O's bats go wild, Birds beat ChiSox 11-3
So how's a manager to celebrate an eight-run thumping over a first place team?
"I'm going to have a glass of red wine tonight," O's skipper Dave Trembley said, grinning from ear to ear.
It might have been Baltimore's first win in their last six games, but it sure felt good for Trembley and the O's as they prepared to leave town on a six-game road trip.
The O's hitters went nuts tonight, smacking 16 hits, including three home runs, as they picked up a 11-3 win.
Melvin Mora, Aubrey Huff and Kevin Millar all went out of the Yard for the Orioles, who never trailed, and Brian Roberts came through with 3 RBI on a night he was supposed to have off.
Radhames Liz went 5.1 innings and allowed just two runs on three hits; and despite walking five, he stayed out of the big inning and pitched well enough to pick up his fifth win.
Liz got off to a great start with a 1-2-3, six-pitch first inning, and Aubrey Huff's sacrifice fly gave him the lead in the bottom half.
The White Sox tied it up in the second, but the O's got to Chicago starter John Danks again in the second. With two outs, Lou Montanez walked, Juan Castro doubled, and Roberts' single to left brought both in. The Birds' second baseman also had an RBI double in the fourth.
Alex Cintron was initially in the lineup at second, as Trembley wanted to give Roberts a day off, but Cintron came down with food poisoning before the game; so Roberts was back in the leadoff spot.
Danks, who has had a great sophomore year in the big leagues, did not have his best stuff tonight. He was taken out after four innings -- by far his shortest outing in over a month.
The bullpen didn't help him out at all, as Lance Broadway allowed seven runs in his four innings in relief. He gave up nine hits and all three Baltimore home runs.
By contrast, the O's 'pen went 3.2 innings, and allowed just one run on two hits. Alberto Castillo, Lance Cormier and Rocky Cherry finished it off for Liz.
The O's avoided a series sweep with the win and have an off day tomorrow before heading to Tampa Bay for a three game set.
O's 11 16 0
Chi 3 5 0
Huff still hot
Aubrey Huff continued his scorching 2008 season tonight, going 3-for-4 and falling a triple shy of the cycle.
His two-run home run in the eighth was his 29th longball on the season, and his average is now up to .307.
With five more home runs and 16 more RBI, he can tie career highs in both categories.
Final Notes
When Liz retired the Sox in order in the top of the first, it marked the first time this homestand that the O's have retired the first three batters of the game...Nick Markakis leads the Majors with 15 outfield assists after throwing out Jim Thome, who was trying to stretch a single into a double in the third inning...The O's scored 10 or more runs for the 14th time this year and they are 13-1 in those games.
Dan Kolko's Live GameBlog
Dye goes bye-bye
Jermaine Dye homered to lead off the top of the eighth inning, cutting the O's lead to 8-3.
It was Dye's 32nd home run of the season. That was it for the White Sox in their half, and the Birds have a five-run cushion going to the bottom of the eighth.
Brian Roberts has 3 RBI on the night, and the O's have pounded out 13 hits off Chicago pitching.
O's tack on another
Melvin Mora jumped all over a 2-0 pitch from Lance Broadway and crushed it into the left-center field seats, giving the O's a 7-2 lead.
The homer was the 23rd of the season for Mora. What a second-half he's having at the plate, and as we've seen, he works just as hard in the field.
Liz out after a solid performance
Dave Trembley will take this type of performance every night.
Radhames Liz went 5.1 innings, allowing just two runs on three hits. He walked five, but challenged hitters all night, and wasn't afraid to throw his fastball. He pitched with a lot of confidence while going up against a tough lineup that features a 500 home run hitter and a few other guys that can crush the ball.
Trembley and pitching coach Rick Kranitz have to be very impressed with what the youngster gave them tonight.
Castro adds to lead
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
Juan Castro was just that in the bottom of the fifth, when his bloop single behind second somehow found its way to the turf, scoring Luke Scott and Lou Montanez to give the O's a 6-2 lead.
Ken Griffey Jr. was slow getting to the ball from his centerfield position, and second baseman Alexei Ramirez looked like he had a shot at it, but pulled off the play at the last second.
The Birds have now scored in every inning but the third, and are outhitting the White Sox 9-3.
Danks Done
The Orioles hitters did their job tonight, as they elevated John Danks' pitch count and knocked him from the game after just four innings.
Danks usually does a great job of being efficient with his pitches and going deep into games, but the O's battled against him tonight, fouling off pitches and going deep into counts.
The lefty had not gone under six innings in over a month, but the O's are into the Sox bullpen here in the fifth.
B-Rob having himself a night
Apparently Brian Roberts is seeing the ball well off John Danks.
Roberts came through with a two-run single to left in the second inning, and laced a double down the left-field line in the fourth, scoring Luke Scott and giving the O's a 4-2 lead.
Danks hadn't given up more than three runs in any of his last four starts, but he allowed four runs before being taken out after four innings tonight.
Mel-Mo, Nick the Stick playing some D
The White Sox cut the O's lead to 3-2, but it could have been worse if not for the Birds flashing some serious leather.
With one out and A.J Pierzynski on first, Jermaine Dye ripped one down the third base line. Melvin Mora dove to his right, came up with the ball, jumped to his feet and fired to first to get Dye by a step.
Next up was Jim Thome, who hit a ball on a rope off the scoreboard in right. Pierzynski scored, but Nick Markakis got the ball cleanly off the wall, and gunned out Thome at second to end the inning.
It was Markakis' 15th outfield assist of the season, best in the bigs.
Danks working a lot through the first two
I mentioned it after the first inning, and I'll mention it again -- the O's are doing a great job of making John Danks throw a lot of pitches early on.
The lefty has thrown 48 pitches through the first two frames, and the Orioles have done a great job of working the count and fouling off tough pitches.
Danks has been extremely consistant this season, going 6 innings or more in 20 of his 26 starts, but if the O's keep this up, he won't continue that trend tonight.
2-out hitting gives O's a 2-run lead
Brian Roberts' two-run single knocked in Lou Montanez and Juan Castro, and gave the Orioles a 3-1 lead after two innings.
With two outs, Montanez walked, and Castro doubled down the left-field line. The double snapped an 0-for-11 skid for the O's shortstop, and it turned the lineup over. Roberts followed with a single to left that dropped down in front of Nick Swisher, and the Birds have the lead back.
White Sox answer
After the O's jumped on top right away, Paul Konerko and the White Sox answered almost immediately.
With one out in the second, Konerko crushed a Radhames Liz fastball deep into the left field seats, tying the game at 1-1.
The Birds got on the board in the first inning on an Aubrey Huff sac fly, but Konerko's 13th homer of the season has evened the score.
O's on the board early
The O's made John Danks do a lot of work in the first inning, and their patience paid off.
Danks threw 25 pitches in the frame, and Aubrey Huff hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Nick Markakis and giving the Orioles a 1-0 lead.
With one out, Markakis singled to center, went to third on Melvin Mora's single to right, then came in on the sac fly.
O's-ChiSox underway
We're underway at Camden Yards. It's 78 degrees and a little overcast at first pitch. Let's hope the rain holds off.
I can't believe it, but it's true -- the Orioles did not allow a run in the first inning. Radhames Liz got the White Sox 1-2-3 to end the top half of the first. The O's have allowed a run in the opening frame 59 times this season, an incredible 44 percent of games played.
John Danks is on the hill for Chicago. Let's see if the O's can inflate his impressive 3.16 ERA.
Starting Lineups
White Sox
SS Orlando Cabrera
C A.J Pierzynski
RF Jermaine Dye
DH Jim Thome
1B Paul Konerko
CF Ken Griffey Jr.
2B Alexei Ramirez
LF Nick Swisher
3B Juan Uribe
P John Danks
Orioles
2B Brian Roberts
RF Nick Markakis
3B Melvin Mora
DH Aubrey Huff
C Ramon Hernandez
1B Kevin Millar
LF Luke Scott
CF Lou Montanez
SS Juan Castro
P Radhames Liz
Brian Roberts was scheduled to get a day off today, with Alex Cintron filling in for him at 2B, but Cintron came down with a case of food poisoning. Thus, Roberts is back at the top of the lineup, as usual.
Dave Trembley's pregame press conference
Dave Trembley attempted to shed some light on the Daniel Cabrera situation in his pregame talk with the media today, but it sounds like much is still unclear about the right-hander's health.
Trembley said that an MRI on Cabrera's right elbow came back clean, but that Cabrera has some discomfort in his forearm area, near the elbow.
Trembley said at this point, the club has not decided the next step for Cabrera. He might be given an extra day of rest, or the club might shuffle the rotation to give him even more time.
Cabrera hasn't played catch for the last couple of days, but might throw a light sideline tomorrow or Friday in Tampa Bay. Depending on how he feels after that, he might start on Sunday.
Trembley also said that both George Sherrill and Adam Jones are expected to be activated on Sept. 1 barring any setbacks.
Sherrill is expected to play catch again in the next couple of days, then will throw off a mound. If all goes well, he could be activated when the club is in Boston.
As for Jones, Trembley said the only hurdle he has to clear is hitting off live pitching, which he will do within the next couple of days as well.
Game Preview
Chicago White Sox (76-56) at Orioles (62-70)
Maryland's own Gavin Floyd sure didn't treat his hometown team very nicely. The Severna Park native allowed just two runs over his eight innings last night and the White Sox pounded O's starter Brian Burres en route to a 8-3 Chicago win.
The loss was the fifth in a row for the Birds, who slip to eight games under .500 on the season. They look to break the slide against the White Sox tonight and gain some momentum as they leave town for a six-game road trip.
The ChiSox picked up at least one run in each of the first four innings last night, as they got out to an early 6-0 lead and never looked back. The newly called-up Burres allowed six runs, five earned, on 10 hits in five innings. He failed to continue the success he had at Triple-A Norfolk, where he went 1-0, 0.82 in four appearances.
Floyd earned his 14th win on the season and has not picked up a loss since July 19, prompting White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to refer to him as "an animal."
The red-hot White Sox now have won eight of their last 10 and sit two games above the Twins for first place in the AL Central.
Chicago leads the season series with the O's 5-3.
Pitching Match-Up
RHP Radhames Liz (4-3, 7.32) was recalled from Triple-A for the second time this year to make last Friday's start vs. the Yankees. He did not get a decision and gave up nine hits and three runs over 4 2/3. Before that, in his previous four starts with Norfolk, Liz went 2-2, 2.67.
Even though he has recorded just one quality start in 11 outings, the Orioles are 6-5 when the right-hander has started. Liz gives up a batting average of .294 vs. right-handed batters and .305 vs. lefties.
He has failed to pitch at least five innings four times on the year. In six Camden Yards starts, Liz is 2-2, 6.47. In three starts in the second-half, he is 1-1, 6.75.
Tonight, Liz will make his 21st Major League appearance and his 16th Major League start.
John Danks (10-6, 3.16) has not allowed more than three runs in any of his last four starts, yet he has two losses in that span.
Those are his only losses since May 24, however, as the lefty has posted a solid season a year after going 6-13 in a rough rookie campaign.
The 23-year-old has trimmed his ERA over two points from last season, and the key may be his increased ability to keep the ball in the yard. In his 26 starts last season, Danks allowed 28 home runs, while in the same number of outings this year the southpaw has given up just 12.
Danks has been fantastic on the road this season, going 6-1, 2.54 away from Chicago.
The O's are one of the few teams to put an "L" next to Danks' name in 2008, as they picked up a 5-1 win against him and the ChiSox back on April 26. Danks was a tough-luck loser in that ballgame, as the O's touched him for just four hits and two runs over 6.1 innings.
In his career, Danks is 1-1, 4.97 against the Birds.
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