Sox win nightcap 6-5; Orioles remain in 1st place after split
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The Orioles fall to 14-10 with the loss. They are tied for first place with Boston. The Birds are now 3-2 on this road trip. This loss ended their three-game win streak.
The Orioles rallied from a 5-2 deficit after five innings. The comeback began when Kevin Millar hit a solo homer in the 6th off Mark Buehrle.
The O's tied it at five in the seventh. Boone Logan had come on to pitch and gave up a one-out single to Eider Torres, for his first major-league hit. Then Brian Roberts hit an RBI triple to left center to make it 5-4 and the next hitter, Melvin Mora doubled for a 5-5 tie.
The Birds Steve Trachsel had a tough night, giving up five runs, four earned in three innings plus two batters. He allowed a two-run homer to Nick Swisher in the 5th that gave the Sox a 5-2 lead.
The Orioles won in the afternoon, 5-1 over Chicago as Brian Burres allowed just three hits, all singles, in 8 frames. He improved to 3-1 and lowered his ERA to 2.49. Catcher Guillermo Quiroz hit a two-run homer in the 6th to break up a scoreless tie.
MORE NOTES FROM GAME TWO
The O's fall to 7-2 in one-run games.......the other loss was 5-4 to Texas in game two of a DH on April 10th........The Birds stay percentage points up on Boston in the AL East........Millar's homer in the 6th was his 4th on the season and his third in the last 11games........Randor Bierd had not allowed a run all year in 12.2 ip until giving up that run in the 9th...........Aubrey Huff went 0-5, snapping a six-game hit streak, but Brian Roberts triple in the 7th extended his batting streak to six games. The White Sox have hit 30 homers on the season and given up just 11.
STEVE MELEWSKI'S Game two blog
RALLY TIME
O's 5 CWS 5.....middle of 7th
Boone Logan came on to start the 7th and fanned Ramon Hernandez. Then Eider Torres picked up his first big league hit with a single to right. Brian Roberts then launched an RBI double to left center to make it 5-4. Seconds later, Melvin Mora ripped an RBI double to left for a 5-5 tie. Scott Linebrink came on and got Millar for the inning's last out, but the O's have battled back again.
SOX PITCHING CHANGE
CWS 5 O's 3.......end of sixth
Lefty Boone Logan comes on to start the 7th for Chicago.
Buehrle's line tonight: 6ip, 3h, 3r-er, 2b 5k, 1 HR........111 pitches
ARE THE O'S CHIPPING AWAY ?
If chipping means getting one at a time, perhaps they are. Kevin Millar's solo HR in the 6th, makes it Chicago 5, O's 3. He hit it right down the left-fiield line. His 4th homer and 11th RBI.
EARLY SHOWER
Sox 5 O's 2.....end of four.
Steve Trachsel, with his walks and ineffective pitching, made a strong case to not be allowed to pitch the 4th inning tonight. But the O's rolled the dice and two batters into the 4th the Sox expanded their lead to 5-2.
Pablo Ozuna singled to lead the last of the 4th and Nick Swisher snapped a 2-24 with a two-run homer to right.
Trachsel tonight: 3ip, 5h, 5r, 4er, 5b, 2k, 1 HR........85 pitches.
Jim Johnson, who has not allowed a run in 8.2 ip on the season, comes on to pitch.
THE ERROR HURT
Tough break for Eider Torres making his first major league start tonight at SS. He dropped a hi relay throw from Luke Scott in left and a runner that was stopping at third on a double, came in to score and the Sox get a 3-2 lead.
Steve Trachsel was walked five and thrown the amazing total of 81 pitches in just three innings. It seems he may not be long for this game.
SOX TIE IT UP
O's 2 CWS 2....end of two
Sox scored two in a very, very long, bottom of the second. They got two runs on two hits and two walks. Brian Anderson had an RBI double and Pablo Ozuna an RBI groundout.
TWO-OUT RALLY
O's 2 CWS 0........middle of second
With two outs and none on in the second, Luke Scott picked up an infield hit and Adam Jones walked. Then Ramon Hernandez got a change up down the middle and didn't miss it. He crushed a two-run double to deep right for RBI's 11 and 12. He entered in a mini slump, 2 for 12.
UNDERWAY
The O's and Sox are underway in game two, the nitecap. The Birds are looking for a 4th win in a row as Mark Buehrle faces Steve Trachsel.
O'S TAKE GAME ONE, 5-1
Brian Burres pitched eight innings of shutout, three-hit ball as the Orioles beat Chicago 5-1 today in game one of a day-night doubleheader.
Burres was dominant allowing just three singles and no Sox runner reached even second base against him. He improves to 3-1 with an ERA of 2.49. He threw 98 pitches, 66 strikes. He has pitched 13.2 ip over his last two starts without allowing a run.
Matt Albers and George Sherrill pitched in the 9th with Sherrill gained his 9th save.
John Danks had a perfect game thru five innings today and needed just 58 pitches to get the first 15 outs. But Adam Jones led off the 6th with a solid single and catcher Guillermo Quiroz followed with a two-run homer to left. It was his first major league homer in his 118th big-league at bat.
The Orioles have now won three in a row and 6 of their last 8 games. Their record on the year is 14-9 and they have tied Boston for first place pending tonight's results.
The O's are now 3-1 on this seven-game road trip and 2-1 vs. the Sox in 2008.
The Birds added three runs in the 9th. Aubrey Huff singled and Eider Torres came on to pinch run. Torres would later score on an error to make it 3-0. Brian Roberts added a two-run double to make it 5-0, O's.
MORE NOTES FROM GAME ONE
Burres' eight-inning outing is a career best........His previous longest outing was 7.2 vs. the Angels last June 30th.........In Burres' last two starts he has allowed no runs and just eight hits over 13.2 ip.........He retired 20 of the last 21 batters he faced today.
O's starting pitching ERA is now 3.05 over the last seven games.
The O's improved to 11-2 this year when scoring 4 runs or more.
Aubrey Huff's single in the 9th extended his batting streak to six in a row........Brian Roberts two-run 2B in the 9th extends his hit streak to five straight.......He is 6-19 during the streak. The Sox Orlando Cabrera went 0-4 ending a 7-game streak.
Tonight at 7pm, Steve Trachsel (1-3 5.23) faces Mark Buehrle (1-2 5.96)
STEVE MELEWSKI's O's GameBlog
BRILLIANT BURRES
What an outing today by the 27-year-old lefty. Seven shutout innings of three-hit ball. He's given up just three singles and thrown 90 pitches thru seven. His career long outing is 7.2 last year vs. the Angels. He has retired 17 of the last 18 batters. No Sox players has EVEN REACHED SEOCND BASE TODAY. Pretty dominant stuff and with the Yankees outing of Saturday, he's now thrown 12.2 innings without allowing a run.
NOW DANKS IS TRAILING
O's 2 CWS 0......middle of sixth
Danks WAS tough. After retiring the first 15 O's today, he now trails 2-0. Adam Jones led off the 6th with a single to end the perfecto. Guillermo Quiroz followed with a two-run homer to left, his first major league homer. What a great time for that.
Burres has a two-hitter going thru five and has retired the last 11 hitters. He's thrown 71 pitches.
DANKS IS TOUGH
O's 0 CWS 0.......middle of 5th
Danks has a perfect game thru five innings. He has now pitched 19.2 consecutive scoreless innings, allowing just 8 hits. He has three strikeouts, 5 groundouts and 7 outs in the air. He has thrown 58 pitches, 40 for strikes.
LEFTIES ARE PITCHING WELL
O's 0 CWS 0.......end of third
Each pitcher throwing well early. Danks has retired all nine O's hitters on 35 pitches thru three. Burres has allowed just two singles and no runs thru three frames. He has thrown 44 pitches. Burres off speed stuff, change and curve, looking very sharp early on.
WE ARE UNDERWAY
Game one is underway in cool, but sunny Chicago. John Danks goes for the Sox and Brian Burres for the O's. Check back here during both games for news and updates.
PRE-GAME NEWS AND NOTES
Saturday preview: Orioles (13-9) at Chicago White Sox (12-9)
After Friday's game with Chicago was rained out with the teams scoreless in the first inning, the clubs today will play a day-night doubleheader with games set for 1pm and 7pm eastern time.
The Birds have won two in a row and five of seven games to get to 13-9. With Boston losing to Tampa Friday night, the O's moved to within a half-game of first in the AL East.
The White Sox scored in the last of the 9th Thursday to beat the Yankees, 7-6, after losing the first two games in that series. The 12-9 Sox lead the AL Central by two games over Cleveland.
The Sox are expected to play today and maybe this entire series, without OF Jermaine Dye. He suffered a groin injury Thursday night. Dye, in his last 22 games vs. the O's, is batting .360-10-25.
The Sox lead the AL in runs per game at 5.43 even though they have the lowest team batting average (.247) in the AL. Also, Chicago has homered 29 times this year while giving up a major-league low 9 longballs.
Chicago has been getting good pitching lately and the team ERA the past 12 games is 2.93. The O's and Sox split a pair of games last week at Camden Yards. Chicago is 37-24 vs. the Birds since 2000.
FRIDAY'S ROSTER MOVE
The Orioles placed Adam Loewen on the 15-day DL on Friday with left elbow soreness. Loewen lasted just 2.2 ip in Thursday night's start and told reporters after the game he had pain in the forearm area. He is 0-1 7.85 on the season.
The O's have selected the contract of IF Eider Torres from Norfolk. The 25-year-old Torres is a switch-hitter and middle infielder. This season he was batting .338-0-11 in 18 games with 4 stolen bases. He is batting .267 vs. left handed pitching and .386 vs. right-handers. He is hitting .478 (11-23) with runners in scoring position.
This will be Torres' first time in the major leagues. The Venezuelan was originally signed by Cleveland in May of 2000. It's his second season in the O's organization. Last year he batted .267-4-41 in 108 games at AAA.
MOUND MATCHUP (Game 1)
Lefty Brian Burres (2-1 3.63) is expected to get the game one start for the Orioles. He faced one hitter and got Nick Swisher out last night. He is coming off an outing where he and Jim Johnson combined to shutout the Yankees 6-0, on a six-hitter Saturday night.
Burres gave up five hits over 5.2 with four walks and two strikeouts that night. He threw 88 pitches.
The 27-year-old lefty has made two excellent starts and one, vs. Tampa, where he gave up a big inning and allowed 6 runs in 4.2ip.
He has very little history with the White Sox, but what's there is not good. In just 2.2 ip in his career vs. the Sox, he has given up 7 runs and 6 hits, including two homers. That's a career mark of 0-1, 23.62 vs. Chicago.
His mound opponent today is 23-year-old lefty, John Danks. This season he is 2-1 3.04. In his second start of this season he gave up 7 runs in just 2.1 ip vs. Minnesota. But over his last two starts, he has not allowed a run in 14.2 innings.
April 15 vs. Oakland he pitched 7.2 shutout innings and April 20 vs. Tampa he gave up just three hits over seven shutout frames. That night he fanned eight without allowing a single walk.
Danks was a first-round pick (9th overall) by Texas in 2003.
Last season, as a rookie, he went 6-13 5.50 in 26 starts. He won his one start vs. the O's, despite giving up five runs over 6.1 ip on July 5th at Chicago.
MOUND MATCHUP (Game 2)
Steve Trachsel (1-3 5.23) will make his 5th start of 2008. He has lost his last three starts vs. Texas, Toronto and New York. On Sunday vs. the Yankees he allowed three runs and seven hits in 6.1 ip. He has two quality starts among his four outings.
This season, right-handed batters are hitting .405 (15-37) vs. Trachsel while lefties are at just .146 (6-41). That's quite a disparity and we have just a small sample at this early stage. But in his career righties hit Trachsel better than lefties, .285 to .248.
The 37-year-old Trachsel did not face Chicago in 2007. In 5 career games vs. the Sox he is 1-1 with an ERA of 7.11. He's given up 34 hits over 25.1 career innings vs. Chicago. Jermaine Dye is 11-17 vs. Trachsel.
The Sox are expected to go with 25-year-old righty Nick Masset in game two. He is 0-0 3.75 on the year in five relief appearances, covering 12 innings. Masset pitched two shutout innings Wednesday vs. New York in his last outing.
Masset split last year between AAA and the majors. While with the Sox he went 2-3 7.09 in 27 games. In 2007, he pitched 1.2 ip vs. the O's allowing no runs on two hits.
MORE NOTES ON BUEHRLE
This year he has given up 35 hits in 22.2ip for an opponent batting average of .380, highest in the AL.........this after he pitched to an ERA of 2.14 in spring training........He was on the all-star team in 2002, 2005 and 2006.........the Sox are 1-3 in his starts this season..........in his career he has allowed just 2.06 walks per 9 innings.......he needs 46 strikeouts for 1,000 in his career.
HOW SOME O'S AND SOX HITTERS ARE DOING RECENTLY
Brian Roberts: 4-gm hit streak, 5-14
Adam Jones: 4-gm hit streak, 6-16
Melvin Mora: 3-gm hit streak, 5-11
Kevin Millar: 2 hits last 16 AB's
Orlando Cabrera: 7-gm hit streak, 9-31
Jim Thome: last 9 gms is 10-27, 4 HR, 10 RBI
Nick Swisher: 2 for 19 AB
Paul Konerko: 13 rbi his last 13 gms
THE AL EAST
Boston 15-10
Orioles 13-9 0.5
Tampa 12-11 2.0
New York 12-12 2.5
Toronto 10-14 4.5
HITTING STREAKS
Aubrey Huff 5 games, 6-16 with 4 RBI
Adam Jones 4 games, 6-16
Brian Roberts 4 games, 5-14, four runs scored
Melvin Mora 3 games, 5-11
Nick Markakis 3 games, 4-10, 2 rbi
JAMIE WALKER NOTE
When Walker allowed a homer to Ichiro last night, it was the third homer he has allowed to a lefty hitter this year. That's one more than he gave up vs. left-handed batters all of last year.
Walker vs. lefty hitters:
2007 .218 average (24-111, 2 homers)
2008 .389 average (7-18, 3 homers)
Two of the three homers Walker has allowed vs lefties were on poor pitches by his account. The O's have little choice right now, but to keep sending him out in those situations and hope this is kind of a fluke. His track record says he'll get out lefites and keep the ball in the park.
Also, with Burres in the rotation the O's have only one lefty (beside Sherrill) in the pen. Walker is a tough guy, a gamer. He's not the kind of player to let this bother him in future outings. For now, he will keep getting the ball in tough spots vs. lefties as we all hope for different results.
FRIDAY's RAIN OUT
Well, they waited for over two hours and then made Friday's game an official rainout.
It will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader Saturday, with games beginning at 1pm and 7pm eastern.
Today's game was called, with the score 0-0 and the Sox batting in the bottom of the first.
MORE FROM THE MINORS
The Frederick Keys beat Potomac 5-2 Friday in a matchup of the top two teams in the Carolina League's Northern division. With the win, the Keys move to within 1.5 games of Potomac. Brandon Snyder hit a two-run homer tonight. Jake Arrieta got the win, giving up two runs over six innings and is 2-0. The Keys host game two of this series, Saturday afternoon at 2pm.
MINOR LEAGUE NOTES (from Friday's Rain Delay)
Some minor rain delay thoughts from Friday...
Why wasn't Scott Moore called up today over Eider Torres ? Well, Moore is hitting just .156 at AAA and has struck out 12 times in 32 at bats . His OBP is .229. He simply wasn't playing well enough to deserve the call right now.
Bowie is leading New Hampshire 3-0 in the 7th tonight. Brad Bergesen, in his AA debut,
allowed just 3 hits and no runs in seven innings of work. He was 1-1 2.04 for Frederick. When mentioning the O's top pitching prospects, Bergesen is often overlooked, but at 22, he has a chance. He was the O's 4th round pick out of a California hi school in 2004.
Brandon Snyder hit his first homer of the year tonight for Frederick in its game with Potomac.
Cole McCurry, at last check, was throwing another solid game tonight for Delmarva.
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