To-Do List: Do Laundry, win series, stay in 1st place
The Orioles are home sweet home; for 2-and-a-half days at least. The 7-day road trip felt more like a 10-day road trip, and you can bet; the players are sleeping-in this morning.
Lost planes, 7am arrivals, rain outs, split doubleheaders, 5-hours wasted waiting on rain delays, and an 11-inning epic game didn't stop the Birds from gutting it out. Everything that could have gone wrong off the field did. On the field, they pulled out some hard fought games going 3-3 on the trip (with last night's suspended game to be completed on August 25 when the White Sox come to town).
The Orioles could have used the adversity as an excuse and opted to mail it in yesterday, but they didn't. After the 2-hour rain delay, they battled the White Sox through 11-innings. Then, the umpires suspended the game for rain. It was 38-degrees outside. This team is pretty tough.
So what are the Orioles doing before they head to Camden Yards today to start a 3-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays? My guess is laundry. Thursday night, it's right back to the West Coast for a 10-day swing. Why is it so hard to picture the single players like Nick Markakis, Luke Scott and Brian Burres washing their own unmentionables? They're going to have to this week, because it's a quick turn-around.
Garrett Olson will get the start today for the Orioles after being called up from AAA Norfolk. Olson has performed very well in his first 4-starts in the minors going 1-1 with 7-walks, and impressive24-strike-outs. Olson will hopefully keep it going if he can avoid over-thinking. Olson is a very intelligent kid who some believe is too cerebral, he tends to think himself into a frenzy.
The theory might have proven a bit true on Saturday night when Olson was put on a 45-limit pitch count in his AAA start. Obviously, it meant he was most likely coming to the big leagues, and Dave Trembley wanted to save his arm. Knowing that, Olson threw 45-pitches in just 2-innings. Even worse, he walked 4 and gave up 1-earned run. Olsen needs to stop thinking and throw the ball. He's a very talented young prospect.
Funny Note: If you have the honor of singing The Star Spangled Banner at U.S. Cellular Field or New Comiskey or whatever they call it these days, learn the words. Monday's singer, and I use that term loosely, gave us all a moment straight out of the movie Naked Gun when he sang, "whose broad stripes and white stars". Uhhh-it's, "bright stars" buddy. Don't quit your day job.
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