Kevin Millar's RBI single in the 10th gives O's 2-1, walk-off win over Houston
Kevin Millar's RBI single in the 10th inning gave the Orioles a 2-1 win over Houston. Jose Valverde came on to pitch in the last of the 10th. With one out, Melvin Mora singled and the next batter, Aubrey Huff singled to left. Mora, running on the pitch, made third base with one out.
Millar then singled to center on a 2-1 pitch to end the game. Millar was 0-9 in this series until his game-winning hit.
The Orioles are now 4-1 on this homestand and are 36-34 on the season. They are two games over .500 for the first time since May 22nd. The Orioles are now 17-10 in one-run decisions.
Luke Scott led off the last of the seventh with a solo homer to tie the game, 1-1. He hit a 423-foot shot to center field, on a 3-0 pitch, for his 12th homer of the year and 5th in his last 8 games. The Orioles left the bases loaded in the seventh and left 11 on base for the night.
Lance Berkman's 20th homer of the year broke the scoreless tie and gave Houston a 1-0 lead in the seventh. Berkman's 430-foot blast to right field landed on Eutaw Street. He now has 58 RBI.
O's starter Jeremy Guthrie gave up just one run and three hits over a season-high, 8 innings. He fanned a season-high 8 batters in producing his 12th quality start of the season.
Chad Bradford pitched two innings to get the win and is 3-2. Valverde took the loss, falling to 4-2. Houston has lost seven in a row and 11 of 13 games.
Houston starter Brian Moehler allowed one run and five hits over 6 1/3. He walked two and fanned four.
Hous 1-5-0
Balt 2-10-1
Postgame Notes
Millar's Hit Ends It
Kevin Millar went 0-5 in the O's win last night and was 0-4 tonight when he walked to the plate in the 10th inning. His single ended the game and gave him his 37th RBI and the O's a walk-off win. Dave Trembley said to Millar before he batted "do you remember the bunt sign?" He was only kidding, and Millar swung away and the O's picked up a win. Millar now has 12 RBI his last 16 games.
Guthrie Gutty Again
Jeremy Guthrie said as Brian Moehler was putting up zeros for Houston, he wanted to match him and better him. Guthrie gave his team maybe his best outing of the year, but again, did not get a win. It's remarkable that he has just three wins in 16 starts. He pitched a brilliant eight innings with just three hits allowed and he fanned eight. He retired the side in order six times and lowered his ERA to 3.51.
After the game, Guthrie talked about his outing.
Another Close One
The Orioles have now played four straight one-run games, winning three of them. They are 17-10 in one-run games after winning 13 all last year. They improved to 3-4 in extra-inning games with this victory.
Late Scoring Change
Pinch-hitter Jay Payton reached on an error by the second baseman in the 7th inning. The play was later changed to a base hit for Payton and no error. So the O's finished with ten hits, not nine and Houston ends up with 0 errors, not one.
Final Notes
The Orioles are 6-2 in interleague play while Houston falls to 1-7.......The O's came from behind for the 21st time and they have been down in all four wins on this homestand......Brian Roberts had a single in the 6th inning and is now nine hits shy of 1,000 for his career.....Luke Scott's homer in the 7th was the first by an Oriole this season, on a 3-0 pitch.......Bradford's two-inning outing was his longest of the season......Miguel Tejada went 0-4 and is 0-7 in this series.
Key Quotes
Dave Trembley on Millar
"He wants to do it so badly that I think he squeezes the sawdust out of the bat. So I tried to relax him a little bit before he came up. He's such a veteran guy and has been through so much."
Dave Trembley on Luke Scott Hitting a 3-0 Pitch
"It depends on your hitter (to let him hit 3-0). You have to know the pitcher tendencies. You play the percentage right there. If I know it's a breaking ball I probably wouldn't let him hit."
Luke Scott on the O's Winning Ways
"This team we go about our business with a blue collar-type mentality. We punch our clock, grab our tools, then go out and have fun and enjoy what we do. No matter what the score is we're fighting from start to finish."
Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog From Camden Yards
Guthrie's Night Is Over
Chad Bradford comes on in the 9th of this 1-1 tie.
Guthrie's line: 8IP, 3H, 1R-ER, 1B, 8K, 1 HR.........105 pitches.
A Guthrie gem that will result in a no decision. He threw 74 strikes among 105 pitches and lowered his ERA to 3.51. It's his 12th quality start of the year and his 7th in his last 8 starts.
Guthrie
He has now pitched a season-high 8 innings with a season-high 8 strikeouts. He has retired the side in order six times tonight. Hope they get him more than one run.
Luke's Homer
Since it came vs. his former team, and in a big spot, that homer had to feel good for Luke Scott. It's his 12th of the year and ties him with Markakis for the team lead. He got the green light on a 3-0 pitch and didn't miss it. A 423-foot shot to center. It's his 5th homer in his last 8 games and his 11th in the last 30 games.
Berkman's Homer
Jeremy Guthrie retired 15 consecutive batters before Lance Berkman's Eutaw Street homer gave Houston a 1-0 lead in the seventh. It came on a 1-1 pitch and traveled 430 feet. It's the 4th Eutaw Street homer of this season and 44th in OPACY history.
It was Berkman's 20th homer and RBI number 58. Berkman began the night 2nd in the NL in batting, tied for 4th in homers and 4th in RBI.
Six-Inning Pitcher Update
Guthrie: 6IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 5K.......72 pitches
Moehler: 6iP, 3h, 0R, 2BB, 3K........82 pitches
Pitching Probables
For the O's series this weekend in Milwaukee.
Fri at 8:05pm: Radhames Liz (1-0, 4.32) vs. RH Jeff Suppan (4-4, 3.68)
Sat at 7:05pm: Daniel Cabrera (5-2, 4.45) vs. RH Seth McClung (3-3, 4.07)
Sun at 2:05pm: Garrett Olson (5-2, 4.80) vs. LH Manny Parra (5-2, 4.66)
Not 1.000 Anymore
That was Melvin Mora's batting average vs. tonight's Houston starter, Brian Moehler, 6-6 with two doubles before tonight for a 1.000 average. Tonight, Mora has been retired twice so far by Moehler on groundouts.
Guthrie's Strong Start
Jeremy Guthrie is throwing well tonight, shutout ball, through three innings. He has fanned two and pitched out of a second and third, one-out jam in the second. He has thrown 39 pitches so far. With O's starters pitching to an ERA of 6.38 their last 13 starts, they could really use a solid outing from Guthrie tonight.
More Draft Picks Signed
The Orioles have now signed 27 of their 50 draft picks. They signed their second-round pick along with picks from rounds three, four, six, seven and nine. Here are the names of the top ten picks that have signed.
Round two: Xavier Avery
Round three: LJ Hoes
Round four: Kyle Hudson
Round six: Richard Zagone
Round seven: Caleb Joseph
Round nine: Nicholas Haughian
Play Ball In Baltimore
Game two of the O's-Houston series is underway. First pitch was at 7:06 p.m. and it's 78 degrees. It's gotten very cloudy and the wind has picked up as we start this game. Check back during the game for news and updates.
Starting Line-Ups
Astros
CF Micheal Bourn
2B Kaz Matsui
SS Miguel Tejada
DH Lance Berkman
LF Carlos Lee
RF Hunter Pence
1B Darin Erstad
3B Ty Wiggington
C Humberto Quintero
P Brian Moehler
Orioles
2B Brian Roberts
RF Nick Markakis
3B Melvin Mora
DH Aubrey Huff
1B Kevin Millar
LF Luke Scott
C Ramon Hernandez
CF Adam Jones
SS Alex Cintron
P Jeremy Guthrie
Trembley's One-Year Anniversary
Dave Trembley today spent much of his pregame briefing with reporters answering questions about his one-year anniversary of sorts. A year ago today, Trembley was named interim manager of the Orioles. Last August 22nd the interim tag was removed.
"I don't feel any different managing than I did fifteen or twenty years ago. It's a game. I'm indebted to the players, they've done a great job.
"We tried to change the culture here and establish an identity. Also we wanted to re-establish a sense of pride and tradition in being a part of the Baltimore Orioles.
"Some nights when I sign autographs, fans tell me they are proud again to be an Oriole fan, it means something to them again. I don't take any credit for that. What exists here is a deep rooted generational love affair with the Orioles, which for a while, got lost in the shuffle. Right now no one needs to be embarrassed to be a fan of the Orioles."
Trembley has said he's not managing any differently now that he was in the Minor Leagues. But the Majors are a lot different than the Minors. I asked Trembley if he was confident his methods would be embraced by the 2008 Orioles.
Listen to Dave Trembley's pregame interview
Trembley said there's still a long way to go and a lot of things he wants to get done. He was asked if there have been any talks of a contract extension for him and he indicated that hasn't begun yet.
"I would feel very uneasy going to Andy MacPhail and saying 'what are you going to do for me' when in fact what the Orioles have done for me is far more than I can ever repay."
Trembley called a team meeting today before batting practice.
"I had to talk to them about a few things." he said. "I figured I got a mulligan today since it's one year since I've been here. I can say a few things and maybe people will listen."
In other club news, Randor Bierd will pitch two innings in the Gulf Coast League this Friday. He is then scheduled to pitch two other times with the GCL club then pitch for Frederick on June 28th.
Adam Loewen is scheduled to pitch two innings for Bowie tonight. He is then scheduled to pitch four more times in Bowie, then go to Triple-A Norfolk for one outing. Loewen's minor-league outings should come to an end on June 28th and Bierd should wrap up his rehab outings in the minors on July 17th.
Loewen has been making solid progress.
"He's throwing strikes and he's been good the day after he pitches, which is the most important. His warmup time has been decreased from what he did as a stater."
Luke Looks Back
Luke Scott spent the last four seasons in the Houston organization. He played in 231 games with the big club over the past three seasons. Yet he felt he never really got a shot to play full-time with Houston. He was traded to the Orioles last December in the Miguel Tejada deal.
He called that "an early Christmas present," because he felt he didn't have much of a future there.
Luke's bat is hot right now. Over his last eight games he is hitting .407 with 4 homers and 5 RBI. He has hit 10 homers in his last 29 games.
Sarfate Still Beaming
Dennis Sarfate is in his fourth day of fatherhood after his daughter Kinsley was born on Sunday, Father's Day, at 7:48 a.m. Mother Jada and the newborn are doing well.
Listen to Steve Melewski's talk with Dennis Sarfate about the birth of his first child
Game Preview
Houston (33-38) at Orioles (35-34)
The Orioles have a 3-1 record on their current homestand and they have won via a comeback in all three of the victories. After Tuesday's win, the O's now have 20 comeback wins on the season.
The Orioles have posted a Major League leading 16 wins when down by two runs or more. The latest was last night's 6-5 win. Houston led 5-3 after six innings.
A Nick Markakis homer in the 7th brought Baltimore within a run and Melvin Mora's two-out, two-run double in the 8th gave the O's a 6-5 lead. Mora is batting .382 this year with runners in scoring position.
Aubrey Huff had two hits, including a two-run homer, among the Orioles' 12 hits, and they have 44 hits on the four games of the homestand.
The Orioles, who have played three straight one-run games, have won 3 of 4 and 9 of their last 14 games. They are now 20-12 on the season in home games.
Houston's losing streak has reached six games. The Astros have also lost 10 of 12 and 15 of 18 games. Houston, which has lost six series in a row, is 3-11 in June.
With a win tonight, the Orioles would move two games over .500 for the first time since they were 24-22 on May 22nd.
Pitching Match-Up
RHP Jeremy Guthrie (3-7, 3.71) tonight makes his 15th start of the season, his 8th at home and the first of his career vs. Houston.
Guthrie is coming off one of his poorest outings of the season. Last Thursday he gave up five runs and seven hits over 4 2/3 at Boston. He gave up a Mike Lowell Grand Slam in the fifth inning. It was his shortest outing of the year.
Prior to that, Guthrie had recorded six straight quality starts and had worked to an ERA of 2.12 his previous five starts.
Guthrie, who has never faced Houston, has just one win over his last six starts since May 13th.
In seven home starts this season, he is 1-3, 3.63. Right-handed batters hit .237 off Guthrie while lefties bat .258 against him.
RHP Brian Moehler (3-3, 4.76) tonight will make his 8th start of the season, his 4th on the road and the 7th of his career vs. the Orioles.
The 26-year-old righty was moved into the Houston rotation on May 9. Two starts ago he pitched seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits vs. St. Louis. But in his last start, Wednesday vs. Milwaukee, he gave up seven hits and seven runs, including three homers in just 4 2/3 innings and took that loss.
Moehler, drafted in round six by Detroit in 1993, has pitched in the Majors for Detroit, Cincinnati, Florida and Houston.
This year, in his starts only, he is 3-3, 4.30 while his ERA as a reliever is 7.04. In five games, three starts, on the road, he is 1-1, 4.32.
Moehler has been very tough on right-handed batters, giving up an average of just .229 this year. But left-handed hitters bat .359 vs. him.
In the first inning of his starts, he has given up just one hit in 24 at bats while in the second inning, opposing hitters bat .324 against him.
In six career starts vs. the Orioles, Moehler is 1-1, 4.73 in 32 1/3 frames.
Huff's Hot Streak
Aubrey Huff has back-to-back, two-hit games and has homered in those two games. He is 5-13 during a three-game hitting streak, and over his last seven games, he is batting .433 (13-30) with four doubles, two homers and 7 RBI. Huff has hit well vs. Houston in his career and is batting .354-4-13 in 48 career at bats vs. Astros pitching. Huff has 11 homers on the season, last year he had just six homers at the end of July.
Starting Pitching Concerns
The Orioles have just two quality starts in the last 13 games. Their starters ERA over the 13 contests is 6.38. Due to the improvement of the offense the club is 8-5 in those games.
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