Garland leads Angels to 3-1 win to even series with O's
Winning pitcher Jon Garland allows just three hits over eight innings to improve to 4-3. Francisco Rodriguez pitches the 9th, for his 12th save.
Angels score two in the 6th for a 2-1 lead on RBI's by Reggie Willits and Gary Mathews Jr. Mathews RBI in the 8th makes it 3-1.
Daniel Cabrera allows just three runs in 7.1ip in his fifth straight solid start.
Steve Trachsel pitches for O's in series finale at 3:35pm on Sunday.
Garland pitches Angels to 3-1 win, evens series
Jon Garland, a pitcher with an ERA of 5.94, shut down the O's slumping attack Saturday afternoon as the Angels beat the O's 3-1. The Birds lack of offense wasted a fifth straight stellar start by Daniel Cabrera.
Garland, who had allowed 11er on 18 hits in 12 ip in his last two starts, gave up just one run on three hits in eight innings.
The only O's run scored on Luke Scott's RBI hit in the second. That snapped a 3-31 slump for Scott and scored Aubrey Huff, who singled and advanced to second on a groundout.
The Angels answered with a two-run 6th. With one out, Cabrera hit Brandon Wood on a 3-2 pitch and walked Chone Figgins. Reggie Willits tied the game on an RBI single and a Gary Mathews Jr. sac fly made it 2-1 Angels. They scored their final run in the 8th.
The O's fall to 16-14 on the year and 6-8 in road games.
The O's have scored just 8 runs their last four games and 19 in their last seven contests.
The Angels avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season and are 11-4 in the last 15 home games vs. the Birds.
Sunday, in the series finale, at 3:35pm, Steve Trachsel (1-3 6.08) faces LHP Joe Saunders (5-0 2.08).
Balt 1-3-0
LAA 3-6-0
POST-GAME NOTES
WAS IT GARLAND OR LACK OF GOOD HITTING ???
When a pitcher with Garland's track record allows just three hits in eight frames, normally he would get all the credit. But in his previous two starts he gave up 11er and 18 hits in 12 ip. Other teams torched him and the O's can't touch him. They sure seemed anxious at the plate with plenty of 1st and 2nd pitch hacking.
Here are the sad offensive numbers:
O's have scored just 19 runs the last 7 games
Held to two runs or less for the tenth time
Have ten hits or more just twice the past 14 games
Have just 21 hits the last four games
DAN WAS THE MAN AGAIN
I'm now ready to say it. Cabrera HAS turned the corner. A 5th straight solid start. With this lack of offense he almost needed to be perfect today. He did have a two-hit shutout thru five. Every mis-step hurt. HIt a guy, he scores, leadoff single, he scores. A pitcher should get a win with numbers like these:
Cabrera: 7.1ip, 6h, 3r-er, 2b, 6k..........102 pitches.
In his last five starts, he is 2-1 with an ERA of 2.62 (10er, 34.1ip).
JIM JOHNSON, WOW !!!
This righty, who gave up 10er in his first five major-league innings, continues with an ERA of 0.00. He came in today in the 8th and promptly got an inning-ending DP ball - in three pitches. On the year he's allowed no runs, 6 hits in 15.1ip over 9 outings. Remarkable.
MORE OFFENSIVE NUMBERS
Roberts 0-9 series
Jones 0-7 series
RHernandez 3-19
Millar 0-10 and 4-38
LScott 4-34
Steve Melewski's live GameBlog
ADDING ON
Angels scratched out a third run in the 8th on a single, sac bunt, wild pitch and grounder. It's 3-1 heading to the 9th.
TRAILING NOW
LAA 2 O's 1.........end of six
Cabrera made that one mistake we mentioned below, hitting number nine hitter Brandon Wood on a 3-2 pitch. He then walked Chone Figgins and of course, both came around to score. Reggie Willits with an RBI single and Gary Mathews Jr. a sac fly. Two runs on one hit for the lead.
Now, can the O's struggling offense bail Cabrera out. He derserves it
AMAZING
O's 1 LAA 0.........middle of 6th
The only thing worse than the O's offense so far today is their lack of patience on offense. Not only are they going down often, but fast as well. Plenty of first-pitch swinging today.
Garland, who entered with an ERA of 5.94, has these stats from his last two starts:
12ip, 18h, 11er, 3 HR's.........today the O's have two hits in six innings, but a 1-0 lead.
Certainly puts big pressure on their starters, who can make one mistake and lose a game.
ANOTHER PITCHERS DUEL
O's 1 LAA 0........end of four
An O's fan must be used to these low scoring games by now. The O's don't hit much, but their starters keep them in the game.
Cabrera thru four: 4ip, 1h, 0r, 1b, 3k........51 pitches
It would be nice to see some O's hitters try to work the count vs. Garland, but they all seem to be first or second-pitch swinging.
GOOD TO SEE
O's 1 LAA 0.........end of second
Great to see Luke Scott with a second-inning RBI single for a 1-0 lead. He enters today in 1-13 and 3-31 slumps. He did not have an RBI in his last 11 games. The hit scored Huff who had singled, extending his hitting streak to 7 games. He advanced to second on a groundout.
But Luke was thrown out trying to get to second. Poor move since the throw from the outfield bounced to the cutoff man and had zero chance of going thru.
Good start for Cabrera. After walking Figgins to start the first, he's retired six in a row on 31 pitches.
UNDERWAY IN ANAHEIM
Game two of this series and road trip is underway. Let's see how Cabrera does and how the new-look lineup performs. Check back here during this game for my news, notes and updates.
PRE-GAME NOTES
Dave Trembley made several lineup changes last night and his team picked up just enough offense to win. Four runs seems to be the O's magic number as they are now 13-3 when scoring four or more. They also improved to 8-2 in one-run games. They had a major-league low 13 one-run wins last season.
Nick Markakis and Melvin Mora had two RBI each helping Jeremy Guthrie end a 15-start winless drought. His last win was July 27 of last season vs. the Yankees.
The O's begin play today tied for second with Tampa, one game back of division-leading Boston.
The Angels have lost two in a row since they were a season-high seven games over .500 at 18-11. They are now 2-3 on a seven-game homestand. Since beginning the season at 6-6, the Halos are 12-7.
MOUND MATTERS
Daniel Cabrera (2-0 4.14) makes his 7th start of 2008 today. Since allowing 10 runs in his first two outings of the year, he is 2-0 2.33 over his past four starts, giving up 7er over 27 ip.
Monday, he did not get a decision in Chicago in the game that was suspended in a tie after 11 innings. That afternoon, he pitched 6.1ip, allowing only two runs on four hits. He did walk seven and struck out two. He has allowed 2er or less four straight starts.
Not bad for a pitcher who last year led the league in losses, earned runs and walks.
If it seems like Cabrera has been solid pitching out of jams this year, he has and some stats bear that out. He is giving up a batting average of just .161 this year when pitching with runners in scoring position.
In three road starts, he is 1-0 2.14
In two games vs. the Angels last season, he went 0-2 9.00. His career mark vs. the Halos is 2-3 6.55 in 33 innings.
His opponent today is Jon Garland. He is 3-3 5.94 in 6 starts in 2008. He makes his 230th career start.
Last season Garland went 1-0 2.57 in one outing vs. the Birds and his career record vs. Baltimore is 5-2 4.50 (23er in 46ip) in 7 starts.
ORIOLES HITTERS VS. GARLAND
LHernanez 0-1
RHernandez 6-15, HR
Huff 4-20, HR
Markakis 3-6, 2B, 3B
Millar 6-17, 3 2B
Mora 7-19
Payton 2-6
Roberts 6-16
Scott 1-3, 2B
SHERRILL THE SAVER
George Sherrill picked up his 11th save last night. That ties him for the AL lead and he's doing it in his first Orioles season.
Here are the three highest save totals by a first-year Oriole:
Lee Smith, 33 in 1994
Randy Myers 31 in 1996
Stu Miller 27 in 1963
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