O's struggle vs. Gavin Floyd, fall 8-3 to White Sox
It was a night where one team got excellent starting pitching and the other did not. The Chicago White Sox, behind the right arm of Baltimorean Gavin Floyd, beat the Orioles 8-3 Tuesday night.
Floyd gave up just two runs and four hits over eight innings. He is now 14-6, 3.70. In two starts vs. the Orioles this year he has allowed just 2 ER and 6 hits over 14 innings. It's his 16th quality start and Floyd is 4-0 over his last six starts.
Chicago shortstop and leadoff hitter Orlando Cabrera went 4-5 with two doubles and a triple and 2 RBI as the Sox won for the 8th time in 10 games and 15th in 21 contests.
Losing pitcher Brian Burres, 7-8, gave up 10 hits and 6 runs over 5 innings. He allowed runs in each of the first four innings as the Sox moved ahead 6-1 after four frames.
The O's have lost five in a row and fall to 1-7 on this homestand. They are 10-14 in August.
Luke Scott's second RBI single of the game pulled the O's within 8-3 in the 9th. His hit scored Nick Markakis who had singled.
In the O's seventh, Markakis walked and later scored on Scott's single to make it a 7-2 Chicago lead. Ken Griffey Jr's single answered that run in the Sox 8th as they moved ahead 8-2.
Orlando Cabrera led off the Sox 6th with a double for his third extra-base hit of the game and scored on Jermaine Dye's RBI double. That gave Chicago a 7-1 lead.
The O's got on the board with one in the fourth to trail, 6-1. Brian Roberts singled to center and later scored on a Markakis double. It's Markakis' 78th RBI.
Chicago kept scoring adding two in the fourth for a 6-0 lead. Cabrera had an RBI triple and Carlos Quentin plated a run with a double for his 100th RBI.
The Sox made it 4-0 in the third on an Alexei Ramirez sac fly. It scored Ken Griffey Jr. who led off the inning with an infield single.
A Brian Burres throwing error put runners on the corners with one out in the second. Chicago's Cabrera hit a sac fly to center for a 3-0 lead. The run was unearned.
Two batters into tonight's game, Chicago had a 2-0 lead. Cabrera led off with a double vs. Burres and Nick Swisher followed with a two-run homer. It was his 22nd of the year and his 5th in the last 7 games.
CWS 8-16-0
Balt 3-6-1
Postgame Notes
Tough Night for Burres
Two batters into this game, Brian Burres trailed 2-0. He needed 102 pitches to get through five innings. The Sox scored on him in each of the first four frames. It was not a good night for him. Of the ten hits he allowed, six went for extra bases. Dave Trembley said it was a matter of Burres leaving too many pitches up in the strike zone.
Burres' last three Major League starts: 8IP, 21H, 14ER, 3 HR's....ERA of 15.75
Final Notes
Ramon Hernandez went 0-3 as his hitting streak was snapped at a career-high 15 games.....He batted .305-2-12 during the streak.....He had just one hit in 12 of the 15 games during the batting streak.....Nick Markakis went 2-3 with 2 runs and an RBI.....Markakis was just 5-24 on this homestand until tonight.
The Orioles offense has slowed a bit:
Road trip to Clev-Det: .343 average, 8.6 runs/game, 38 extra-base hits
This homestand: .254 average, 4.5 runs/game, 15 extra-base hits
The O's have lost 7 of 8 to fall a season-high 8 games under .500. Chicago is 15-6 over its last 21 games and 5-3 vs. the O's. The Sox improve to 76-56 on the season, that's four more wins than they had all of last year.
Gavin Floyd has allowed just 2 ER in 14 innings this season vs. Baltimore....The Sox are 18-8 in his starts and the Mt. St. Joe grad has not taken a loss since July 19th.......He threw 98 pitches, 68 strikes.
The O's allowed a first-inning run for the 59th time and are 23-36 in those games.....They have are 4-11 in the last 15 when giving up a run in the opening inning......Orlando Cabrera tied his career-high with four hits and it was his 11th four-hit game.....He was a homer short of the cycle....Alexei Ramirez went 0-4, snapping his 11-game batting streak.
Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog From Camden Yards
Tampa Probables
Fri 7:10pm - Jeremy Guthrie (10-10, 3.28) vs. LH Scott Kazmir (9-6, 3.27)
Sat 3:55pm - Daniel Cabrera (8-8, 5.24) vs. RH Andy Sonnanstine (13-6, 4.42)
Sun 1:40pm - Chris Waters (2-1, 4.71) vs. James Shields (11-7, 3.68)
Burres & Floyd
It figures, Brian Burres finally puts up a zero and they take him out of the game. Just kidding, not his night from the start, but he did not allow a run in the fifth.
Burres' line: 5 IP, 10H, 6R, 5ER, 1BB, 1K, 1 HR.......102 pitches.
Meanwhile Gavin Floyd is pitching a two-hitter through five. He has thrown only 65 pitches and 44 were for strikes. Just 21 balls over five. So much for the steal bases against him theory since the O's can't get many on base. They are just 2-17 so far tonight vs. Floyd.
Injury Update
Chicago's Nick Swisher has left the game with a lower left leg contusion and Brian Anderson goes into CF in the last of the fourth. Swisher did foul a ball off his foot in his last at bat. Swisher hit a two-run homer in the first inning.
Salazar Honored
Norfolk 1B Oscar Salazar was today named a post-season All-Star in the International League. Salazar is batting .316-13-85 and is third in the IL in batting and second in RBI. The 30-year-old Salazar, who was with the O's briefly in June, has crushed left-handed pitching at a .423 pace. He's also hitting .366 with 19 RBI this month. Last season, he made the Eastern League post-season squad as a third baseman.
In other IL news, Pawtucket's Jeff Bailey was named league MVP, Pawtucket's Charlie Zink was named Most Valuable Pitcher and Rochester's Randy Ruiz was named top rookie in the IL.
Gopher Balls
*O's allowed 98 homers in first 92 games (1.07 per game)
*O's allowed 55 in last 39 games (1.41 per game)
Recently the Orioles have given up 9 homers their last 4 games and 15 over the last 7 contests.
Big Mistake
Brian Burres just hurt his own cause in the top of the second. With a man on first and one out, he fielded a hot smash to the mound off the bat of Toby Hall. Nice job getting the ball, but then he turned to throw toward second to start what should have been an inning-ending double play. He threw over the bag, but neither Juan Castro or Brian Roberts was there yet as the ball went into center field. Should have been inning over instead of first and third with one out. Next batter hits a sac fly, so it cost him one run. Burres did a good job getting Carlos Quentin out with two men on to end the frame.
It's Game Time
The Orioles and White Sox are underway tonight. Tonight's first pitch was at 7::06 pm and it's 77 degrees. Will the stolen base be in the O's gameplan tonight ? There have been 29 stolen bases against Gavin Floyd this year, the most in the AL. Floyd also leads all of baseball allowing 18 unearned runs. That's a strange stat. Check back during tonight's game and we'll try to come up with more strange stats, plus pass along any news or notes as this game progresses.
Starting Lineups
White Sox
SS Orlando Cabrera
CF Nick Swisher
LF Carlos Quentin
RF Jermaine Dye
DH Ken Griffey Jr.
1B Paul Konerko
2B Alexei Ramirez
3B Joe Crede
C Toby Hall
P Gavin Floyd
Orioles
2B Brian Roberts
LF Lou Montanez
RF Nick Markakis
3B Aubrey Huff
C Ramon Hernandez
DH Luke Scott
1B Kevin Millar
CF Jay Payton
SS Juan Castro
Nothing is wrong with Melvin Mora, just getting a day off.
Trembley's Talk
In his pregame meeting with reporters today, Dave Trembley did not have any further news on Daniel Cabrera, he said the MRI results had not yet come back.
He said Brian Burres was selected to start tonight because the club needed a starter, he's had experience and he was already on the roster.
"We sent him down to get confidence and some success which he wasn't having here. Obviously he didn't have much confidence here because he was getting hit pretty good. He needs to keep the ball in the ballpark tonight."
Trembley said his rotation, which has been in transition, remains that way.
"Right now we're just taking it series by series. We're trying to do what we can to win every game. We'll announce rotations as they come up. But I can't predict if Burres will stay in the rotation. We may go to a six-man rotation in September. I might give guys more rest in between starts, but I want to talk with them before I do that."
As for possible September callups, the O's have ruled out Chris Tillman and Matt Wieters for callups, but Trembley said Brad Bergesen is being discussed as a possible callup.
Trembley was asked if Lou Montanez, who is hitting .371-1-7, will start getting more regular playing time.
"I'm not going to say that, I'm not going to get caught saying he'll play more than if he doesn't, well, I'm not going to say that. He's done a very nice job and we'll see how he continues to do."
When asked if Montanez is a candidate to compete for a job next year at spring training, Trembley said he hadn't seen enough yet to make that statement.
"He has shown good patience at the plate and good strike-zone knowledge," Trembley said of Montanez. "His outfield play and throwing need work. John Shelby has done a good job with him, he's more relaxed in the outfield now. His tool is his bat and we need to get him in there more vs. right-handed pitching so we can see if he can hit curveballs."
Audio: Dave Trembley discusses Chris Tillman and Matt Wieters
Audio: Dave Trembley discusses MLB's use of instant replay
Game Preview
Chicago White Sox (75-56) at Orioles (62-69)
Even though they tasted victory Monday night, the Orioles are out to officially break a four-game losing streak tonight. The O's host Chicago in game two of a three-game series.
We say "officially" because the O's won the completion of a suspended game Monday 4-3 in 14 innings. That result, while it counts in the O's overall record, is officially reflected on April 28th, the day that game began.
The O's are just 1-6 on this long homestand and are now just 32-30 at home on the season. The O's are now 16-21 since the All-Star break.
The White Sox, battling for first in the AL Central and also for the Wild Card berth, have won 7 of 9 and 14 of their last 20 games. The Sox are 42-30 all-time at Camden Yards.
Chicago's Carlos Quentin has hit 36 homers to lead the Majors while Jim Thome hit his 535th career homer last night to move into 15th place on the all-time list.
Chicago is 4-3 on the season vs. the O's, including a 2-1 mark at Camden Yards.
Pitching Match-Up
LHP Brian Burres (7-7, 5.64) tonight returns from the Minor Leagues to make his 20th start of the season in the Majors, his 12th at home and the second this year vs. Chicago.
Burres was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on August 1st and has pitched well there. In four games, one start with the Tides, he went 1-0, 0.82. In 11 innings he gave up just one run with one walk and 11 strikeouts. On August 17 vs. Charlotte he made a start, allowing just one run over six innings.
Burres got hammered in his last two games with the Orioles in late July. He pitched a total of just 3 combined innings over his last two starts giving up 11 hits, 9 ER and two homers.
On the year, Burres has allowed 136 hits in 107 innings. He pitched to an ERA of 7.27 in June and 7.97 in July. In 11 Camden Yards starts, he went 4-4, 6.55.
But Burres' best start of the year came against the White Sox. On April 26th in Chicago he pitched 8 scoreless innings and gave up just three hits. He fanned four with a walk that day. In three career games, two starts vs. the White Sox, Burres is 1-1, 5.91.
RHP Gavin Floyd (13-6, 3.78) tonight makes his 26th start of the season, his 12th on the road and his second this year vs. his hometown team.
Floyd, a 2001 graduate of Baltimore's Mt. St. Joe High, is in his second season with the White Sox. He was drafted in the first round with the fourth overall pick by the Phillies in 2001. Earlier that year, as a Mt. St. Joe senior, he was 8-2, 1.11
Floyd is having a very solid year, but appears to be a little off his game in recent starts. Despite a 2-0 record, his ERA is 6.00 in August and he has allowed 5 homers in 21 innings this month. In seven second-half starts, he is 3-1, 4.20.
Lefty hitters bat .242 off Floyd and right-handed batters hit .222 against him. When pitching with runners in scoring position, he gives up an average of .331. Chicago is 17-8 when he starts this season.
He split 2007 between Triple-A and the Majors. With Chicago, he went 1-5, 5.27 in ten starts.
The 25-year-old Floyd has made 11 road starts, and is 4-4, 4.43.
In his only previous start vs. the team he rooted for as a kid, the Birds, he took a no-decision, but pitched very well at Camden Yards on April 17th. He went 6 innings, allowing just 2 hits and 2 runs, both unearned. He fanned four. The O's scored twice in the last of the 9th to tie that game and went on to win it, 6-5, in ten innings.
O's Hitters Recently:
Castro: 0-12
Cintron: 5-15
Hernandez: Is batting .305-2-12 during career-best, 15-game batting streak
Huff: Is 8-16 during four-game hitting streak, has 60 RBI his last 66 games
Markakis: 4-18, 20 RBI his last 20 games
Millar: Has 7 RBI his last 11 games and 20 in 28 games
Montanez: Is 4-11, 2 RBI during four-game hitting streak
Mora: Is 5-26 at bat, but since All-Star break is batting .389-11-48
Payton: Over his last three games is 8-12
Quiroz: 2-23
Roberts: Went 0-5 Monday snapping 10-game hitting streak
Scott: 2-12 but hitting .370 his last 16 games
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