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Olson, O's end the Sunday streak, beat Angels, 5-2

By Steve Melewski on July 27, 2008 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The Orioles' Sunday jinx and losing streak is finally over. Garrett Olson pitched six solid innings and the Orioles beat the Angels, 5-2, to end their five-game losing streak.

The O's had lost on 15 consecutive Sundays since winning on the first one of the season, back on April 6th vs. Seattle.

Olson gave up seven hits and two runs over six innings. He improved to 7-5 with the first quality start by an O's pitcher on this homestand.

Guillermo Quiroz had a career-high 3 RBI as the O's end the homestand with 4 wins and 7 losses. It was just the second loss in 11 games for the Angels.

George Sherrill retired the side in order in the ninth for his 30th save.

Garret Anderson's pinch-hit, RBI single in the 7th pulled LA to within 5-2 of the Orioles.

Quiroz came through with an RBI single to center to score Jay Payton after his triple, and the O's led 5-1 in the 6th.

LA got on the board in the 5th to make it a 4-1 game. Erick Aybar led off the frame with a single and later scored on a Vladimir Guerrero groundout. Olson got Robb Quinlan to fly out with the bases loaded and hold LA to one in the inning.

Quiroz came up with a two-out, bases loaded, two-run single in the third as the Orioles took a 4-0 lead. It scored Aubrey Huff who singled and Kevin Millar, who had walked.

The Orioles took a 2-0 lead in the last of the first. Nick Markakis came up with an RBI double to score Adam Jones, who reached on a fielders choice. It's Markakis' 55th RBI.

Later in the frame, Luke Scott was hit by a pitch from Ervin Santana with the bases loaded and one out for a 2-0 lead. Santana got Payton to popup and fanned Quiroz to get out of that jam.

LAA 2-8-1
Balt 5-10-0

Postgame Notes

Olson's Quality Outing
Garrett Olson today became the first pitcher on this 11-game homestand to record a quality start. He allowed just two runs over six innings, improving to 7-5--quite a turnaround for the lefty, who had just one win his last eight starts and an ERA of 10.53 over his last four starts. He ended an 8-start stretch of O's starters failing to pitch at least six innings.

Garrett Olson is interviewed by Tom Davis and Dave Johnson about his start

Guillermo Gets It Done
The O's backup catcher came up with a career-high three RBI on a two-run single in the third and an RBI single in the 6th. He went 3-4 today. It's his second three-hit game of the season, he also did it June 26 at Milwaukee. His two-out hit with the bases loaded in the third was huge, getting two runs home and keeping Ervin Santana from getting out of the bases-loaded jam without giving up any runs.

Guillermo Quiroz talks about his big game against the Angels

Final Notes
The O's end the homestand 4-7 and are now 29-23 at home on the season......Brandon Fahey started at second, giving Brian Roberts a rest, went 2-5 and helped turn a couple of double plays......George Sherrill picked up his 30th save which matched the O's team total from all of 2007.......LA saw its four-game winning streak snapped and is now 33-19 on the road...........The O's avoided their first six-game losing streak with the win, this was the club's fourth losing skid of five games this year..........Aubrey Huff went 2-4 and is 11-25 during a six-game batting streak........Nick Markakis had an RBI double and has 23 RBI his last 31 games.

Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog From Camden Yards

Olson Now Out
Olson has become the story today, ending the O's string of poor starting pitching, and if they win, ending the Sunday streak, too.

Olson's line: 6IP, 7H, 2R-ER, 2BB, 1K.......97 pitches.

It's the O's first quality start on this homestand, which is in its 11th game today.

Big Outs
O's take a 4-1 lead to the last of the 6th. Olson just got some big outs in the top of the 6th, getting Guerrero to ground into a double play and Torii Hunter on a fly out. At just 89 pitches through six, I would expect him to come out in the 7th, but let's see.

Andy MacPhail Says
I had a chance to interview Andy MacPhail today here at Camden Yards on the Orioles Insider Roundtable. You can hear today's entire show in our Media Lounge. [link]

While MacPhail characterizes the O's as "sellers" not buyers, he doesn't seem to indicate the O's will be making too many deals.

"Based on the level where we are, I'd be suprised if we were involved in a lot of activity between now and Thursday. Of course, that can change overnight, but I think that's unlikely."

He indicated the O's could be more involved leading up to the August 31st deadline as players pass waivers. He expects 1/4 to 1/3 of all Major Leaguers to clear waivers. He said "I don't see lack of activity as a bad thing, there are always teams looking for you to make a stupid deal."

That's just a quick recap of what he said on the trade front, check out the audio for more on that and other topics from today with Andy MacPhail. The O's All Access Postgame Show with Steve Melewski and Jeremy Conn [link]

Looking Good
I'll try not to jinx him, but this is as good as Garrett Olson has looked in a long time. Hope he can keep it up. He got three quick outs to start this game and got a key DP ball in the third. He has shutout the hot-hitting Angels on two hits and 41 pitches through three.

First Pitch
Today's game is underway, the series finale between the O's and Angels. First pitch was at 1:36pm and it's 84 degrees.

Starting Lineups

Angels
3B Chone Figgins
SS Erick Aybar
2B Howie Kendrick
DH Vladimir Guerrero
CF Torii Hunter
RF Juan Rivera
LF Gary Matthews Jr.
1B Robb Quinlan
C Ryan Budde
P Ervin Santana

Orioles
2B Brandon Fahey
CF Adam Jones
RF Nick Markakis
3B Aubrey Huff
1B Kevin Millar
DH Luke Scott
LF Jay Payton
C Guillermo Quiroz
SS Juan Castro
P Garrett Olson

Minor League Notes
At Triple-A Norfolk, Chris Roberson continued his torrid hitting last night, going 2-3 with a homer. He is batting .613 (19-31) during an 8-game hitting streak. Alex Cintron went 2-3 with a homer and 2 RBI last night helping Frederick to a 7-3 win over Potomac. Jamie Walker pitched a scoreless inning with one hit in that game.

Lou Montanez hit his 22nd homer and Nolan Reimold his 18th last night, but Erie beat Bowie, 6-5.

Game Preview
LA Angels (64-39) at Orioles (48-55)
After scoring 17 runs on 19 hits in the first two games of this series, the first-place LA Angels go for a three-game sweep of the Orioles this afternoon at Camden Yards.

Boston is the only team to sweep three straight from the Orioles at Camden Yards this year.

Torii Hunter homered twice with 5 RBI as the Angels won 11-6 on Saturday. LA hit four homers in the win and has six in the series. Aubrey Huff hit a three-run homer and Luke Scott added a two-run shot for the O's.

Losing pitcher Radhames Liz gave up six runs over 5 2/3 and O's starters have pitched to an ERA of 8.20 on this homestand and 7.70 over the last 20 games, in which the Orioles are 5-15.

The Orioles are out to break a five-game losing streak. That ties the season-high for consecutive losses as the Birds lost five in a row twice in May and once earlier this month.

The hot-hitting Angels are averaging 6.2 runs per game in July after scoring 3.8 runs per game in June. LA has hit 28 homers in 20 games this month.

Los Angeles has won four in a row and 9 of 10 games. The Angels are 15-5 in July and have the best road record in the Majors at 33-18. LA is 13-0-2 in its last 15 series vs. American League clubs.

The Orioles also today look to break their 15-game Sunday losing streak. They are 1-15 on Sundays this season and have been outscored, 85-46.

Pitching Match-Up

LHP Garrett Olson (6-5, 6.11) today makes his 17th start of this season, his 9th at home and his first-ever vs. the LA Angels.

Olson is really struggling in recent starts and Tuesday vs. Toronto gave up six runs and nine hits over 4 2/3. Over his last four starts, he is 0-2, 10.53 (19 2/3 IP, 23ER, 7 HRs). Olson has just one win in his last eight starts, that came on June 28th vs. Washington.

Olson first 8 starts this year: 5-1, 3.86
Olson last 8 starts this year: 1-4, 8.62

The lefty gives up a batting average of .295 vs. right-handed batters, .298 vs. lefties and .262 with runners in scoring position. The O's are 7-9 when he starts.

Olson is 3-1, 5.48 in eight starts this season at Camden Yards.

RHP Ervin Santana (11-4, 3.37) today is set to make his 21st start of this season, his 13th on the road and his first this season vs. Baltimore.

The 25-year-old has fanned 130 in 136 1/3 on the season and has pitched two complete games and one shutout. He blanked Kansas City on a four-hitter on May 5th when he fanned nine and needed just 97 pitches to finish the game.

Over his last four starts, Santana is 2-1, 3.54. The Angels are 12-8 when he takes the mound.

This season is quite a bit better than his 2007 season when he was 7-14, 5.76 in 26 starts for LA.

Santana vs. the O's:
2008: no appearances
2007: 0-0, 3.86, one start
Career: 1-1, 3.86, five starts

O's Hitters Recently:
Castro: 3-19 at bat
Fahey: 7 rbi his last 14 games
Hernandez: 3 homers his last 6 games, needs 1 hit for 1,000 in his career
Huff: His last 39 games batting .370-11-33 with 15 doubles
Jones: 10-37 on this homestand
Markakis: 5-27 at bat, 22 rbi his last 30 games
Millar: 9-35 with two homers this homestand
Mora: last six games is 9-24 with one homer and 8 RBI
Payton: 2-11 at bat
Roberts: 4-27 at bat
Scott: this homestand is 10-29, 4 homers, 10 RBI