| Tom Morris. 2nd July, 2005 - 7:27 pm
 Today Daniel Cabrera brought to the mound exactly the kind of pitching effort the staggering Baltimore Orioles so desperately needed, shutting down the Cleveland Indians en route to a 4 - 0 victory at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. With a little help from Jay Gibbons's sixth-inning 3-run home run, his eleventh of the season, Cabrera notched his first victory in five starts, allowing just 4 hits and two walks through seven innings before turning the ball over to rookie Tim Byrdak and B.J. Ryan for the final six outs. Cabrera lowered his ERA to 5.07, and upped his record to 6 - 7 , as the frustrated Orioles won only their second win in ten games.
And it wasn't an easy one, Cabrera and Cleveland starter Kevin Millwood spending most of the game head-to-head in a pitcher's duel. Millwood was even stingier than the young Orioles hurler, allowing only 2 Baltimore base hits over the first five innings. But he started to falter in the sixth, allowing back-to-back one-out walks to Miguel Tejada and Rafael Palmeiro. Tejada, who stole second and third in the rally (two of the Orioles' season-high five swipes for the day), scored on a fielding error by the Indians second baseman Ron Belliard, giving the Orioles the first run of the game without even a hit. Jay Gibbons capitalized next, however, launching the first pitch he saw into the center field seats for the 4 - 0 lead.
That was all it took, as the Orioles held on to notch their first shutout in a very long time, their fifth for the season, and handed the Indians only their seventh loss of their last twenty-five games. Rafael Palmeiro went 0 for 3 in his continued quest for his 3000th hit. He still stands at 2,992, with 563 HRs, as he looks to join the elite company of Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Frank Robinson as the only major leaguers ever to compile 3,000 hits and 500 homers in a career.
Kevin Millwood, over six innings, yielded four runs --three of them earned-- on three hits and five walks, while striking out three. Tim Byrdak, newly-arrived from the minors, was sharp in his one inning of work for Baltimore, not allowing a baserunner while striking out the last two batters of the inning. The Orioles purchased his contract from AAA Ottawa, designating RHP Rick Bauer for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
Hayden Penn's departure to the minors yesterday leaves the Orioles temporarily without a fifth starter for the near future. It looks as if Lee Mazzilli will go to a four-man rotation of Lopez, Cabrera, Ponson and Chen up until the All-Star Break. It is around that time the team hopes Erik Bedard will make his return off the disabled list, where he has had an extended stay since May 21st. In other injury news, Melvin Mora looks ready to join the line-up either tomorrow or Monday, the first game of a two-game set at New York against the Yankees. |
