O's beat Jays, 4-3, take AL East lead
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Kevin Millar hit a two-run homer and knocked in three runs as the Orioles beat Toronto 4-3 at Camden Yards. At 8-5, the O's move back into sole possesion of first in the AL East.
O'S BEGIN HOMESTAND WITH A WIN
Kevin Millar snapped a 3-26 slump with a 3-RBI night as the O's beat Toronto, 4-3, Monday, in game one of the series and their 7-game homestand.
Millar, who knocked in the game's first run with a first-inning single, added a two-run homer in the 5th that snapped a 1-1 tie. Ramon Hernandez knocked in the fourth run, with an 8th-inning sac fly.
Adam Jones went 3-3, with a walk, his first three-hit game with the Birds.
Winning pitcher Matt Albers allowed just one run on five hits in five innings. Albers is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.79 on the season. Jim Johnson pitched 2.1 shutout innings. George Sherrill got the last three outs for his league-leading sixth save. He gave up a two-run homer in the 9th to pinch-hitter Alex Rios to bring Toronto within 4-3.
The two teams began the night tied for the AL East lead with 7-5 records.
Game two of this series is Tuesday at 7:05p with Steve Trachsel facing Shaun Marcum.
Tor 3-9-2
Balt 4-13-1
POST-GAME NOTES
DUAL STARS
Millar and Albers co-star. Millar had just one RBI in his last nine games coming in.
If teams are going to continue to walk Nick Markakis, he will get chances to come up with big hits. He was hitting just .154 with men in scoring position before tonight. Millar credited Terry Crowley with some pre-game help in the cage.
Albers showed that he could be a future starter for this club. He almost won the 5th starters job out of camp. After the first inning, he allowed just one runner to get to second base. Maybe the best stat for him--he has allowed just one walk in 11.1 ip on the season.
BETTER NIGHT ON OFFENSE
After the O's hit only .206 the past five games it was welcome to see 13 hits tonight. Of course, 12 were singles. But still that's 13 hits in 31 at bats in the game for a team average of .419 tonight. Several Birds were scuffling at bat before Monday. Mora was 4-20 and got two hits. Adam Jones was 0-8 and went 3-3. Luke Scott was 3-16 before picking up two hits.
ADAM AT THE PLATE
Adam Jones went 3-3, with three singles and a walk, raising his average to .268. It was his first three-hit game with Baltimore and second of his career. The Orioles were there for his first, last August 9th when he had three hits for Seattle vs. the Birds. He also stole his second base of the season. He was behind in the count when he got all three of his hits.
WINNING ANOTHER CLOSE ONE
Alex Rios two-run homer in the 9th turned this into a one-run game and one-run win. The O's, who led the majors with 31 one-run losses in 2007, are 4-1 in the close ones so far.
SMALL CROWD
A small, but enthusiastic crowd of 11,510 watched in the chill at the Yard. Attendance on the year, thru seven dates is 138,043. The Orioles are now 6-1 at home.
THE QUOTES
Trembley on the pitching
"We got good aggresive pitching out of Albers and Johnson. After the first inning, Albers got comfortable. Johnson has been a real suprise for us. He showed an aggresive approach with his fastball and a lot of poise. One reason to start Albers tonight was they have a very good right-handed hitting lineup."
Trembley on Millar's big night
"It doesn't suprise me. The guys that are proven, eventually it wil happen for them. You need a lift from somebody when there are guys on base."
Millar on his three-RBI game
"On the road trip I felt terrible. But you keep working hard. McGowan is tough, like a little John Smoltz. I just put a good swing on that home run. I worked with Crow today, he's unbelievable. We just worked on hitting the fastball."
Millar on Adam Jones
"He had a great game today after a miserable game yesterday. He didn't try to do too much, he had great at bats. He'll go thru some lumps, because he's a kid, but he'll also have some great games."
Albers on his outing
"I expect to do well every time. Just trying to get the fastball down in the zone. I'm here for whatever the team needs. I'll probably be back in the bullpen after this and I'll be ready to go..........I have a pretty good routine (as a starter) it helps me relax and get into a groove."
IN GAME BLOG
ADAM JONES NOTE
Adam Jones three hits tonight ties his career high. He set it last August 9th, while with Seattle, against the Orioles. He has raised his average to .268. This after he went 0-8 in the Tampa series and 4-20 on the road trip.
LEADING LATE
O's 3 Jays 1........end of seven.
The offense is better tonight. After batting .206 the past five games and .228 on the road trip, the O's have 11 hits thru seven. Of course ten are singles along with Millar's two-run homer.
So far:
Roberts 2-4, run
Mora 2-3
Millar 2-4, HR, all 3 RBI
Jones 3-3
LHernandez 1-2 with a walk
All six Jays hits are singles. Jim Johnson still on in the 8th pitching well.
PROMOTING THE PROMOTION
Tomorrow at the Yard, its "Adam Jones T-Shirt Tuesday." The first 10,000 fans, 15 and over, get an Adam Jones t-shirt. As if to add to the promotion for tomorrow, Jones is 3-3 tonight. Each hit has come with him behind in the count. His average started at .211 and is up to a current .268.
Tonight's attendance is 11,510.
MORE ALBERS
Orioles 3 Toronto 1.....end of six innings
Albers gave the club a great spot start tonight, working five solid innings. After giving up one run on three hits in the first, he allowed just two more singles. With Millar's homer, he has a chance for his second Orioles win this year.
His numbers on the season now are: 11.1ip, 8h, 1r-er, 1b, 8k......0.79 ERA.
MILLAR MASHES IT
Kevin Millar, who entered tonight in a 3-26 slump, and, with just one RBI in his last nine games, hit a two-run homer in the 5th as the O's take the lead 3-1.
With two outs and none on, Nick Markakis drew his 12th walk of the season. He stole second and went to third on Gregg Zaun's throwing error. Then Millar got a hanging curve from McGowan on a 2-2 pitch and hit it 372 feet into the left-field stands.
Matt Albers is replaced by Jim Johnson who starts the 6th.
Albers line: 5ip, 5h, 1r-er, 1b, 1k.......he threw 83 pitches, 48 strikes.
GOOD JOB MATT
O's 1 Jays 1 after three and a half
Matt Albers has allowed one run and four hits thru four frames. He's allowed just one hit since the second inning. He needed 42 pitches to get thru the first two innings but has needed just 24 pitches for innings three and four. So he's at 66 for the game. Dave Trembley said before the game it would be "tremendous" if Albers could pitch five innings tonight.
GOOD SIGN
O's and Jays tied 1-1, after two innings.
Adam Jones singled his first time up, in the second. He took an 0-2 breaking pitch into left for the hit, a good sign, since he has struggled vs. the curve in recent games. Adam did some extra pre-game work today with Terry Crowley.
Scroll down to compare Adam at this point and Nick Markakis from his rookie year at the same point in time.
ACTIVE FIRST INNING
It's O's 1 and Toronto 1 after one inning.
Each club got one run on three singles in its first at bat. And each club hit into a double-play to end promising rallies. Vernon Wells has an RBI single for the Jays and Kevin Millar an RBI single for the O's.
For Millar, that snapped a 3-26 drought and was just his second RBI in the past ten games. Aubrey Huff hit into a 1-6-3 DP to end the threat.
WE ARE UNDERWAY
First pitch was at 7:09pm and it's 57 degrees at game time. The battle for first between the O's and Jays has begun. Check back often for news and notes during tonight's game.
PRE-GAME NEWS AND NOTES
Tampa Bay beat the Birds 6-2 Sunday, handing the Orioles their 4th loss in 5 games. The Orioles scored just 15 runs and batted .206 as a team in the last five games. Baltimore is 5-1 in home games.
Toronto has been an up and down team. After sweeping a three-game series from Boston, the Jays then lost three strait vs. Oakland. But over the weekend, the Jays swept three at Texas.
It's Toronto's first sweep of three or more games in Texas since 1985. Toronto beat the Rangers 5-4 Sunday. Before the game, former Oriole BJ Ryan was activated and then he picked up his first save in over a year. Ryan is 11 months removed from Tommy John elbow surgery.
The Birds were 8-10 vs. Toronto last year and have lost the season series three strait years to the Blue Jays.
DAVE TREMBLEY'S PRE-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
The skipper mentioned to reporters today that he considered changing his lineup around tonight, but decided not to.
"I think the team would react on how I do things. Because we didn't score some runs in a couple games, the worst thing I could do is try to change things right away. The best thing is to show confidence in them, leave it alone and let's see where it goes."
The skipper was asked a lot about Adam Jones, who fanned four times Sunday and was 0-8 in the Tampa series.
"We knew he'd have some games like that. Right now he's missing his pitch. He's seen more pitches in his plate appearances than anyone on our team but he has struck out ten times and only walked once. He's getting to 2-2 or 3-2 in counts and, instead of taking the walk, he's chasing some pitches."
Trembley is not worried about Jones dealing with expectations. He said his makeup is "off the charts and his demeanor is such he doesn't show one way or the other how things are going. He doesn't put a whole lot of pressure on himself."
Trembley said the club showed patience at the plate during the first homestand, but got away from that somewhat on the road trip.
He was asked about all the walks Nick Markakis is getting, he's now tied for second in the league, drawing 11 walks.
"Now the guys hitting behind him, when they get their pitch they're going to have to hit it. Some of those guys hitting behind him, I'm not so sure the pitchers are getting them out or we're getting ourselves out. That comes from being a little over-anxious."
He talked about the good start for reliever Randor Bierd, who has pitched 7.1 shutout innings in four games so far.
"Did Detroit anticipate that Bierd would be doing this good ? If they did, they would not have not protected him. With some of their injuries, they've had to call up some guys and Bierd might have figured into their picture."
Trembley said for now he would refuse the temptation to use Bierd in the late innings and will keep him in his current middle innings role.
As for Matt Albers making the spot start tonight, he said he'd be thrilled to get five good innings from him tonight.
TONIGHT'S ORIOLES LINEUP
2B Brian Roberts (.311-1-5)
3B Melvin Mora (.227-2-5)
RF Nick Markakis (.333-1-4)
1B Kevin Millar (.227-1-4)
DH Aubrey Huff (.244-2-11)
LF Luke Scott (.361-1-6)
C Ramon Hernandez (.194-2-7)
CF Adam Jones (.211-0-2)
SS Luis Hernandez (.250-0-3)
P Matt Albers (1-0 0.00)
BULLPEN UPDATE
Despite Friday's bullpen meltdown, when the unit allowed 8 er over just 1.2, the pen ERA is still second best in the league at 2.97. The pen has put together scoreless streaks of 11 and 16.1 innings.
NICK THE STICK
Nick Markakis knocked in both O's runs Sunday. His solo homer in the 6th was his first of the year. Markakis has now reached base 15 times in his last 22 plate appearances. He is 5-11 during his current four-game hit streak.
COMPARING JONES AND MARKAKIS
Thru 11 games of their first years with the O's:
2006 Markakis was 9-35 an average of .257 with two homers and 3 RBI.
2008 Jones is 8-38 an average of .211 with 0 homers and 2 RBI.
DUSTIN MCGOWAN
Tonight's Jays starter has made two starts in 2008 and is 0-0 3.27
4-3 at NYY his line: 6ip, 4h, 2er, 3b, 4k.......he threw 99 pitches
4-9 vs. Oak his line: 5ip, 7h, 2er, 3b, 7k......he threw 101 pitches.
Last June 24 vs. Colorado, he took a no-hitter into the 9th. Jeff Baker led off the 9th with a clean single to center. Dave Steib has the only no-hitter in franchise history. It came on September 2, 1990 vs. Cleveland.
In 13.1 career innings at Camden Yards, he has allowed 13 er for an ERA of 8.77.
THE COOL BATS
Several O's are struggling at the plate right now. Kevin Millar is 3-26 and has just one RBI his past nine games. Luke Scott is 3-16, Aubrey Huff 2-18 and Adam Jones 0-8.
THE PITCHERS
Matt Albers, acquired by the O's from Houston in the Miguel Tejada trade, is set to make his first Orioles start. In three relief outings he has pitched 6.1ip giving up three hits, but no runs. He last worked Tuesday at Texas, pitching two scoreless innings.
Albers, a 25-year-old righty, went 4-11 5.86 last season with Houston in 31 games, in which 18 were starts. He went 3-11 5.71 in his 18 starts. He has never faced Toronto.
Dustin McGowan, who is 0-0 3.27 in two starts in 2008, will take the ball for Toronto. The 26-year-old righty went 12-10 4.08 in 27 starts last year and held right-handed hitters to a .198 batting average.
McGowan, a first-round pick in the 2000 draft, has not fared well vs. the O's. In six career games, three starts vs. the Birds, he is 0-2 with an ERA of 7.52. He has allowed 29 hits in 20.1 ip.
LEAGUE LEADERS
Where some Orioles stand among American Lg leaders -
Luke Scott: t-2nd in doubles (6), 5th in batting ave (.361), 7th in OBP (.439)
Nick Markakis: 2nd in OBP (.490), t-2nd in walks (11)
Brian Roberts: t-3rd in stolen bases (5)
Aubrey Huff: t-7th in RBI (11)
George Sherrill: 1st in saves (5)
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