Opening Day 2008: Orioles downed by Rays 6-2
MASNsports.com's Steve Melewski will be providing Maximum Access to Orioles Opening Day right here all day, so stay tuned for the latest news, notes and insight live from Oriole Park.
For the second year in a row, the O's have lost on opening day.
After Kevin Millar's two-run double in the first gave the O's the lead, it was all Tampa, as the Rays win it, 6-2.
Jeremy Guthrie allowed six runs in 5.1 to take the loss. James Shields pitched seven solid frames to get the victory. Brian Roberts reached base all four times, on two singles and two walks.
Tampa 6-10-1
Baltimore 2-6-1
| Orioles Radio Postgame Show |
THE STAR Tampa righty James Shields allowed just five hits over seven innings to get the win, throwing only 86 pitches. He did not allow a hit over innings five thru seven.
O's CO STARS Brian Roberts reached base all four times he batted with singles in the 3rd and 8th and two walks and he scored a run. Matt Albers was excellent in relief of Jeremy Guthrie, pitching 2.2ip without allowing a hit or run.
A KEY MOMENT The Rays bottom of the order, Dioner Navarro and Jason Bartlett came up with key RBI singles in the 6th as Tampa expanded its lead to 6-2. Navarro was the only player in the game to have three hits.
DEBUT DAYS Adam Jones batted 8th and went 0-3 in his Orioles' debut. Luke Scott was 1-3 in his first O's game and heard chants of "Luuukkkke" from the stands.
THE BATS WILL NEED TO DO BETTER The O's had just 6 hits in 30 at bats as a team and only one went for extra bases. The Birds had just one hit after the fourth inning.
MORE NUMBERS The Orioles are now 34-21 all time on opening day and 93-76 all time vs. Tampa. It was 55 degrees for first pitch at 3:07pm. Nick Markakis' first-inning single was the O's first hit of the year and Eric Hinske hit the game's only homer, a 375-foot shot to right in the 4th inning. Matt Albers threw 26 pitches, 19 for strikes. This was the O's 55th opening day. It was only the O's 2nd loss in a home opener in the last ten contests. Game two of the season is set for Wednesday at 7:05pm. Daniel Cabrera (9-18 5.55) faces Tampa's Matt Garza (5-7 3.69).
KEY QUOTES
Dave Trembley on the pitching - "Guthrie threw strikes but his location wasn't what we are used to, including the location of his secondary pitches. Shields got better as the game went on. That's what we are looking for out of Albers, it was the best I've seen him with his location all spring and it was good to get Burres out there because he hasn't pitched in five days."
Dave Trembley on Roberts - "That's Brian Roberts, he's one of the premier leadoff hitters in the game. Nothing bothers him."
Jeremy Guthrie on his outing - "The problem was the height of the pitches, a couple of inches makes a difference. Some pitches were five inches too high. I didn't have any nerves, it was just like a regular game."
Aubrey Huff on getting booed - "It was on par with what I figured. I've said before it was a mistake to go on (the radio show) and say the things I did. I'm human and made a mistake. If I were the fans I'd probably be the same way. I'd have a few beers and let me have it too. I expected it to be rough today on opening day, as everyone gets thier frustration out after a long off-season of talking about it. Hopefully it slows down little bit because ultimately we all here want to win."
We've played seven innings and Tampa is leading 6-2.
Since Kevin Millar's two-run double in the first, Tampa has scored six unanswered runs. BJ Upton has a 2-run single and Eric Hinske a solo homer for TB.
Jeremy Guthrie's line 5.1ip 9h 6r 5er 1bb 2k
Guthrie threw 78 pitches. Only four times last year did he give up as many as 9 hits or 5 earned runs.
Brian Roberts has a single and two walks, but James Shields has been tough, pitching 5-hit ball over seven frames. He's thrown 89 pitches.
The attendance was announced at 46,807 was officially called a sellout, but there were many empty seats in the left-field upper deck and pockets of empty seats elsewhere.
Check back for more after the game and watch MASN for O's post-game XTRA with Jim and Rick.
The O's just made a press box announcement that the club has signed IF Alex Cintron to a minor-league contract and assigned him to AAA Norfolk.
Cintron, a switch-hitter, has played seven big-league seasons. Last year, with the White Sox, he hit .243--2--19 in 68 games. He played some at second, short and third. The 29-year-old is a career .277 batter.
Tampa now leads 4-2 in the 4th. Eric Hinske led off the 4th with a 375-foot homer to right to make it 4-2.
TheRays used three hits and an error to take a 3-2 lead with a 3-run third inning. The first two batters reached on a single and hit by pitch. Later a run scored when Melvin Mora booted a slow roller to third. Later BJ Upton hit a ground-ball two-run single to left.
The game time temp is 55.
O's have a 2-0 lead after one inning.
In the bottom of the first, Brian Roberts walked, and, one out later, Nick Markakis blooped a single to left. With Kevin Millar up, the pair pulled off a double steal. Then Millar ripped a two-run double to left. Rays LF Carl Crawford leaped near the wall, but the ball caromed off his glove.
Aubrey Huff flied out to short left and was booed lustily.
Here's a breakdown of the O's 25-man roster:
4 acquired in the draft (Loewen, Markakis, Roberts and Fahey.
7 via trade
7 by a free agent signing
1 minor lg free agent (Quiroz)
1 non-drafted free agent (Cabrera)
1 rule 5 draft (Bierd)
4 claimed off waivers (including today's starter, Guthrie)
A new season of Orioles baseball is underway. The Orioles took the field promptly at 3:05 and, at 3:07, Jeremy Guthrie fired a fastball for a called strike to the Rays Akinora Iwamura.
Jim Hunter was emcee for the pre-game ceremony. It started with the fans getting a brief look at some video on the new boards here at the Yard. Then Jim introduced to the crowd the O's radio team of Joe Angel and Fred Manfra and TV broadcasters Gary Thorne and Jim Palmer.
The Rays were introduced and lined up along the left side of the infield. The O's lined up on the right side.
Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones got the biggest cheers, while Aubrey Huff heard some of the boo birds. Also getting big cheers were new first-base coach and former Oriole John Shelby and long-time umpires' attendent Ernie Tyler.
At 2:51, there was a moment of silence for some members of the organization that passed away since last season. Included in this list was Ann Lange. She lost her battle with cancer on February 19.
She was not known by many fans, but for years with the club served as an adminstrative assistant in the baseball operations department. Many in the O's family were close with Ann and she will be sorely missed. She was also helpful to many a reporter over the years and was wonderful to me. She helped me get interviews with the likes of Syd Thrift, Mike Flanagan and others. She was a wonderful person, I'll miss the conversations we had on many topics over the years. Don't want to bring the mood down on opening day, but the fans should know we've lost a good one.
Not long after that, Hank Peters threw out the first pitch to Rick Dempsey. Two keys members of the O's World Series winner of 1983
Good afternoon from chilly, dreary, Camden Yards where some light rain is falling and the tarp is on the field. Neither team will be able to take on field batting practice and will have to settle for the underneath the stands cages.
The new video board looks great and right field out-of-town scoreboard, you'll find, is much more colorful this year.
In his pre-game press conference today I asked Dave Trembley what he thought about all the pre-season predictions that his O's will finish in last place this year.
"One, I don't read it. Two, I don't listen to it. Three, with all due respect, we haven't played any games yet. I told our players the first day of camp, never underestimate what you can do with hard work, dedication and a great attitude in playing like a team. Let's see where we're at, at the end of the season."
Trembley seems to like the makeup and chemistry on the team right now, but added words of caution.
"The barometer is going to be set when things don't go well. That's when you get a litmus test of how things really are. Were people listening and is everybody on board and I'm ready for that."
Trembley said there is no concern over the club's losing record in spring, he said the club achieved the ten goals he set and the won-loss record was not among them.
He would not say what the pitch count is for the starters the first time thru the rotation.
"Pitch counts get thrown out the window, you play to win. If a guys going well you let him go," Trembley said. "If he doesn't, you get him out. You put the best guy in there to get outs now"
The Orioles are 34-20 all time, on opening day. When they lost the opener at Minnesota last April, it ended Baltimore's six-game win streak in openers. Tampa is 5-5 on opening day. In 2006, the Birds beat Tampa in the opener, 9-6, here in front of 46,986 at the Yard.
LOEWEN READY TO GO
He may have pitched to an ERA of 7.56 in six spring starts, but lefty Adam Loewen says he's ready to start the season and is healthy.
"Everything is fine. I made all my starts except for one and put myself in a good position to start the season."
Loewen, who was 2-0 3.56, in six starts last year, before he underwent elbow surgery in June, is slated to start Friday night vs. Seattle.
As for his spring stats he said. "everything gets washed out now. I have a lot of confidence right now that I can pitch at this level."
MASN COVERAGE
Be sure to check out MASN's hour-long O's XTRA, with Jim Hunter and Rick Dempsey today at 2pm. Then stay for the game and the O's XTRA post-game to follow.
Opening Day Notes: Gates will open at 12 noon Monday for the 3:05pm opener with Tampa.
MASN's Jim Hunter will emcee the pre-game ceremony. Former O's GM Hank Peters will throw out the first pitch as the club begins season-long promotions to honor the 25th anniversary of the 1983 World Series champs. Series MVP (and O's XTRA Analyst) Rick Dempsey will catch the first pitch.
Opening day will also give fans a chance to see for the first time the new ballpark entertainment system, including new video boards in center field, an out-of-town scoreboard in right field and auxiliary boards on the club level and upper level.
Pre-Game Schedule (Opening Day 2008)
12:00pm Gates open
12:25 - 1:25pm Orioles BP
1:25 - 2:05pm Rays BP
2:30pm Pre-game Ceremonies
3:05pm First pitch
| Starting Lineups | |
| TAMPA 2B Akinora Iwamura CF Carl Crawford 1B Carlos Pena CF BJ Upton DH Cliff Floyd 3B Willy Aybar RF Eric Hinske C Dioner Navarro SS Jason Bartlett P James Shields |
ORIOLES 2B Brian Roberts 3B Melvin Mora RF Nick Markakis 1B Kevin Millar DH Aubrey Huff C Ramon Hernandez LF Luke Scott CF Adam Jones SS Luis Hernandez P Jeremy Guthrie |
GUTHRIE TAKING START IN STRIDE
Getting the start on opening day is a dream come true for most major-league pitchers. But Jeremy Guthrie, the O's game one hurler admits, that's not necessarily the case with him.
"To be honest, it hasn't been one of my dreams. That stems from a couple things, number one, I didn't grow up in a baseball city. I grew up in southern Oregon. There wasn't any team close to us," Guthrie said. "So opening day to me was just another day at school. I never went to an opening game and got that same feeling that people here in Baltimore have. Now that's it's happening, I'm very excited and grateful to be a part of it."
With Erik Bedard now in Seattle, Guthrie, in the bullpen this time last year, moves to the top of the O's rotation. Last season, in 32 games, 26 starts, he was 7-5 3.70 in 175 innings. He was 13th in the league in ERA.
Guthrie made four appearances vs. Tampa and was 2-1 4.43, allowing 23 hits in 20.1 innings. He won just two of his 14 Camden Yards starts and was 2-5 4.15 in home games.
Guthrie points out the opening-day pitcher gets a lot of attention, but other O's, like Adam Jones, Luis Hernandez and Luke Scott, will also make their first opening-day starts.
Guthrie said his focus in spring training was perfecting his off-speed pitches.
"I threw the changeup more in spring. I threw it behind in counts and ahead in counts to gain more confidence in the pitch. If you look at last year, I probably didn't throw many 1-0 or 2-0 changeups. This doesn't mean it will be the best pitch for me but at least I'll be able to throw it and have it as a weapon in any count."
James Shields will be Tampa's starter opposing Guthrie. Shields became a standout in the Rays' rotation in 2007, going 12-8 3.85. He moves to the top of the Rays' rotation with Scott Kazmir starting the season on the DL.
Shields pitched more innings last season vs. Baltimore than any other club. In 5 games vs. the O's, he was 1-1 3.16 and allowed 35 hits in 37 frames.
Shields was 10th in the AL last year, pitching 215 innings and was 9th in fewest walks per 9-IP, at 1.51. He was 3rd in the league in the WHIP stat that Guthrie finished 9th in the AL in.
Hear All of Jeremy Guthrie's Opening Day Press Conference
ADAM JONES IS READY
New Oriole center fielder Adam Jones is ready for opening day.
"The turnout at Fanfest was great and driving around the city you see the 'this is Birdland' signs. It's great to be a part of that."
However, Jones said he expects a lot of butterflies on opening day.
"I'm nervous," the Mariners two-time minor league player of the year, said. "I've had opening days at AAA, but that's really nothing with only seven or eight thousand people. I know it will be exciting with that big orange carpet that rolls out from center field, I've heard all about that. But I will be tremendously nervous from the time I arrive at the ballpark until the game starts."
You've got to appreciate the young man's honesty. He said he's talked with Dave Trembley about dealing with the high expectations for him. And, in his previous big league time he said he's gotten sporadic at bats and now he looks forward to playing every day where he can get a groove at the plate.
Hear All of Adam Jones' Opening Day Press Conference
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