soak up the BP oil spill.
[111] Don't you mean they could SUCK up the oil spill?
Because they do SUCK ... A LOT.
[112]
Yes .... even better!
Wow ... Singleton with the *erudition*!!!
[54-58] Rome is not too terribly far. just like an hour, maybe hour.5. in fact, i played there a few times in the late 90's! : )
[65] lord motherfuckin' charles - good stuff, cult!
lookin' forward to tonight's highlights - both strastophere and yankeeverse!
[115] Watch Strasburg if you can ... It's riDONKulous ... riCOCKulous, even ... like Kerry Wood in his 1st year crazy good.
Always nice to start walking people with a nine run lead.
[116] i could've watched him in person. braves triple A team moved to north metro atlanta last year. not far. i could've seen strasburg, chapman and montero yesterday. needless to say, i'm a schmuck and didn't go to any of the games. i know, i know...
Go-Dan...go to hell!
[117] It *is* Chad Gaudin ... I'll be happy if Mo doesn't have to throw tonite.
i hope Aceves finds his way back.
I imagine that conversation went something like this:
Eiland: How about you stop sucking harder than a Dyson vacuum???
Gaudin: Duuuuuh, ok!
go-dan. go away!
[121] his way back is his back.
[122] it's not eiland, i don't think...
i hope guadin can finish the game. if he can't eat innings in a blowout...
The Orioles are horrid.
greinke got rocked tonight. in game whip of 2. 6 earnies...
[122] Gaudin is in fact Girardi's tribute to passive-aggressiveness...
not sure why i'm still following this game.
[129] Because Gaudin is still pitching? And thus, you-never-know???
kind of strange coincidence while looking at music sites to run into a blog post about the Yankees and Orioles.
[130] i think it's just laziness actually now that i've thought of it.
Kay has gone silent ..... this is nice ...
[132] or maybe it's Gaudin.
Jesus Teeny Tiny Christ on a Fucking Pogo Stick.
Fat Sanchez or Crazy Ivan *HAVE* to be better than this, right???
oh crap. is joba warming?
Does Go=dan get DFAs after this game?
yeah. i was just gonna say . . .
why don't we dfa this fucker. there's GOTTA be young blood in moosic that can do better than this...
Chad Gaudin really isn't any good.
Hi all. Just checking in.
Gaudin isn't as good as I thought he was. And that's saying something.
Get Mo up
[139] Yeah, that's what I was trying to say.
I bet Chad Gaudin is good at something else. Besides pitching.
Kei Igawa believes he can pitch better than this ...
「１４４」最高！
ok well that works. later all.
[137] i hope so.
mostly been watching basketball but checked in to see some big hitting and score trucking.
[137] Me too! online live-blog from this end tthough..
hey Ms. O, you see that SOMM is on hiatus? too bad, was learning a lot there..and some of the commenters...wow!
[148] er..i meant to cute [147] obviously..
[148] yeah - i saw that ( i use my gvt first name over there for some reason) - agree, too bad - it is/was a really unique voice and space.
The Lakers look so good, you wonder how they could possibly have lost Game 2 in L.A.
Basketball?
You're talking BASKETBALL???
Tonite?
On Hughesday??
With Strasburg???
Good Day, Sirs! Good Day.
Well, I guess that should be watching ... while tonite's baseball was going on, of course ... now, everyone is totally free to slum about and watch that "other game" ...
[150] I think I can guess who you may be then!
[153] After following Gaudin on Gameday, even sloppy Lakers-Celtics is a treat..
[151] tonight's game is too choppy. ray allen draining 8 3s and kobe not have a big game will do that to you.
[154] haha i figured that acme investigation experience would lead you to probably figure it out :once i told you what i did :}
Celtics making their run...
[156] :) Am hoping ACME will be in my rear-view mirror this time next year, and the jazz work will go full-time..though at the moment the odds are about the same as Gaudin pitching in the post-season for us..
time to head out, enjoy the rest of the game. Go Lakers!
on espn radio, it's like chip "fisted" caray covering a yanks playoff game. they hate the lakers, but respect kobe. whenever the celts do anything, they jizz themselves. god, i hate boston...
go lakers!!!
[158] i thought you worked at frumelon insurance in kansas! ; )
man, i miss firejoemorgan. wish they'd make another 1-day guest appearance, like they did at deadspin last season...
but, yeah - i went full-time jazz. not schmart!!! : ~
[160] Fremulon.
[161] yes, i know that. typed too fast. damn you!
oh, and fuck these celtics. goddamn motherfuck!
I missed most of the game. All the games tonight. But, I was out listening to jazz, so, all good!
ugh. heyward just roped a beautiful rbi single that tied the game (of course), but it was the pitcher that ran and scored. tough slide into the plate and he appears to be hurt. let pitchers pitch and field, not hit and run!
[163] me too! 'cept for the jazz part. i was teaching - classical and rock.
this green comeback sucks ass.
i'm not a big basketball guy, but i've always liked derek fisher.
[166] I like him, too.
I also like Ray Allen. I wish the Celtics would trade him. Really I wish they'd never got him.
every goddamn announcer is pro boston. it's sickening & infuriating.
[167] did you go hear live jazz tonight? do your sons dig it?
[168] Yes.
It was my son's jazz band teacher's jazz band. (Can you parse that?)
Big band. Some guy sang like Sinatra -- that was kind of humorous. But then they just played.
Damn, Garnett is one of those guys.
ugh. joe west calling more attention to himself. just called a ball on blaine boyer for licking his hand on the mound but not wiping it off. it was ball 4. oh, and he most clearly wiped his hand. country joe is a schmuck.
But so is Kobe...
Oh, fuck you, I am not posting comments too fast. This is basketball, not baseball, it's a faster pace.
i hope they give the ball to LA. they screwed 'em over on a similar play in the waning minutes in game dos.
[171] Isn't he a musician? Singer maybe? (Joe West.)
kobe and kg are what? i switched to the bravos game during commercial.
i'm a kobe fan.
[174] singer. so is timmay. : /
[175] Oh, I mean, they are guys you want taking shots when the tension is highest.
[177] oh yeah. i'm all about kobe and fisher in those spots.
DEREK FISHER!!!
that ruled.
what soft hands from lefty.
Wow!
Derek Fisher!
Rebound, coast-to-coast, layup, fouled, bags the free throw.
So, do you like big band jazz? You pretty much like everything.
are they calling the boston garden the "tea garden"???
oh wait, i just saw it - td garden. what the hell is that?
c'mon lakers, don't let 'em back in!!!
These replays are excruciating.
[183] TD Bank North.
[182] yes, i do like big band jazz. i enjoyed playing it in school more than listening. it's a whole 'nutha ballgame. really different and impressive style of music. it's not my favorite, but it is wonderful, when played properly. truly exhilarating music!
YES!
(fuck off word press)
[185] nevah hoid of it.
[188] Just a bank. Naming rights to the Garden.
I've been to the Garden a few times, the new one, but not since Garnett arrived. You could get tickets easily while the Celtics sucked. It's a beautiful facility.
And that will do it!
I think the only really serious flaw in NBA basketball is the degree to which the outcome is determined by the referees. It's painful.
lakers by 7 !!!
[190] i can't stand all the fouls. i don't understand them at all. and it's basically every single play. every damn one of them. that kills me.
derek's all shook up! love that guy.
Fisher is all broken up! Amazing.
Okay, quick nightcap and I'm hitting the hay.
Here's to victory!