Post-game spread
Shortstop Juan Castro strained a groin muscle while running to first base on his infield hit and isn't sure whether he'll be available tomorrow.
"It's a little sore and tight. We'll see how it feels tomorrow," he said. "It's not something that's bad bad. Hopefully, it will be a lot better tomorrow."
Manager Dave Trembley was in full story-telling mode tonight, which can be entertaining and informative.
Nick Markakis singled in the first inning after Brian Roberts' leadoff walk, but he didn't score on Kevin Millar's bases-loaded single, costing the Orioles a run and Millar an RBI. After returning to the dugout, Markakis told Trembley, "Dave, that was terrible baserunning on my part. I owe you one. I went up to Millar and said, 'I owe you one, too.'"
"I said to Nicky, 'Hey Nicky, at least you're man enough to, one, know it, and two, admit it,'" Trembley replied. "He said, 'Dave, I'll make it up to you.'"
You know what happened next. Markakis hit a three-run homer in the second inning.
Trembley also noted how Melvin Mora went from first to third on a two-out pop up, rather than conceding the out.
"That ought to be an indicator of what's going on around here," Trembley said.
Jamie Walker said reliever Chad Bradford, his closest friend on the Orioles before the trade, was "kind of stunned" by Thursday's transaction.
"He didn't want to be traded. It's always a pain," Walker said. "The worst part is he had to go back out to Seattle."
That's where the Rays are playing this weekend.
Down on the farm, Double-A Bowie's Chris Tillman struck out 10 batters in six innings. He allowed three runs and left with the Baysox trailing, 3-2.
Jonathan Tucker hit his sixth home run for the Baysox.
Single-A Frederick relievers Ryan Rodriguez, Brett Bordes, Jeff Moore and Scott Mueller combined for 7 1/3 scoreless innings in the Keys' 4-2, 13-inning win. Billy Rowell tied the game with an RBI double in the ninth, and catcher Justin Johnson produced a two-run single in the 13th.
Single-A Delmarva was leading, 4-0, in the fourth inning when it's game was suspended because of rain. Luis Noel didn't allow a hit in three innings. He walked three batters, but none of them reached second base.
Sounds like my last date.
Stay classy, Baltimore.
Roch,
You are killing me! Now I have to explain to my 12 years old son(who also likes to read this blog) what second base means.
Dear fellow bolg readers,
Please don't post any detail on your "home run" story. My son is reading this blog right now.
I've always been a fan of your blog Roch but when you start dropping Anchorman lines, you take it to a whole new level!!! 60% of the time, it works every time!
By the way, it was another good baseball game tonight. It IS amazing what happens when your starting pitching does a halfway decent job.
I was in Bowie tonight. Tillman walked the first guy and gave up a home to the second. Thereafter he was absolutely dominant until allowing a double to score another run in the sixth. Best part was he loaded the bases with one out in that last inning and muscled up and struck out the last two guys to get out of it. The bullpen was pretty bad from there. Ryan Finan nearly had an inside the part homer, but he seemed surprised Komminsk was waiving him in and hesitated. He was thrown out by inches--would have tied the game. Wieters pounds the ball. Reimold didn't look too good at the bat, but he looked great in right field--has a cannon. Montanez should be in Bowie. It's a waste to have him here and not starting.
I was at the Bowie game tonight, and despite having it blown wide open on them in the 9th, a couple notes:
Ryan Finan hit a screamer against the right field wall the Rock Cat's right fielder couldn't hang onto. The second baseman had begun charging at the ball that had started to roll to centerfield and noticed that Finan hadn't slowed down when reaching the third base. He proceeded to gun the ball home; a perfect throw that hit the catcher just as Finan slide across the plate, and managed to get the out. It was interesting keeping score, tallying the first hit of the inning as a 4-2 out on a triple. Everyone was really pulling for that in-the-parker though.
In three at bats, Wieters swung at the first pitch he saw. His final one almost looked like he bombed it out of the stadium.
Tillman, despite walking the first batter of the game and surrendering the 2-run homer to the second, was lights out. He got himself 10 strike outs with one walk and looked untouchable.
I heard the O's game was pretty exciting as well.
Speaking of Tillman, he's #4 on the Baseball America Top Prospects list.
To wit:
No. 4 CHRIS TILLMAN, RHP
ORIOLES
Team: Double-A Bowie (Eastern)
Age: 20
Why He's Here: 0-0, 3.00, 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 BB, 11 SO
The Scoop: Normally, Matt Wieters is the Bowie Hot Sheet mainstay, but Tillman is about as good of a pitching prospect as you will find in the minors. Sometimes it's easy to forget just how young Tillman is, which makes his 114 strikeouts in 106 2/3 innings that much more impressive. How the Orioles were able to get Tillman included in the package that Seattle sent to Baltimore that already included Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Kam Mickolio and Tony Butler is mind-boggling. Next year Bedard will be in his last arbitration-eligible year for the Mariners and he will likely make around $9-$10 million. With the Mariners nowhere near contention this year, and unlikely to be anywhere close next year, Tillman's value alone could make the trade a net loss for the Mariners and a giant coup for the Orioles.
Notice how the AMac detractors have shut up?
I saw that Jake Arrieta is on the Olympic team. How do they determine who goes and who doesn't for that?
Roch - at least you had a date.
Tillman seems back on track, and that's a good thing. Hopefully he finishes strong.
Second base wasn't all that uncommon in 6th grade, if you think about it Jia.