Results tagged ‘ Orioles ’
I’ll watch the Mets tonight…
Yankees/Orioles rained out, again so I will settle down and watch the Mets play.
Yankees face off against a desperate Red Sox team.
I’m sure the Red Sox 0-6 start (God I love the sound of that) was not what Theo Epstein, the Red Sox front office, and the rest of Red Sox Nation had in mind when the season began a week ago. But after a week worth of games, the Red Sox are still searching for their first win this season after making big moves over the winter to help this team return to the playoffs. The good news for the Red Sox is that it is still very early in the year and they have the talent to turn things around fast. The bad news for them however is that the American League East is vastly improved. Buck Showalter is performing a miracle down in Baltimore as he has managed his team to a quick 5-1 start to their year; to boot, the Toronto Blue Jays are also playing well as they are off to a 4-2 start to their year. And as far as the Yankees are concerned, so far, the Bombers pitching staff has gotten the job done, a pitching staff that came into the new season facing a lot of question marks. If things do not turn around fast, it could be a very long summer in Boston.
So what now for the Red Sox? Maybe their home opener against the New York Yankees is the type of motivation they need to turn things around. Even though I hate to write this, Boston is still the team to beat in the AL East and I’m sure every player in that Sox club house would like to remind the Bronx Bombers of that simple fact. Therefore, since the season is just a few days old there should be no reason for panic in Red Sox Nation. All the criticism in Boston of Terry Francona and the way he has managed his team so far this season is not ridiculous, it is very unfair. If the armchair managers think they can do a better job, maybe they should send their resumes’ to the Red Sox front office.
As for the series between the Yankees and Red Sox, all that I have to say is thank God is that time of the year again. Nothing is more exciting to me as a baseball fan when both these teams meet during the regular season, especially when the Yankees and Red Sox are favored to compete for a championship during the season. I know it’s April and the are over 156 games left in this baseball marathon, but how can anyone not feel excited when they hear Yankees/Red Sox? Hopefully the Yankees will take care of business and leave Boston with the Red Sox sporting a beautiful 0-9 record to start the year!
Cliff Lee heads back to Philadelphia..
And the winner of the Cliff Lee sweepstakes is……The Philadelphia Phillies. In a surprising turn of events, the mystery team that was competing against the Yankees and Rangers for Cliff Lee’s services was none other than the Philadelphia Phillies, the team that traded Lee away last December to acquire Roy Halladay. Lee is said to have agreed to a 5 year $100 contract, which if true would mean that he would rather take $50 million less to pitch for the Phillies rather than signing with the Yankees. So what does it all mean? For one, the Phillies are once again the favorites to win the National League pennant in 2011 as they will field the scariest rotation since 1971 Baltimore Orioles, when Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuelar and Pat Dobson each won 20 games. With the addition of Lee, the Phillies have four potential 20 win starters. Second, the Phillies now have the luxury to trade a pitcher like Joe Blanton and get replenish the farm system with better prospects than they received in the Cliff Lee trade to Seattle last season. Overall, Ruben Amaro and the Phillies are the biggest winners of the offseason at the moment, as the Phillies rotation, on paper at least, looks like the best in all of baseball.
And the Yankees…..
….are the biggest losers this offseason. The Yankees not only failed to land Cliff Lee, but also failed to land their plan B in Carl Crawford, who will now patrol the Green Monster in Beantown. But being losers in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes isn’t the end for the Yankees. As I said before, it would be better for the Yankees to start building from within the organization again. The Yankees have an aging infield, a shaky rotation and a thin bench. Landing Cliff Lee for 2011 could have no doubt helped the Yankees in the short run, but could have presented larger problems in the long run. What if Cliff Lee had signed with the Yankees and suffered a back injury at some point in the middle of the season? I know that Brian Cashman would be sitting in his office saying, “oh not again….first Irabu, then Brown, then Johnson, then Pavano, and now Lee!” As useful as Lee could have been to the Yankees this season, he isn’t worth 6 years at $120 or more. More importantly, Lee won’t help Jeter or A-Rod increase their range in the infield or make the Yankees younger. Although the Yankees lost the offseason sweepstakes, the opportunity to get younger and better has opened itself and the question now becomes: Will Brian Cashman build a winning team without signing high priced free agents?
And the Rangers…
…were delt a big blow to their chances of repeating as World Series representatives for the American League. Although the Rangers are young team, pitchers like CJ Wilson will definately miss the veteran presence Lee gave that rotation last season. Losing Cliff Lee will hurt the Rangers chances of going to the playoffs, but not for long, as this team is young and has talent ready to flurish.
Update top of the 3rd!
Orioles just scored on a double play, after two runners got on base. Brett Gardner almost made an incredible catch at left-center field but unfortunately was unable to hold on to the baseball. AJ Burnett on the bubble, so far has looked good, except for the excuse me double and bloop single in the inning that led to the run, Burnett has been solid. I wonder when the roof will cave in on him.
Break up the Orioles!
Since August 3rd, when Buch Showalter took over the managerial duties in Baltimore, the Orioles have posted a record of 9-2. The success of the Orioles since August 3rd is something that the rest of the league has taken notice of and I’m sure will worry contending teams that still have to play Baltimore the rest of the season. One of the contending teams that should worry about the Orioles right now is the Tampa Bay Rays, as their 5-0 loss to Baltimore had the Rays 2.5 games behind the Yankees in the AL East before the night was over.
The Orioles, recently, have done everything correctly, as they have played good defense, pitched very well, and have been able to get clutch hits. And last night did all of the above. Behind the power of Luke Scott, who was 3-for-3 in the game, Baltimore raced out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back as Jeremy Guthrie was able to put 6 solid innings together, holding the Rays to just 2 hits. Even more impressive, the Orioles bullpen in three innings of work just allowed one hit.
If the Orioles continue to play well, they will definately play spoilers in the American League. This month alone, Baltimore will face The Rangers the White Sox and the Angels, all of whom are either in contention for a playoff spot, or are division leaders. In September, the Orioles will begin the month playing the top three teams in the American League East, all of whom are still very much in the hunt for the AL East crown (but after Boston’s loss last night, who knows). Knowing this, let me ask you this: would you want your team playing the Orioles right now? I don’t!
James Shields…
What a difference two weeks make in the pitching life of James Shields. On August 1st, Shields dominated, and I mean just really dominated the Yankees by just allowing 4 hits and now runs in 7.1 innings of work. In the process, he had every breaking pitch working and because of it he was able to strike out 11 Yankee batters. Five days later, not so impressive. In just four innings of work, Shield gave up 9 hits and 8 earned runs. Even scarier, he allowed not one, not two, not three, not four, but six, count them, six homeruns to the Blue Jays. Last night, Shields only lasted five innings. Even though the roof didn’t cave in on him, Shields wasn’t that impressive again as his inconsistency allowed the Orioles to put up four runs before the sixth inning.
After taking two out of three from the Yankees, the Rays (just like the Yankees over that same time span) have been in a bad funk. During this stretch, there have been days on which they look like the Rays, the team that manufacture runs, pitches well, and beat opponents with timely hitting etc; on other days during that same time however, they have looked like the old Devil Rays. Makes you wonder who is the real Rays time at this time?
CC solid.
In five innings of work, CC has been economical, as he has surrendered one run on one hit. That one hit was a long fly ball by Adam Jones. Otherwise, in just 62 pitches, Sabathia is holding down the Orioles.
Ubaldo Jimenez, Mets, Yankees…
How great has Ubaldo Jimenez been for the Rockies so far this season? The right hander is 6-0 for the Rockies and in 5 of his 6 starts this season, Jimenez has given the Rockies a quality start by pitching over 6 innings. Last night against the San Diego Padres, Jimenez pitched 7 strong innings, striking out 13 Padres in the process. It doesn’t get better than this for Jimenez and the Rockies, who lost a decent starter in Jason Marquis over the winter. With his early season success, Jimenez is making a case to be the league’s Cy Young Award winner, an award many predicted would go to the Phillies Roy Halladay.
Mets three game losing streak…
The Mets 4th inning collapse on Sunday night is hard to put into words. I guess the only words that will suffice in describing the two out meltdown of Johan Santana and the Mets is “What Happened?” The last person you’d think of when you think of a pitcher giving up 8 runs with two outs in an inning is Johan Santana. Unfortunately, Santana indeed gave up 8 runs, with two outs in the 4th. That inning killed whatever momentum the Mets were riding from their 8 game winning streak, and from their big win over the Phillies on Friday night. Saturday’s loss to Halladay was expected, but the meltdown of the Mets ace wasn’t, especially when his teammates gave him two three run leads to work with.
Last night in Cincinnati, in the Queen City, the Mets lose a heart breaker in extra innings. Mets had their chances from what I saw, but couldn’t capitalize. In the top of the seventh, or 8th inning, the Mets had two men on base with one out, and both David Wright and Jason Bay fail to put the ball in play. What is even more maddening is that Oliver Perez gave the Mets a solid outing and that one positive was wasted.
Yankees Win….
Behind a strong outing from CC Sabathia, and a three run homerun from Randy Winn, the Yankees beat the Orioles for the third straight time this season. As I watched the game yesterday, Sabathia didn’t look too comfortable out there, missing on close pitches and at times getting frustrated by the umpire-in-chief’s inconsistent strike zone. Still, Sabathia gave the Yankees a fifth straight quality start.
Randy Winn, who will now get more playing time, thanks to the injury suffered by Curtis Granderson, made the most of his start with a three run homerun that gave the Yankees a 4-1 lead and the victory. The Yankees, who spent most of April healthy, are now finding themselves a bit banged up, with injuries to Granderson and now Posada, however, they haven’t missed a beat as players like Winn step up and contribute.
Chamberlain/Huff rematch not likely.
If there are Yankee fans out there hoping that Joba sends Aubrey Huff a message for his fist pumping heroics 2 Sundays ago, please don’t hold your breath. Huff’s fist pumping antics is in the past and frankly that sort of stuff doesn’t seem to affect Joba Chamberlain. After the homerun to Aubrey, Joba settled down and pitched effectively the rest of the game. Tonight, Joba’s job is to pitch well from the first inning on and not even think about any sort of retaliation against Huff for his unorthodox celebrations.
As for the Yankees tonight, their job is simple. Put the Orioles away early. Score runs early and give Joba room to work. The Yankees offense has come from the dead and it is the potent offense everyone said it would be. Swisher, Cano and Melky, going back-to-back-to-back and a belly-to-belly-to-belly, is a sign of good things. If the lower part of the Yankee lineup can generate offense, that should tremendously help the beginning of the lineup produce even more runs and wear out their opponents pitching.
David Veloz
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