Crawford two-run single gives Rays 4-2 win over O's
Tampa gains 2-0 lead on runs in the 1st and 4th. An Adam Jones two-run homer in the 4th ties it, 2-2. It's Jones second homer with the Birds. Carl Crawford two-run single in 7th gives Tampa a 4-2 lead.
Jonny Gomes has a solo homer for Tampa. Rays center fielder BJ Upton left the game in the 5th with a left shoulder strain.
The Rays have won 8 of 9 games while the O's have lost 4 of their last 5. The Birds begin a ten-game road trip Friday night in Los Angeles.
RAYS TAKE SERIES FINALE, 4-2
The Orioles offense is going the wrong way again. Today the Birds were held to three hits in a 4-2 loss to Tampa. After the Orioles won Tuesday, the Rays take the final two games of the series.
The O's have now lost 4 of 5 games and fall to 15-13 as they get set to start a 10-game road trip Friday night in Los Angeles.
Tampa moves ahead of the O's into second place and has won eight of its last nine games. The O's had just ten hits in the final two games of the series.
Carl Crawford's two-run single in the 7th off Jamie Walker broke a 2-2 tie and scored Shawn Riggans who had walked and Jason Bartlett, who singled.
Tampa scored in the first and fourth for a 2-0 lead until the O's tied it on an Adam Jones two-run shot to left in the fourth. His second O's homer traveled 376 feet.
But the O's offense went dormant after that hit. Tampa pitching retired the final 13 O's batters in a row.
Brian Roberts did go 1-3 to extend his batting streak to 11 games.
Losing pitcher Brian Burres allowed 3er over 6ip. He has worked to an ERA of just 1.37 his past three starts.
Winning pitcher Matt Garza gave up just three hits and two runs over six innings to improve to 1-0.
Jeremy Guthrie pitches Friday at 10:05pm in the first game of the road trip vs. the Angels.
Tampa 4-9-0
Balt 2-3-1
POST-GAME NOTES
THE OFFENSE IS OFFENSIVE
The O's "attack" today consisted of just three hits, none after the fourth inning. After Jones two-run homer in the 4th, Rays pitching retired 16 of the last 17 hitters. The one that reached was on a walk.
The O's produced just 3 runs on 10 hits in the series final two games, batting just .164 (10-61).
The O's matched their season low of three hits, they also had just three on 4-10 vs. Texas.
CARL TOUGH ON THE O'S
Carl Crawford's two-run single in the 7th broke the 2-2 tie. This season, in eight games vs. the O's, he has six RBI. Carlos Pena, who knocked in a first-inning run, has 12 RBI vs. the Birds in 2008.
ROBERTS STREAKING
Brian Roberts extended his hitting streak to 11 with a first-inning single. He is batting .350 during the streak (14-40). It's the longest O's hit streak of this season. B-Rob's career-high streak is a 20-gamer from May of 2005.
BURRES ON A ROLL
He didn't pitch shutout ball this time, but Brian Burres gave the team another good start. He gave up four runs, three earned, on six hits in six innings. Over his last three starts his ERA is 1.37.
He does remain winless in his career vs. the Rays and is 0-3 9.64 in 11 career outings vs. the Rays.
TAMPA ROLLING
The Rays came here off back to back sweeps of Toronto and Boston and have now won 8 of 9 contests. They take a third series in a row for just the 2nd time since 2005. May has historically been the Rays worst month of the season, with an all-time win percentage of .367 in May.
KEY QUOTES
Dave Trembley on the O's loss
"They got hits with guys on and we didn't, that's what the game came down to. Burres made some big pitches, but the walk to Riggans was critiical........Garza was good with good velocity, but there were some at bats where we got ourselves out chasing bad pitches."
Brian Burres on his outing
"I felt good out there. The pitch to Gomes was a bad pitch. I wish I had not walked the leadoff guy in the 7th, that's not the way to start an inning.........Every time I go out there I feel good and try to give our team a chance to win."
Adam Jones on the lack of offense
"We'll go thru struggles as a team. We've got to go on the road and play good baseball. All we do is hit our pitch. There's no panic in this lockeroom."
Steve Melewski's live GameBlog from Camden Yards
RAYS SHINE IN THE SEVENTH
Rays 4 O's 2......middle of 7th
Bad things can happen when you walk the leadoff batter. Brian Burres did in the 7th, issuing the free pass to catcher Shawn Riggans. Then number nine hitter Jason Bartlett singled and on his liner to center, Adam Jones booted the ball and the runners advanced to second and third with none out.
Then Jamie Walker replaced Burres. He fanned Iwamura, but Crawford delivered a 2-run single for a 4-2 lead.
Burres final line: 6ip, 6h, 4r, 3er, 3b, 6k.......110 pitches
Dan Wheeler is on to pitch to the O's in the 7th.
UPTON UPDATE
BJ Upton left today's game in the 5th inning with a left shoulder strain. He is listed as day to day.
PITCHERS DUEL
O's 2 Rays 2.....end of six
The starters have been stellar. Burres a five-hitter and Garza a three-hitter. Burres has 99 pitches so far and Walker is up in the pen. Garza is at 98 pitches, so both pens may decide this game. Gomes and Jones have homered.
SCARY SIGHT
The Rays 23-year-old superstar in the making, BJ Upton, leaves the game injured in the top of the 5th. He swung at a 1-1 pitch and fouled it off, then grabbed at his left arm. The trainer rushed out and he quickly walked off. Upton began today hitting .293-3-21. We'll pass along an update on him when we get it.
Nathan Haynes came on to finish the at bat and took a called third strike. The strikeout is charged on Upton's record.
THE BAYSOX ARE WINNERS TODAY
Bowie went on to win that 11am start today with Portland, 3-1.
Winning pitcher Brad Bergesen allowed just one run and six hits over 8ip. He has given up just one run in two Bowie starts for an ERA of 0.60. Nolan Reimold went 2-4, with a double and is now batting .250. Bowie is 14-12.
AN ADAM BOMB
The O's with a two-out rally in the 4th. Huff with a double to left and then, Adam Jones on a 1-1 pitch, hits a two-run blast to left for a 2-2 tie. His second O's homer traveled 376 feet. His first O's homer came April 15 off Toronto's Sean Marcum. Today he takes Garza deep for the tie.
HERE'S JONNY
TB 2 O's 0........middle of fourth
Gomes hit his 3rd homer of the year in the 4th for a 2-0 Tampa lead. He hit the first pitch of the at bat 373 feet into the left-field stands. It's only the secod homer given up by Burres in 29.1 innings.
RAYS LEADING AFTER THREE
TB 1 O's 0........end of third
The Orioles are hitting some line drives, but no runs to show for it yet. Garza has thrown 41 pitches, allowing just one hit so far. Burres, in giving up a first-inning run, saw his scoreless run end at 13.2 ip. Thru three today he has allowed two hits with two K's and has thrown 51 pitches.
BAYSOX UPDATE
Bowie is hosting Portland today in a game that began at 11am. The Baysox lead 3-1 in the 5th. Brad Bergesen, making his second AA start, has allowed just 1 run in 5 innings. He pitched seven shutout innings in his first Baysox start.
Nolan Reimold has a double and RBI today. He recently had a ten-game batting streak and his average is inching up. Now at .245.
In last night's Baysox win lefty Chris Waters got another win. He is now 5-0 with an ERA of 1.41. The Baysox have won seven of their last ten and are 13-12 overall.
TOO MANY WALKS
What has happened to O's pitchers control lately ??? They walked seven last night and 35 over the last five games. The team ERA is 4.93 the last five games. Today Brian Burres has walked two in two innings.
It's now raining at the Yard in the bottom of the second, with TB leading 1-0.
Rays 1 O's 0.....middle of first
With one out, Burres walked Carl Crawford, he went to third on a BJ Upton double and scored on Carlos Pena's groundout. That's Pena's 12th RBI vs. the O's this year. Upton is now 12-28 this year vs. O's pitching.
Brian Roberts led off the O's first with a ground single to center, extending his hitting streak to 11 games.
PLAY BALL !!!!
We're underway in Baltimore, final game of the series, O's and Rays. Brian Burres vs. Matt Garza. Burres starts with 13.2 consecutive scoreless innings.
First pitch was at 12:37pm and it's 57degrees.
Check back often today for live updates from the Yard.
Since winning six of eight games, the O's have lost three of their last four. They are now 10-5 in home games. The O's have posted their first winning record in April since 2005.
The O's inconsistent offense came up with seven hits, all singles, last night. It's just the second time this season, the club failed to come up with any extra-base hits. The O's have been held to two runs or less 8 times in 2008.
Brian Roberts had two hits Wednesday and now is batting .351 (13-37) during a ten-game batting streak. He has scored 8 runs, hit two homers and knocked in 6 runs during the streak.
With yesterday's loss, the O's are 3-4 on the season vs. Tampa. The O's are now 96-79 all-time vs. the Rays, including a 52-35 home record.
PRE-GAME NOTES FROM CAMDEN YARDS
TODAY'S ORIOLES LINEUP
2B Brian Roberts
3B Melvin Mora
RF Nick Markakis
1B Kevin Millar
DH Aubrey Huff
CF Adam Jones
LF Jay Payton
C Guillermo Quiroz
SS Eider Torres
P Brian Burres
TREMBLEY'S TALK
Much of today's press briefing with manager Dave Trembley centered around the O's erratic offense, which beginning today, ranks 11th in the league in runs scored and OBP and 10th in team batting average.
The Orioles have scored two runs or less eight times already.
"I think our bats will heat up on this road trip. We'll get some guys out for early hitting.......You've got to get a good pitch and hit it. I see us when we get our pitch, we don't hit it or we hit into bad luck........We've also chased a lot of bad pitches, we've swung at too many pitches that aren't strikes........As for our lineup, I really don't see a lot of flexibility in moving guys to different spots."
Last night the O's were held without an extra-base hit for just the second time this season.
Ironically, an O's team that is said to have a less than formidable middle of the order, is 5th in the league in home runs.
"We've got guys who wil hit 10 or more (homers). That's suited for the balance of our team. If you have one big bopper, he probably won't be pitched to."
Trembley was asked if he's concerned about Bob McCrory after his shaky major-league debut with four runs allowed Wednesday night.
"I expected him to be anxious and nervous. The more attention you bring to it, the worse it is. You just treat it as another day and not show him you're panicking. We'll watch him and talk to him."
Trembley is not starting Luis Hernandez today as a precaution. He rolled his ankle in the game last night. Hernandez is available to play today and the injury is not serious.
Trembley talked about Luke Scott who has just 1 hit in his last 13 at bats and is in a 3-31 drought since April 19th when he was batting .386.
"This is more of a mental day for Luke. I see him feeling for the ball, he's really pressing to be honest with you."
THEY DID GOOD
Two young O's pitchers who gave up a combined five runs last night, in my humble opinion, handled themselves very well after the game Wednesday.
Bob McCrory, who had to be so down after his big-league debut featured four runs and two walks in a third of an inning, was right there to answer any reporters questions. He said he was not nervous he just didn't get the job done. He sounded very confident when he said he will quickly put that outing behind him.
McCrory, who has a power arm for sure, is another pitcher here kind of fast. Just two years ago he was with Aberdeen. Last year, Frederick and Bowie. And this year, he has pitched just 10 innings at AAA when he got "the call.". So we need to be patient with him, he's not that young in age, at 25, but very raw in experience.
Dennis Sarfate also was a stand up guy after his shaky outing. He was almost apologetic to McCrory for allowing some of his runs to score in Bob's big-league debut. Sarfate says he remains confident after some recent struggles.
He also showed a little fire last night when he had some words with Tampa's Carlos Pena, who he apparently thought, was trying to steal some signs. Dave Trembley said today he reminded Sarfate that these clubs still have to play a lot this year. But he doesn't want his players to back down either.
I'll be very interested to see how both young pitchers respond after last night, the next time they take the mound.
THE O'S HIT BETTER AT HOME
Home: .267 average, 14 homers, 4.6 runs per game
Road: .234 average, 14 homers, 3.8 runs per game
TODAY'S PITCHERS
Brian Burres (3-1 2.49) coming off two straight excellent outings where he has not been scored on, takes the ball today for the O's. In his past two starts, vs. the Yankees and White Sox, he has pitched 13.2ip of scoreless ball giving up just 8 hits.
Last Saturday he was dominant at times in Chicago, pitching eight shutout innings of three-hit ball. He fanned four and did not walk a batter, throwing 98 pitches.
Burres one loss this year came April 13 at Tampa. That day he took a no-hitter into the 5th inning, but then got knocked out during Tampa's six-run outburst. He gave up a two-run single to Carl Crawford and 3-run homer to BJ Upton.
He has poor career numbers vs. Tampa, an 0-2 record and 11.42 ERA in 10 games, two starts vs. TB. He has allowed 22er and 5 HR's in 17.1 career innings vs. the Rays.
His opponent today is 24-year-old righty Matt Garza. In three starts this season, one vs. Baltimore, he is 0-0 7.62. He has allowed 11er in 13 ip, giving up a batting average of .321.
April 2nd he faced the O's at Camden Yards. He gave up five runs, six hits and two homers in 5.1 ip serving up longballs to Brian Roberts and Aubrey Huff.
Garza was the Twins first-round pick (25th overall) in 2005 out of Fresno State.
In four career starts vs. Baltimore, he is 3-0 3.68. He beat the O's twice in 2006 and once last season.
TAMPA HITTERS IN 2008 VS. O'S PITCHING
Bartlett 3-21
Crawford 7-30, 4 rbi
Floyd 2-7, 1 HR
Gomes 1-10
Haynes 4-13
Hinske 3-11, 2 HR, 4 rbi
Iwamura 6-24, 2 rbi
Longoria 4-13, 1 rbi
Navarro 7-16, 3 rbi
Pena 7-27, 4 HR, 11 rbi
Upton 11-27, 2 HR, 10 rbi
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