| Tom Morris. 8th July, 2005 - 7:51 pm
 With a starting rotation which has lately had trouble making it past the third inning, the Baltimore Orioles got some timely help from Mother Nature last night in Baltimore. Heavy rain from the edges of Hurricane Dennis came on strong enough, and for long enough, for the game to be called after six innings, saving the day for their weary bullpen, and saving the game for the Orioles, who held on to win the opener of their four-game series against the Boston Red Sox, 3 -1. Eli Marrero and Melvin Mora provided solo home runs, and a key fifth-inning, inning-ending pick-off throw by catcher Sal Fasano ended a mounting rally by the visiting AL East Division rivals. Still suffering from key injuries, and still reeling from losing 11 of their last 13 games, the Orioles were not oblivious to the bonus the rain provided:
"We needed a break," Baltimore manager Lee Mazzilli said after the game. "It's good to get a win like this."
It also was a fortunate day for starting pitcher Daniel Cabrera(7 - 7) who, despite winning his second straight game, was again inconsistent with his location. He went five innings, allowing one run on three hits and eight strikeouts. Yet he also threw 103 pitches, walked five, hit a batter, and threw two wild pitches, going deep in the count again and again against a Red Sox team that had four of its regulars on the bench for the game. But despite all their baserunners, Boston managed to score just once, stranding eight men for the brief game.
The Red Sox were the first to get on the board, scoring a run in the third inning without so much as a hit. Cabrera walked three batters in the inning, and gave the Red Sox the lead with a wild pitch that scored Mark Bellhorn from third. But the Orioles came right back in the bottom of the inning. Marrero led off the frame with a blast to left-field, and two outs later Mora cranked one opposite-field to right to give the Orioles all the runs they would end up needing.
Sammy Sosa added a cosmetic run for the birds, minutes before the game was called, driving in Miguel Tejada with a ground-ball single up the middle off of Boston starter David Wells. It was the first RBI since June 19 for the struggling slugger, a stretch during which he managed only 4 hits in 47 at-bats. On a brighter note, Sosa now has a two-game hitting streak!
Cabrera managed to work his way out of several jams he had put himself in. But were it not for Sal Fasano picking Trot Nixon off of second base in the 5th inning, his luck might have run out. With two outs, David Ortiz singled, then took third on a double by Nixon. After a walk to Kevin Millar to load the bases, Cabrera was down 2 - 0 to John Olerud when it happened. And it started with Miguel Tejada. The Orioles shortstop signaled for the throw after noticing the huge lead Nixon had taken off second base, and Fasano, on a high Cabrera fastball, fired the ball right on target to nail Nixon sliding back to the bag. This sparked many emotional responses, Cabrera and Fasano both pumping their fists in exuberance as Trot Nixon lay on the ground, his head down in amazement. Said Red Sox manager Terry Francona:
"It goes without saying, you'd like to see that at-bat play out. Trot knows that. He'll be kicking himself more than anybody else."
Orioles youngster Tim Byrdak worked a scoreless sixth inning in relief, making it three straight appearances without yielding a run since being called up the team from AAA Ottawa on Saturday. Questions continue to mount about whether Byrdak will be used to replace the other bullpen lefty, Steve Kline, who keeps struggling on the mound, especially against left-handed batters.
In opposition, David Wells allowed three runs on five hits in six innings for the Red Sox, walking just one. The southpaw had gone 4 - 0 over his last eight starts since May 18, and the Sox had gone 7 - 0 in his starts since May 29, when Wells had changed his number from 3 to 16.
Rafael Palmeiro, meanwhile, went hitless again (0 - 3), leaving his looming total at 2,993 for his career. Seven more hits will make him only the fourth major league player ever to amass both 3,000 hits and 500 HRs in a lifetime.
The Orioles and Red Sox, weather permitting, will play the second game of the four-game set tonight at 4:30 pm EST in Baltimore.
Injury Notes:
• BJ Surhoff was activated from the 15-day DL, and David Newhan was optioned to AAA-Ottawa to make room for the outfielder.
• Erik Bedard made his first minor-league rehab start, for the AA-Bowie BaySox. The lefty went three innings, with a knee brace on, allowing two runs, two hits and striking out four. The starter, who had gone 5 - 1 with a 2.08 ERA before being sidelined in late May, will make at least two more starts in the minors before coming back to the Orioles rotation. My guess: he'll be back for good by the last week of July.
• Geronimo Gil will be out at least two more weeks with sprained left thumb, an injury he had been playing with since early July. This leaves catching duties even thinner than before, with Sal Fasano and rookie Eli Whiteside, called up from Class-AAA. |
