Cabrera pitches complete game seven-hitter, O's beat KC, 5-2
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Albers Decides Against Surgery [link]
Daniel Cabrera pitched his second complete game of the season and the 6th of his career as the Orioles beat KC, 5-2 Wednesday to lead the four-game series two wins to one.
Cabrera, whose other complete game was a three-hitter vs. the Royals on May 8th, gave up single runs in the first and third and pitched a seven-hitter. At one point he retired 14 batters in a row. He picked up his first win since May 20th and is now 6-4 on the season. He threw 105 pitches and improves to 5-0 in his career vs. KC.
Aubrey Huff hit a two-run homer for the Birds in the first inning and Ramon Hernandez, batting fourth for the first time this season, went 3-4 with an RBI.
The Orioles, now 43-40, are 11-7 over their last 18 games and are 24-13 at home on the season.
The Orioles scored twice in the fifth for a 5-2 lead. Nick Markakis' RBI double scored Brian Roberts, who had walked. Hernandez singled against a drawn-in infield for the O's 5th run.
The O's used singles by Markakis, Hernandez and Luke Scott to score a run and take a 3-2 lead in the third. Scott knocked in his 33rd run of the season.
The Orioles took a 2-1 lead in the first inning. Roberts led off with his American League-leading 31st double, and two batters later, Huff hit a two-run homer. His 15th off the season traveled 385 feet to right center. He hit 15 homers all of last year.
David DeJesus led off the game with a solo homer to right as Kansas City picked up a 1-0, first-inning lead. DeJesus hit a 2-2 pitch 390 feet off Daniel Cabrera. It's KC's first leadoff homer since DeJesus hit one vs. the White Sox on August 17, 2006.
KC 2-7-1
Balt 5-10-0
Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog From Camden Yards
Postgame Notes
"It Was His Night"
That's what Dave Trembley said about Daniel Cabrera, who entered with a mark of 0-3, 6.21 over his last seven starts, but who pitched a complete-game, seven-hitter for his 6th win. He threw 105 pitches, 73 strikes. He is now 6-4, 4.34. He retired 14 straight from the 4th to the 8th innings. Cabrera is now 5-0, 2.21 in eight career starts vs. KC and the O's are 8-0 in those starts. He didn't walk a batter for the 5th time this year. He had not issued a walk in just 3 of 116 career starts entering 2008.
Cabrera tonight: 9IP, 7H, 2R-ER, 0BB, 2K, 1 HR........105 pitches.
Huff Hits Another
Aubrey Huff's two-run homer in the first was his 15th of the season, matching the total he hit all last year in 550 at bats. He hit an 0-2 pitch 385 feet to right center for a 2-1 lead and has five homers this year that have given the O's a lead. Over his last 19 games, Huff is batting .390-6-18. He has 7 RBI over his last 7 games and 49 RBI on the year.
Hitting KC's Starters
Gil Meche entered tonight with a 3-0 record and 2.08 ERA over his previous four starts, but the O's got to him for five runs and nine hits in six innings. The O's have gotten to the Royals' starter in each game of this series. Greinke, Hochevar and Meche have combined to pitch 17 innings in this series, giving up 15ER and 22H for an ERA of 7.94.
Final Notes
Ramon Hernandez, batting cleanup for the first time this season and first time since July 7, 2007, went 3-4 with three singles and an RBI. He is 8-21 during a five-game hitting streak and over his last 16 games is batting .362-3-10. Nick Markakis went 2-4 with an RBI double and is batting .351 during a ten-game hitting streak. He has 9 RBI and 5 doubles during the streak.
It was the quickest O's game of the year at two hours and 16 minutes. The O's are 38-13 when scoring four runs or more. Gil Meche is winless in his last eight starts vs. the Orioles and is 0-3, 3.70 in ten career starts at Camden Yards. The Orioles are 12-2 vs. KC since the start of the 2007 season. The Birds are 24-13, with 8 wins in their last 10 games at Camden Yards.
KC's David DeJesus led off the game with a homer and went 3-4. He now has a 14-game hitting streak and is batting .421 with 15 RBI during the streak. He had missed the last two games with a rib cage injury. Since, they went on a run where they won 11 of 12 games, KC has now lost four of its last five.
Key Quotes
Dave Trembley on Cabrera
"You probably won't see Cabrera pitch any better. He had command and his poise was outstanding......It's a night for Cabrera, it was his night........I told him last night, our bullpen was beat up you need to go deep tomorrow night and he told me he would.....He got a couple of 1-2-3 innings on less than 10 pitches."
Dave Trembley on Huff's 15 Homers
"It gives us a reason to look forward to the second half. If he's had such a great first half, you would think the second half would only be better........Ten days ago he started hiting the ball hard the other way, that's a key for him. He's just had a nice, solid, first half for us."
KC manager Trey Hillman on Cabrera
"We didn't have good at bats against him. I feel like we always have a plan but we didn't execute. He pitched well against us. We were swinging too early in the count and we didn't make him work hard enough, especially in the seventh and eighth innings."
In-Game Blog
Meche Out, Cabrera Rolling
For the third straight game, the O's hit the Royals starter. Gil Meche is now out after six and Horacio Ramirez is in.
Meche's line: 6IP, 9H, 5R, 4ER, 2BB, OK......89 pitches.
The Royals starters in the series, Greinke, Hochevar and Meche have combined to give up 15ER and 22H in 17 innings this series. Cabrera, meanwhile has retired the last 12 in a row and has thrown just 77 pitches over seven innings.
Scoring Change
Nick Markakis had his first triple of the year in the fifth inning for a few minutes anyway. The official scorer has now changed that play to an RBI double, Markakis to third on an error right fielder.
Ramon Batting Fourth
Hernandez is hitting fourth for two reasons, said Dave Trembley. He didn't want four lefty hitters in a row and his bat is starting to heat up. Hernandez is just the third cleanup hitter the O's have used this season after Millar batted there 42 times and Huff 41.
And he has delivered in that spot, so far 2-3 tonight with an RBI. Hernandez now has a five-game hitting streak and is batting .351 the last 16 games.
Albers Update
Matt Albers has decided against getting surgery on his injured right shoulder and instead will try the rehab route which could get him back on a mound before this season is out, although there are no assurances of that. He has a labrum tear.
O's president Andy MacPhail said O's doctors and Dr. James Andrews of Alabama agreed this was the best course of action.
"I think it's just the prudent course, you give the oppurtunity to rehab it and see how that comes along and if that doesn't work you can always go to the surgery," MacPhail said.
Huff's Homer
Aubrey Huff's two-run homer in the first not only gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead, but it was his 15th, matching the total he hit all of last year.
Huff 2007: 15 homers in 550 AB's, one every 36.7 at bats
Huff 2008: 15 homers in 308 AB's, one every 20.5 at bats.
He hit an 0-2 pitch 385 feet to right center. Coming into tonight the AL homer leaders had 19 as Carlos Quentin of the CWS, Grady Sizemore of Cleveland and Josh Hamilton of the Rangers led the way with 19.
Underway In Baltimore
Game three of the series has begun at Camden Yards and David DeJesus hit the game's fifth pitch out for a 1-0 lead. First pitch was at 7:06pm and it's 86 degrees.
Starting Lineups
Royals
LF David DeJesus
SS Mike Aviles
3B Alex Gordon
DH Jose Guillen
2B Mark Grudzielanek
RF Mark Teahen
1B Ross Gload
C John Buck
CF Joey Gathright
P Gil Meche
Orioles
2B Brian Roberts
RF Nick Markakis
1B Aubrey Huff
C Ramon Hernandez
DH Luke Scott
3B Melvin Mora
LF Jay Payton
CF Adam Jones
CF Joey Gathright
P Daniel Cabrera
Dave Trembley said Kevin Millar is just getting a day off. He wanted to get Jay Payton in, since he has not started since last Friday. He is batting Ramon Hernandez fourth because he is swinging better lately and he did not want to hit four lefty batters in a row.
Loewen's Relief Outing
Last night, Adam Loewen pitched in relief for the first time since July 21, 2006. He pitched two shutout innings in the win over the Royals. It was his first O's appearance this year since a start on April 24th. Before today's game, Loewen talked with reporters about that outing and life now pitching out of the bullpen.
Trembley's Talk
In his pregame briefing with reporters today, Dave Trembley talked about Adam Loewen's two-inning relief outing last night.
"It was great for him and our team. He will pitch back to back days, but not today. The original plan was to keep him in the minors through the all-star break, but he showed such progress and his arm felt great, we cut off about the last ten days off his minor league rehab. I'm still going to be careful in how I use him."
Trembley said Loewen could eventually work into filling the role that Matt Albers was working in.
Trembley talked about Melvin Mora's slump, he is just 2 for his last 29 at bat and his average is now .227.
"His timing is off. But he's gone through this before. It's not because of a lack of work. We need his production on offense to be a better club. He's not the lone ranger, people go through slumps and maybe tonight will be the end of it."
Trembley feels Daniel Cabrera, winless in his last seven starts, is getting closer to pitching the way he did in April and May when his ERA was 3.60 than June when it was 6.75.
"I told him last night thank goodness, June was done. There was a tendency sometimes to revert back to a comfort zone he had previously, but I did see signs of encouragement the last couple of times. I still feel he'll win a lot more games for us this season. The telltale sign with Daniel is early in the game he needs to get groundball outs. When he pitches up, they have scored on him early in the game. We'll all know quickly whether he is on his game."
Minor League All Stars
Four members of the Bowie Baysox will play for the Southern Division team in the July 16th Eastern League all-star game. They are pitchers Brad Bergesen (9-2, 2.64) and Chris Tillman (7-2, 3.08), IF Jeff Nettles (.271-16-51) and OF Lou Montanez (.321-18-59).
Norfolk catcher Omir Santos will play in the Triple-A all-star game on July 16th in Louisville. He is batting .293-1-19 and hit .329 in June for the Tides.
Frederick has activated Brandon Snyder off the DL and sent IF Mike McCoy to Triple-A Norfolk.
Cormier Is Doing Well
The 27-year-old righty has been a nice addition to the O's bullpen. Cormier has pitched in the majors before with Arizona and Atlanta and his career ERA was 5.98 coming into this season. Now, in 28 1/3 innings with the Orioles, he is 1-2, 2.22. He signed with Baltimore in January as a minor-league free agent.
"There looked like there might be some open spots here and the O's were looking for guys who could pitch multiple innings."
With the injuries to Matt Albers and Jamie Walker, Cormier could move into a more prominent role in the pen now.
"As a team, the whole bullpen needs to step up, not just one guy. Albers was a huge loss, but I can't fill his shoes, but as a group we all have to do it."
Cormier picked up his first career save with four scoreless innings last Saturday at Washington.
Game Preview
Kansas City (38-46) at Orioles (42-40)
The Orioles' seven-game homestand continues tonight as the O's host Kansas City in the third game of a four-game series. The clubs have split the first two games.
The Orioles' 7-5 win Tuesday was their 7th in the last 9 home games, and the Birds are 23-13 at home on the season. They are 11-2 vs. Kansas City since the start of the 2007 season.
Five different Orioles knocked in runs in that win. Ramon Hernandez and Adam Jones had two-run singles in Baltimore's four-run third. Brian Roberts added a solo homer.
The Orioles are 4-2 vs. the Royals on the season.
Kansas City, which got homers from Alex Gordon and Mark Teahen Tuesday, saw its 6-game road winning streak come to an end.
The Royals were 16-11 in June and have won 12 of their last 16 games. KC is now 1-1 on an 8-game road trip that takes the club to Tampa after two more games at Camden Yards.
Pitching Match-Up
RHP Daniel Cabrera (5-4, 4.53) tonight makes his 18th start of the season, his 7th at home and the 8th in his career vs. Kansas City.
Cabrera has lost his last two starts vs. Milwaukee and Washington, giving up 7ER over 12 1/3. He is winless in his last seven starts since beating the Yankees on May 20th. In that time he is 0-3, 6.21.
After pitching to an ERA of 3.14 in May, Cabrera's ERA in June was 7.06.
The tall righty, who has pitched 109 1/3 innings, has recorded 10 quality starts, but just two over his last seven outings. In six home starts, Cabrera is 2-0, 5.25. The Orioles are 9-7 when he starts.
Cabrera was dominant in beating the Royals 4-1 in KC on May 8th. He pitched a complete game three-hitter with one walk and seven strikeouts. He threw 114 pitches and retired the last 13 batters he faced. That day, he retired the side in order seven times.
He has never lost to the Royals. In seven career starts, he is 4-0, 2.25. In 44 career innings he has given up 32 hits vs. Kansas City, but no home runs.
In 133 career starts, Cabrera is 45-53, 4.93.
RHP Gil Meche (6-8, 4.66) tonight will make his 18th start, his 9th on the road and the 17th in his career vs. the Orioles.
Meche is 3-0, 2.08 over his last four starts, giving up just 6ER over 26 innings with an opponent batting average of just .183 in that time. He beat St. Louis at home last Friday, allowing just one run and six hits over seven innings.
He began the year 1-4, 7.22 in his first six starts, but is 5-4, 3.41 over his last 11 outings.
He gives an opponent average of .255 to both right-handed and left-handed batters. In eight road starts in 2008, Meche is 3-4, 4.09.
Meche vs. Baltimore
2008: 0-1, 9.00 in one start
2007: 0-2, 1.69 in three starts
Career: 4-5, 3.26 in 16 starts
Meche is 0-3 over his last four starts vs. Baltimore. His last win vs. the O's was on July 31, 2006, a 10-5 win while with Seattle.
In 194 career starts with the Mariners and Royals, Meche is 70-65, 4.66.
Orioles Hot Hitters
Ramon Hernandez: Has a four-game hitting streak and is 5-17, 2 HR, 5 RBI during streak. Over his last 15 games, he is batting .333-3-9. He has hit three homers his last nine games.
Aubrey Huff: Is 5-17 with 3 RBI during a four-game hitting streak. Over his last 18 games, he is batting .397-5-16 with 9 doubles.
Adam Jones: Is batting .476 (10-21) during a five-game batting streak. He is hitting .368 over his last 16 contests.
Nick Markakis: Is batting .333 (11-33) during his nine-game batting streak. His career-high hitting streak was ten games last April.
Jay Payton: Has 15 RBI over his last 9 starts
Luke Scott: Has two homers over his last four games and over his last 19 games is batting .306-7-11 with 13 runs scored.
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