Rangers pound out 20 hits to beat Birds 15-7
After scoring just one run in their last three games, the Texas Rangers' offense broke out big time on Sunday in a 15-7 win over the Orioles. The Rangers avoided a sweep with a 20-hit attack. It's the most runs and hits the O's have allowed this year.
Ian Kinsler, who was batting just .205 in the second half, went 5-6 with a homer, three runs scored and three RBI. Josh Hamilton hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Marlon Byrd hit a three-run shot in the 9th.
Texas scored six runs in the fifth inning to break a 6-6 tie. Five Rangers plated runs in the inning and the first seven Rangers to bat in that frame reached base.
O's starter Chris Waters gave up six runs and seven hits over four innings. Texas lefty Matt Harrison gave up six runs in five innings, but he got the victory.
Melvin Mora homered with 4 RBI for the Birds; Brian Roberts had four hits and Lou Montanez went 3-4 and now has 5 hits in 10 at bats since his callup from Bowie.
Marlon Byrd hit a three-run homer in the 9th off George Sherrill as Texas moved ahead 15-6. It was his 8th of the season.
The first seven Rangers to bat reached base in the top of the 5th as Texas scored six times to take a 12-6 lead. A Travis Metcalf single made it 7-6, and Jason Ellison added a two-run single. Five different Texas hitters drove in runs in the six-hit inning.
Mora's RBI single in the fourth scored Roberts after his double, and tied the game at 6-6. It's Mora's third RBI of the day and 77th of the year.
The Rangers regained the lead, 6-5, on Ian Kinsler's two-run homer in the fourth. He hit his 15th of the season 368 feet to left field.
The Orioles took their first lead of the game on Aubrey Huff's two-run homer to right in the third. He blasted a 3-1 pitch 370 feet over the wall in right center. The homer extended his hitting streak to 18 games, a new career-high for him and new O's season-high.
The Orioles cut the Texas lead to 4-3 in the second. Jay Payton led off the frame with a double to left and scored on a Montanez single over shortstop for his second Orioles' RBI.
Mora's two-run homer in the first pulled the O's to within 4-2. It scored Roberts, who doubled and was Mora's 17th homer of the season and the 150th of his career.
The Rangers took a 4-0 lead in the first inning, exceeding their scoring output of the first two games of this series. Ian Kinsler led off with a pop up past short that Alex Cintron seemed to lose in the sun, and it fell for a single. After a walk, Josh Hamilton crushed a three-run homer to center for the 3-0 edge. It's his 28th homer and he now has a Major League leading 111 RBI. Later in the first, a Travis Metcalf RBI single made it a 4-0 game.
Tex 15-20-0
Bal 7-14-0
Waters Day
It didn't go nearly as well today for Chris Waters, whose shaky outing today probably opens the door a little for Hayden Penn at some point.
Waters line: 4IP, 7H, 6R-ER, 3BB, 5K, 2 HR.......90 pitches.
His ERA goes from 0.00 to 4.50.
Postgame Notes
The Rangers 15 runs and 20 hits are the most by an O's opponent this year.....The previous most runs allowed in one game was 13 and most hits was 16.....The O's were looking for their first three-game sweep since taking three in a row from Houston, June 17-19......Texas had scored a total of four runs during a four-game losing skid.....The Rangers 20 hits tied their season high.
The Orioles hit two homers today, have 8 over the past four games and have hit 32 since the All-Star break.......The three-game weekend series drew 93,143 fans......The O's fall to 2-17 on Sundays.
Aubrey Huff's two-run homer in the 3rd extended his hitting streak to 18 games, a new career-high for him and new season best by an Oriole.......Huff is batting .403 (29-72) during the run.......Brian Roberts went 4-4 today with two doubles and three runs scored to extend his hitting streak to 12 games......Roberts was 7-11 in this series with four doubles, six runs and 3 RBI........Lou Montanez went 3-4 with an RBI and is 5-10 since joining the O's.
Melvin Mora was 3-4 with a homer and 4 RBI. Mora went 7-14/2/8 in the series and now has 78 RBI on the season......In 23 games since the All-Star break, Mora is batting .384-6-30......He has 36 RBI his last 26 games........Nick Markakis went 0-5, snapping a six-game batting streak.
The Orioles scored 25 runs in the series and have scored 77 runs their last 12 games......It was the 8th time the O's had a chance to sweep a three-game series and they are 1-7 in those games......Texas improves to 61-58 and is 54-42 since April 25.
Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog From Camden Yards
Today's Attendance
Is 26,878. The three-game weekend series drew 93,143.
Double The Fun
Brian Roberts double in the 4th inning gives him two doubles already today and four in this weekend series. B-Rob now has an amazing total of 31 doubles over his last 59 games.
AL Doubles Leaders (before today)
42 - Brian Roberts, Bal
39 - Ian Kinsler, Tex
34 - Aubrey Huff, Bal
34 - Dustin Pedroia, Bost
You Can't Keep a Good (Hitting) Team Down
The Orioles have rallied from 4-0 down to take a 5-4 lead on Aubrey Huff's two-run homer in the third. The O's have scored in 9 of their last 12 at bats in this series. They had overcome a 4-0 deficit before an out was recorded in the third.
Huff now has an 18-game hitting streak, a new career-high for him and the best by an Oriole this season. Huff has hit four homers during the hitting streak, 9 in his last 33 games and 14 in his last 52 contests. Ten of his homers this season have given the O's a lead as today's blast did.
Mora Mashing
Melvin Mora's two-run homer in the first gives him two homers in his last two at bats, going back to last night. Mora has two homers and six RBI in this series. He now has an 8-game hitting streak during which he has 13 hits in 31 at bats with two homers and 11 RBI. He has 28 RBI his last 21 games. He began today tied for 8th in the AL with 74 RBI. He had 58 all of last year.
B-Rob Note
Brian Roberts leads off the first with a double, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. It's his AL-leading 43rd two bagger.
The Top of the First
The Rangers took a 4-0 lead in the first, scoring as many runs in that inning as they had scored in losing their last four games. Ian Kinsler led up with a high pop just onto the outfield grass. Shortstop Alex Cintron couldn't find the ball and it fell in for a single. That seemed to un-nerve Waters, who then walked Young on four pitches and gave up a 420-foot bomb to Josh Hamilton. In all Texas scored four runs on five hits in the first. Wonder how differently the inning plays out if Cintron catches that ball.
Hamilton, until today, had not hurt the O's much this year. Coming into this game he is 7-30 with 4 RBI this season vs. O's pitching.
Sunday Baseball
Today's game has begun in Baltimore as the O's go for a sweep of the Rangers. Today's first pitch was at 1:37 pm and it's 84 degrees. Check back here often today for news and updates both here and at Roch Kubatko's blog as well.
Starting Lineups
Rangers
2B Ian Kinsler
SS Michael Young
RF Josh Hamilton
DH Milton Bradley
RF Marlon Byrd
C Gerald Laird
1B Chris Davis
3B Travis Metcalf
LF Jason Ellison
P Matt Harrison
Orioles
2B Brian Roberts
RF Nick Markakis
3B Melvin Mora
DH Aubrey Huff
1B Kevin Millar
CF Jay Payton
LF Lou Montanez
SS Alex Cintron
C Guillermo Quiroz
P Chris Waters
Trembley's Talk
Dave Trembley told reporters today that Juan Castro, who left last night's game with a mild groin strain, could play today if needed. But he was going to start Alex Cintron anyway and Castro will begin today's game on the bench as planned.
The skipper said Chris Ray pitched Friday for the Gulf Coast League O's and pitched one scoreless inning, throwing 22 pitches, 17 for strikes. He will throw another inning for that club on Tuesday.
He's hoping to get George Sherrill in today after four days without work.
He was asked if there's a little more focus on Chris Waters today after his great outing on Tuesday in Anaheim.
"He just has to throw strikes and locate his fastball. I'm sure he's just as excited today as the first time he pitched, maybe moreso because it's at Camden Yards. But I've watched the guy in between starts and his demeanor hasn't changed. But just like anyone I think the first inning is key for him."
Game Preview
Texas (60-58) at Orioles (56-59)
After scoring 18 runs on 29 hits in winning the first two games of this series, the Orioles can complete a three-game sweep of Texas with a win at Camden Yards this afternoon. The O's last three-game sweep of the Rangers came at home June 13-15 of 2000.
The Birds beat Texas 9-1 Friday and 9-0 on Saturday. The Orioles posted their second shutout in four games. Daniel Cabrera went the first six innings and then Rocky Cherry, Alberto Castillo and Fernando Cabrera went one inning each to close out the team's third shutout of the season.
The O's team ERA is 2.57 over the last four games. Baltimore has now won 3 of its last 4 and 8 of its last 12 contests.
The top three in the O's order - Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis and Melvin Mora - combined to go 6-11 in Saturday's win, with two homers, 8 RBI and six runs scored. Markakis hit a three-run homer and Mora knocked in four runs. Mora now has 26 RBI over his last 20 games.
Aubrey Huff extended his batting streak to 17 games, which ties his career-high and the O's season best. Nick Markakis earlier hit in 17 straight. Huff is batting .418 during the streak.
The Orioles are batting .301 as a team in the second-half and are averaging 5.6 runs per game in that time.
Texas was shutout for the second time in four games and has scored a total of four runs during a four-game losing streak. Texas has scored just one run over its last 29 innings. The Rangers are 10-12 since the All-Star break.
Pitching Match-Up
LHP Chris Waters (1-0, 0.00) after pitching in 185 Minor League games covering 1040 innings since 2000, made his Major League debut last Tuesday night and one-hit the Anaheim Angels over eight innings to get the win.
Waters allowed only a Vladimir Guerrero single in the second and retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced. He threw 103 pitches in his longest outing of the season in the Majors or Minors. Today he makes his second Major League start facing Texas.
The 27-year-old Waters, in his second season in the O's organization, began this season at Double-A Bowie and was 5-0, 1.69 in six starts. He was then promoted to Triple-A Norfolk and made 18 appearances, 16 as a starter, with the Tides. In 22 starts combined this season, he is 8-6, 4.65.
Waters struggled for a while at Norfolk, but, after pitching to an ERA of 8.77 in June, was 3-1, 3.60 in six July starts. In his last Triple-A outing, July 31 vs. Lehigh Valley, he pitched seven shutout innings, giving up just one hit.
With Norfolk, Waters allowed 97 hits and 43 walks in 90 innings. He gave up a batting average of .210 vs. left-handed hitters, .317 vs. right-handed batters and .363 when pitching with runners in scoring position.
Waters was originally drafted in round five by Atlanta in 2000. His best year in the Minors was 2002 at Myrtle Beach when he went 13-7, 2.76.
In his career in the Minors he has pitched in 185 games, 179 as a starter, with a record of 58-60 and 4.06 ERA in 1,040 innings.
LHP Matt Harrison (3-2, 6.46) today will make his 6th start of the season, his 3rd on the road and the first of his career vs. the Orioles.
Harrison, who has allowed 36 hits in 30 2/3 on the year, got a win last Tuesday vs. the Yankees. He gave up just two runs and five hits over 6 2/3 innings. The Rangers are 4-2 when he has started.
Harrison was a Braves 3rd-round draft pick in 2003 and was traded to Texas in the trade deadline deal last year that sent Mark Teixiera to Atlanta.
Earlier this season, in 15 Minor League starts between Double-A and Triple-A, he went 6-3, 3.43. Prior to the season he was ranked as the Rangers 12th best prospect by Baseball America.
Right-handed batters are hitting .241 while lefties are hitting a whopping .469 (15-32) off Harrison. In two road starts, he is 1-1, 8.10.
O's Hitting Notes
The Birds have scored 18 runs, batting .382 (29-76) in this series vs. Texas......They have hit 6 homers the last 3 games and 30 in 22 games since the All-Star break....the O's team average is up to .266, its highest since April 8th......In the last 11 games the Orioles are hitting .316 with 70 runs scored.............Over his last 51 games, Aubrey Huff is batting .380-13-42 with 19 doubles..........Since the break, Melvin Mora is batting .366-5-26.....He has 32 RBI his last 25 games..........Kevin Millar has six homers his last 14 games........Brian Roberts is batting .333 during his 11-game batting streak.....Luke Scott has 7 hits his last 14 at bats..........Nick Markakis has 2 homers and 10 RBI his last five games...........Juan Castro is 4-7 with 2 RBI in this series vs. Texas.
Leave a comment