Olson start wasted; Brown's 10th inning single wins it for A's, 2-1
For the Orioles another wasted excellent effort by a starter. Another night of little offense. Another frustrating loss, their third in a row by a total of four runs.
In the last of the tenth, Jim Johnson, the 5th O's pitcher, got the first two outs. But then Daric Barton singled and Johnson walked slumping Frank Thomas. That put the winning run in scoring position and seconds later Emil Brown singled to center to win it, 2-1.
The O's struggling offense finally scored in the 9th. Melvin Mora led off the 9th with a double vs. Huston Street. He would later suffer the blown save when Ramon Hernandez plated Mora with an RBI groundout.
The A's used a pair of infield hits to break the scoreless tie in the 7th. With two outs and the sacks full, Rajai Davis' RBI infield hit made it 1-0 A's.
Garrett Olson got a no decision. He pitched great, allowing just four hits and one run in 6.1ip. His ERA in two O's starts, is 2.08. Oakland starter Dana Eveland gave up just three hits in seven shutout innings.
The O's have lost back to back one-run decisions and fall to 16-16. They are at the .500 mark for the first time since they were 1-1.
The A's improved to 20-14 and are now 10-9 at home.
Balt 1-5-0
Oak 2-8-0
POST-GAME NOTES
OLSON AGAIN
Maybe this time the Orioles won't wait three days to confirm he's going to make another start. That's two good ones in a row and the biggest developement of the night. Olson was better this time and I'm still suprised he was taken out when he was.
Olson's line: 6.1ip, 4h, 1r-er, 1b, 7k......96 pitches, 64 strikes.
He has allowed 3er in 13 ip in two starts for an ERA of 2.08. His curve was excellent tonight and he had all three pitches working well. The great command he had tonight maybe shows he's finally settling in and is relaxed out there and showing the club the real him.
Isn't it great to see an honest to goodness O's pitching prospect come up and deliver. He won't be the last either.
THE (LACK) OF HITTING AGAIN
Take away yesterday's 15 hit game and the O's have these hits totals the last four times out: 3, 8, 3 and 5. So much for Sunday's breakout. No one expected big numbers from this offense, but could we have expected it to be this bad ?
Maybe it will get better but this was the 7th time this season they scored just one run and 11 times they have put up two runs or less and are 0-11 in those games.
HUFF STREAKING
Aubrey Huff went 1-3 with a walk. His 4th inning single extended his batting streak to nine games. He is batting .375 (12-32) during the streak. His career best streak is a 17-gamer set in 2002.
OAKLAND PITCHING
The A's began the night with the majors best ERA at 3.19 and lowered it.
Over the last 17 games, their team ERA is 2.62. They have the best starting pitching in the league and lowered their starter's ERA to 3.33. A's starters have allowed two runs or less 19 times in 34 games.
Steve Melewski's live GameBlog
EXTRA INNINGS
O's 1 Oak 1......end of nine
Jim Johnson came on in the last of the 9th, pitching for the third day in a row. He got out of a jam and this game heads to extra innings tied at 1. O's 1-0 in extras on the year.
O's 1 A's 1......middle of 9th
Melvin Mora led off the 9th vs. Huston Street with a double. Huff then walked. Millar flied to deep center, sending Melvin to third. With first and third and one out, Ramon Hernandez hit a slow roller to short, it scored Mora as Crosby threw to first for the sure out. It looked like he could have tried for the 6-4-3 DP to end it, but he didn't risk it.
FRUSTRATION LEVEL MOUNTS
A's 1 O's 0......middle of 8th
The O's had runners on second and third with one out in the 8th and STILL COULD NOT SCORE. They had the hitters you would want up, but Roberts flied out to short right vs. Alan Embree on a 3-1 pitch and Nick Markakis grounded to short on a 2-0. Right guys, hitters count, no runs.
A'S GET THE LEAD
A's 1 O's 0........end of seven
I'm still upset Olson was taken out and madder even to see the A's get a lead on two infield hits after Olson left. Walker was late covering first on the last one, but what luck (bad luck) for Olson, who may even lose this game. Can the O's get a run ??
Is each O's loss getting tougher to take than the last ???
Come on comeback.
WHAT !!!!
I will first guess this move, before Albers throws a pitch. Olson pitching a gem of gems, gets taken out with two on and one out in the 7th. I can't believe that move. Let's see how Albers does, but the A's went 4-22 at bat today vs. Olson. He has all his pitches working but now can't use them again tonight.
NICK THE STICK ???
He's still got the stick its just not producing many hits. He was just robbed on a great diving stop by 3B Donnie Murphy who snared his liner and then doubled Roberts off first.
Coming into tonight, Markakis was 6-36 his last nine games, dropping his average from .324 to .273. And he is 0-3 tonight.
Still, 0-0, bottom of 6th.
WHO WILL CRACK FIRST ???
O's 0 Oak 0.......end of five
Both starters continue to roll. Olson has allowed just three hits, all singles and only one runner has even reached second base. He has fanned six without a walk, thru five. He is rolling, but so is Eveland. Last inning the O's were making quick outs, as well.
Eveland has 65 pitches and Olson has 72 pitches, 51 for strikes. Who blinks first. ?
THREE IN THE BOOKS
O's 0 A's 0.........end of three
Both starters going well early. Olson has allowed two leadoff singles, but no runs thru three. Eveland at 40 pitches and Olson at 44. While the change up was a big pitch for Olson last week vs. Tampa, his curve seems to be sharp tonight.
In 11 games since joining Oakland, Frank Thomas has no homers and just one RBI.
A LOT OF HITS
Note from O's PR. Since 1954 the Orioles have 74,871 hits. They need just 129 to get to 75,000 in team history.
Which Oriole has contributed the most to that amount. I'll answer in a couple of innings.
BIG OUTFIELD
O's 0 A's 0......middle of second
Garrett Olson used up a lot of it in that first inning as Sweeney and Thomas hit deep fly outs. Maybe this is a good stat for Olson. The A's are just 5-7 this year in games started by lefties and hit .234 vs. southpaws and .263 vs. RHP. Just 3 of the team's 18 homers have come vs. a lefty.
By the way, since 1999, the O's are just 27-55 vs. Oakland.
UNDERWAY IN OAKLAND
The O's and A's are underway in a matchup, not of vowels, but of baseball teams. They are begining a three-game set in Oakland. The A's team ERA of 3.19 is the best in the majors and their starting pitching ERA of 3.45 in the best in the AL.
PRE GAME NEWS AND NOTES
The team also had a tough day on the bases. Brian Roberts was picked off first and thown out trying to steal third. And Ramon Hernandez thought he had hit a homer on a deep first-inning drive to left and got thrown out at second base.
So the O's have now lost back to back series to Tampa and LA and have dropped six of their last eight. A loss tonight would drop the O's to a .500 record for the first time since they were 1-1.
The O's picked up 12 of their 15 hits Sunday off unbeaten Angels starter Joe Saunders, who entered with a 2.08 ERA. They picked up a dozen hits off the lefty in just five innings. On the day five Orioles had multi-hit games, led by Melvin Mora and Aubrey Huff with three hits each. Kevin Millar ended a 4-38 slide with two hits and two RBI. Nick Markakis hit his 6th homer.
At 16-15, the O's begin play Monday in a three-way tie for second place with New York and Tampa, three games back of the 20-13 Boston Red Sox.
Last season, the Birds went 4-4 vs. Oakland. It was the first time in 9 seasons the O's were .500 or better vs. Oakland.
Oakland lost the first two games of its weekend series vs. Texas, but won 3-1 Sunday to avoid the sweep. Jack Cust hit a two-run homer in the 7th and four A's pitchers combined on a 4-hitter. At 19-14, the A's are one game behind the Angels for the AL West lead and they have the third best record in the AL.
The A's team ERA of 3.19 is the best in the AL. Over the last 16 games, A's pitchers are even better, with an ERA of 2.74 (43er/141 ip) in that stretch.
The A's, who have lost four of their last six, were 16-11 in April, their first winning April since 2003. The A's plus 38 run differential is the best in the league.
Oakland's offense has been inconsistent. While the A's have scored ten runs or more four times, they have gotten just one run or less eight times.
They are 8th in the league in batting average, but third in runs scored. A team batting average of .320 with runners in scoring position is a big number, in fact, the best in the majors.
MONDAY NIGHT MINOR LEAGUE NOTES
At Norfolk tonight, in a game still going, Hayden Penn outpitched Louisville's Homer Bailey, ranked by Baseball America as the 9th best prospect in all of baseball. Bailey, who entered with a 2.29 ERA, has allowed four runs in seven innings as the Tides hold a late 4-1 lead.
Penn went five innings and gave up six hits, one run and fanned five.
Freddie Bynum played SS again tonight for Bowie, going 1-5.
Frederick pitcher Jake Arrieta, 5th-round pick in 2007, had another good outing tonight for the Keys. In their game with Kinston, he goes 6ip allowing just one hit and one run that was unearned. He fanned five and his ERA is 1.86.
MOUND MATTERS
Garrett Olson, coming off a win Tuesday vs. Tampa, will make his second start this season and 9th of his career tonight.
The 24-year lefty began this season at AAA and was 1-1 1.85 in 24.1 ip. He took a shutout into the 7th vs. the Rays and wound up giving up just two runs on four hits in 6.2 ip. He threw 105 pitches, setting career bests for innings and strikeouts with six.
Olson showed better fastball command than he had last year when with Baltimore and an improved change up. He also was effective pitching in on right-handed hitters.
Olson, the 48th overall pick in the 2005 draft, went 1-1 7.79 in seven Orioles starts last season.
The A's starter is LHP Dana Eveland. He is 3-2 3.67 in six starts. Tonight he makes his 48th career major-league appearance and 13th start.
In his last outing, Wednesday vs the Angels, he gave up 7 hits and 6er in 5.1 ip.
He has kept the ball in the park, allowing just one homer in 34.1ip.
In the first five innings of his starts his ERA is 2.73 and, from the 6th inning on, it is 9.64.
Eveland has never pitched vs. the Orioles.
PICKING IT UP AT THE PLATE
Melvin Mora went 6-11 in the series vs. the Angels, raising his average from .230 to .258. He picked up his second 3-hit game Sunday and scored three runs with 3 RBI in the series.
Aubrey Huff had three singles in four at bats Sunday to extend his batting streak to eight games. During the streak he is hitting .379 (11-29), upping his average from .241 to .277. Huff was 5-11 in the weekend series.
On the other hand, Adam Jones went 0-11 vs. the Angels and Brian Roberts was 2-14.
ORIOLES HITTING VS. OAKLAND IN 2007
LHernandez 2-8/0/0
RHernandez 3-15/0/1
AHuff 6-24/1/4
AJones 4-12/1/1
NMarkakis 6-28/1/4
KMillar 4-23/1/5
MMora 2-17/1/2
JPayton 10-28/0/2
BRoberts 10-30/1/8
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