Payton and Markakis with 2-run HR's as O's beat Nats, 6-5
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The O's beat the Nats 6-5 for thier 4th win in a row and 7th in 8 games.
Starter Brian Burres pitched well, allowing just two runs on four hits over 6.2 ip. He threw 87 pitches.
Jay Payton and Nick Markakis hit two-run homers. Markakis had a 3-RBI night.
In the final game of this series and homestand, Sunday at 1:35pm, it's Jeremy Guthrie (2-3 4.18) vs. John Lannan (3-4 3.74).
MARKAKIS AND PAYTON WITH TWO-RUN HOMERS LEAD O'S TO 6-5 WIN
This time the Orioles never trailed. After coming from behind to win the first three times on this homestand, they were never behind in Saturday's 6-5 win over the Nationals. The O's are 23-19 with four wins in a row.
Nick Markakis came up with a first-inning RBI single for a 1-0 lead and Baltimore's three-run 3rd, broke a 1-1 tie. In that inning, Brian Roberts doubled and scored on a Melvin Mora single. Markakis then launched a two-run homer to center. It was his 8th of the year and 4th in the last 13 contests.
Jay Payton's two-run homer in the 5th made it 6-2, O's.
With Tampa losing, the O's remain in third place, but move to a game and a half of first place in the AL East.
The Nats rallied for three in the 8th before Jim Johnson struck out Austin Kearns with the bases-loaded to hang on to the 6-5 lead.
Winning pitcher Brian Burres allowed just two runs on four hits in 6.2 ip, improving to 4-4. He ended a three-start losing streak.
The top four in the O's order, Roberts, Mora, Markakis and Millar went a combined 8-16 with a homer, two doubles, five runs scored and four RBI.
Aaron Boone went 2-3 with 2 RBI for the Nats, who fall to 18-26.
The O's, winners of seven of their last eight games, are now 14-6 in home games and 4-0 on this homestand.
Wash 5-7-1
Balt 6-13-0
POST-GAME NOTES
THE OFFENSE IS IMPROVING
It is most welcome to see the Orioles score six runs on 13 hits, all of which was eventually needed to win tonight. The top four in the order combined to go 8-16 with four RBI. In winning 7 of the last 8 games, the O's have scored 39 runs.
They are now 11-2 when getting ten or more hits and 20-5 when scoring four or more runs. The 13 hits was two off the season high.
CINTRON MADE AN IMPRESSION
Alex Cintron, in his first O's start, went 4-4 with four singles. He had two infield hits. Quite a starting debut. He is now 4-5 with the O's for an .800 average. The four-hit game tied his career high, which he has achieved five times.
THEY GOT HIM THIS TIME
In his previous three career starts vs. the O's, lefty Odalis Perez was 2-0 2.70. He had given up 6er over 20 ip vs. Baltimore. Tonight he gave up 6er in five innings. He allowed the Payton and Markakis two-run homers and now has given up 10 homers on the year in 56 innings. Tonight he gave up a season-high six runs.
BURRES TURNAROUND
Brian Burres picked up his first win since April 26th. In his previous three starts he was 0-3 5.19 ERA. It was his second longest outing of the year at 6.2 ip. He improved to 4-4 and lowered his ERA from 3.59 to 3.47. He threw 87 pitches, 52 for strikes.
FINAL NOTES
The O's improve to 14-6 at home, the Nats fall to 8-15 on the road.........Brian Roberts had two hits and extends his hit streak to six games during which he is 9-23.......Adam Jones was 5-9 his last three games, but went 0-4..........The O's are 4-0 on the homestand, scoring 17 runs in the four games.........O's are four games over .500 for the first time since they were 15-11 on April 29........O's are now 11-5 in one-run games and 18 of their 23 wins have been decided by three or fewer runs.
KEY QUOTES
Dave Trembley on winning another close one
"We got some timely hitting tonight. Cintron made an impression with the bat. Burres' are angle was off a bit and Alan Dunn helped him with that. Johnson found a way to get that third out. Our poise was good in that 8th inning. There are some situations we can learn from tonight.
Dave Trembley on why he took Bradford out in the 8th
"Sarfate just missed with Young, I thought that was the right situation for Sarfate to come in and throw fastballs. Young is a low-ball hitter, if you're going to get him out you have to crowd him up. We wanted Sarfate to keep pounding the fastball to him."
Dave Trembley on Johnson's outing
"Mentally you always have to be ready, even when the score is 6-2. Johnson warmed up in a hurry and I'm not sure he was ready. I don't think he wanted to go in on Milledge at 0-2. That pitch got away from him. But Johnson has been the epitome of poise, composure and doesn't give in. He's a winner."
Nick Markakis on the win
"Our pitching has been doing a great job. We are starting to score some runs, we are swinging the bat well in key situations. It was an exciting game, we've been doing a good job under pressure. JJ threw a great pitch and we had timely hitting and pitching."
Steve Melewski's live GameBlog
THAT WAS CLOSE
O's 6 Nats 5....middle of 8th
The Nats came up with three in the 8th to pull within 6-5. Aaron Boone hit a two-run single and Lastings Milledge was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
With two on, two out and the O's up 6-2, Dave Trembley brought in Sarfate for Bradford. He gave up a walk and two-run single. Then Jim Johnson was called on yet again and this night didn't have his best command.
He walked a batter and hit one to force in the run that made it 6-5. But with the sacks full and the crowd roaring he struck out Austin Kearns on a 3-2 pitch to preserve the one-run lead. Yikes, that was close.
BRADFOR IN FOR BURRES
Chad Bradford came on for Burres and got the last out of the top of the 7th. It has been a week since Bradford last worked.
Burres tonight: 6.2ip, 4h, 2r-er, 2b, 3k, 1 HR........87 pitches.
He is in line for his 4th win and out to end his three-start losing streak.
NEW NATS PITCHER
Joel Hanrahan comes on in the 6th for Odalis Perez. Perez had an ERA of 2.70 in three previous starts vs. the O's.
Perez first 3 career starts vs. O's: 6er in 20ip, 2.70 ERA
Perez tonight vs. Orioles: 6er in 5ip, 10.80 ERA.
TOP FOUR DELIVER FOR O'S
O's 6 Nats 2.....end of five
Jay Payton with a two-out, two-run homer to left in the 5th extends O's lead to 6-2 after five. It's Payton's 4th homer and came on a 3-1 pitch.
The top four in the order, Roberts, Mora, Markakis and Millar are a combined 7 for 11, with a homer, two doubles, five runs scored and four RBI. Batting ninth, Alex Cintron is 2-2 with two singles. The O's have 10 hits already and are 10-2 when they get ten hits or more.
Burres has only thrown 61 pitches thru five frames.
ZIMMERMAN BIG FLY
O's 4 Nats 2.....middle of 4th
Ryan Zimmerman's solo HR in the 4th brings the Nats within 4-2. His 8th homer of the year went 362 feet into the left-field seats. Zimmerman is 4-7 in the series.
STEVEN JOHNSON GETTING IT DONE
Congrats to Baltimore's own Steven Johnson, a pitcher for the Great Lakes Loons, a Dodgers farm team. He pitched seven shutout innings today in a win over Dayton and has now pitched 20 consecutive scoreless innings. He is 5-1 on the year with an ERA of 1.42.
The 20-year-old righty was the Maryland High School Player of the Year in 2005 while pitching for St. Paul's school and is the son of O's radio broadcaster Dave Johnson, who you hear on the O's pre-game and post-game shows on WHFS and the O's radio network.
NICK THE STICK WITH A BLAST
O's 4 Nats 1.......end of 3rd
In the O's 3rd, Brian Roberts led off with a double and scored on Melvin Mora's single to make it 2-0. Seconds later, Nick Markakis ripped a two-run homer to center for a 4-1 lead. The two-run shot was his 8th homer of the year and traveled 395 feet. It's his 4th homer in the last 13 games.
Mora is already 2-2, with two runs scored and Markakis has 3 RBI.
NATS QUICKLY TIE IT
O's 1 Nats 1......middle of second
The one-run lead didn't last long. Dmitri Young led off the second with a single and went to third on Aaron Boone's double, runners on second and third with none out. Jesus Flores hit an RBI grounder advancing both runners and tieing the game. But Milledge grounded back to the mound and Kearns was called out on strikes as Burres did a good job keeping the Nats to one.
O'S SCORE FIRST
O's 1 Nats 0......end of first
With one out, Mora doubled to left. Then Markakis ripped an RBI single to center for a 1-0 lead. His 20th rbi of the season. Today, anyway, the Orioles do not fall behind early on. Orioles are 10-6 this season when they score first.
Burres had a 1-2-3 first.
UNDERWAY IN BALTIMORE
Tonight's game between the O's and Nats is underway in Baltimore. The O's are looking for a fourth win in a row and a chance to get back to four games over .500.
First pitch was at 7:06pm and it's 79 degrees at game time. Check back during tonight's game for updates and notes.
At 22-19, Baltimore would be in first place in the Central division or second in the West. In the AL East, they are in third place, 2.5 games back of Tampa Bay. The Birds own the fourth-best record in the AL.
In Friday's 5-3 win over the Nats, the bullpen backed starter Garrett Olson with four shutout innings. Brian Roberts went 2-4. He tripled and scored the O's 4th run in the fifth inning on a Melvin Mora double.
Maybe the O's will be better in interleague play in 2008. They went 6-12 last season vs. the NL and are 80-114 since interleague play began in 1997.
The Nats saw a two-game win streak end. They are now 7-8 in May and 8-14 on the road this year.
PRE-GAME NOTES FROM CAMDEN YARDS
TONIGHT'S ORIOLES LINEUP
2B Brian Roberts
3B Melvin Mora
RF Nick Markakis
1B Kevin Millar
DH Aubrey Huff
C Ramon Hernandez
LF Jay Payton
CF Adam Jones
SS Alex Cintron
P Brian Burres
PITCHING MATCHUP
Lefty Brian Burres is out to break a three-start losing streak when he makes his 8th start of the season tonight. Burres is 3-4 with an ERA of 3.59.
But he is 0-3 5.19 (17.1ip-10er) over his past three starts. Before that stretch he had back to back outings vs. the Yankees and White Sox where he pitched 13.2 innings without giving up a run.
Burres has proven to be tough when in jams this year and gives up a batting average of just .209 with runners in scoring position. In home games only, he is 1-1 2.13 in three outings, two starts.
He has pitched just 1.1 career innings without allowing a run vs. Washington.
Lefty Odalis Perez (1-3 3.71) is set to make his 10th start for the Nats. He won his last start, Monday vs. the Mets, despite allowing four runs and 11 hits in 6.1 ip.
The 30-year-old Perez has been touched up for some homers, he's allowed 8 in 51 innings.
Perez limits left-handed batters to a .175 average, while righties hit .305. His strikeouts are up this season. He averages 6.9 per 9 innings in 2008 while last season, with Kansas City, he averaged 4.2.
In five road starts, he is 1-2 4.61. Perez has made three career starts vs. the Orioles, with a mark of 2-0 2.70 (6er - 20 ip).
CINTRON READY FOR HIS FIRST START
Alex Cintron makes his first start with the Orioles tonight, batting ninth at shortstop. Cintron was hitting .288 in 16 games at AAA before being recalled by the O's May 11th.
He has a career major-league average of .277 in 598 big-league games with Arizona and the Chicago White Sox.
"It's always exciting to get a chance to play and show what you can do," Cintron said today before batting practice. "This team is playing well and hopefully I can help them win another ballgame."
Cintron talked to Ramon Hernandez and Robbie Alomar before signing with the Orioles.
"I'm happy to be here and want to help this team any way, coming off the bench, to hit vs. left-handed pitching, to play short, second, third, outfield, whatever, anything that helps."
What about his chance to become the team's regular shortstop ?
"There's always an opportunity to show the manager what you can do, but at the same time Freddie Bynum is doing a great job defensively and at bat. If I get the chance to show I can do, I will do that."
Last season, Cintron batted .243 in 68 games with the White Sox. His best season was in 2003 with Arizona, when he hit .317--13--51, with 26 doubles in 117 games.
WALKER STAYING CONFIDENT
Despite the fact he has allowed 17 hits in 11 innings this year and despite the fact that left-handed batters are hitting .394 against him in 2008, veteran reliever Jamie Walker remains confident.
"I'm still confident, you gotta have that swagger and that's what I tell the younger guys down there. You've got to keep a good attitude and just go out and battle."
How does he analyze his struggles this year vs. lefty hitters ?
"You beat yourself up. You try to forget because I'll be out there almost every day. I've got to simplify things and regroup. The worst thing is feeling bad for yourself, because that hitter won't feel bad for you."
He said his release point has been off on a couple of pitches and he has looked at his mechanics to fix that.
DAVE TREMBLEY MEETS WITH REPORTERS
Dave Trembley told reporters he moved Kevin Millar back into the cleanup spot tonight only because the Nats are starting lefty Odalis Perez.
Trembley said Millar is swinging better these days.
"He's used the whole field a lot better and hit the ball the other way better. He's drawing more walks and seeing more pitches. He's put a tremendous amount of time in early hitting. Plus he's saved us some runs at first base with his glove."
Trembley said he's excited to see how Alex Cintron plays at short tonight.
"I am. He's shown very good skills in pre-game work. I'm confident he'll have a nice game. I told Bynum the shortstop job was his until he lost it and at this time he hasn't done anything to lose it."
Trembley said Rocky Cherry was supposed to pitch for AA Bowie last night but didn't because of poor weather. He is slated to pitch an inning with the Baysox tonight then take two days off and later join AAA Norfolk.
Chris Ray is expected to pitch off a mound for the first time this coming Monday.
"That's a big step in his rehab, to throw off the mound."
HITTING STREAKS
Brian Roberts: 5 games, 7-17, with 6 runs scored
Adam Jones: 3 games, 5-9, raising ave. from .223 to .245
Ramon Hernandez: 4 games, 6-15
MINOR LEAGUE NOTE
The AA Bowie Baysox won their 10th straight home game last night to tie a team record set 10 years ago. The Baysox scored twice in the last of the 9th to beat Connecticut, 4-3, winning on a Nolan Reimold walk-off double.
The Baysox won ten in a row at home from August 6-21, 1988. They can break the record tonight at Prince George's Stadium at 7:05 with Brad Bergesen (3-0 1.38) on the mound.
Bowie is now 24-17, in second place in the Southern division, two games back of Harrisburg.
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