Jays beat O's 3-0, game ends in seven innings due to rain
Tonight's game is now officially over with Toronto winning 3-0 in seven innings. The game was called as official after a delay of one hour and five minutes. The Blue Jays scored two runs and were batting in the top of the seventh when the delay began.
Scott Richmond is the winning pitcher, now 1-3. He did not give up a run over six innings and threw 79 pitches. Chris Waters took the loss. He gave up three runs in six innings and is 3-5.
The Orioles have now lost ten in a row for the first time since August of 2004.
Curtis Thigpen hit a solo homer leading off the 7th and Toronto led 2-0. His first Major League homer traveled 370 feet to left. Later in the inning, an RBI groundout by Jose Bautista made it a 3-0 Jays' lead.
Scott Rolen's RBI double in the 6th gave Toronto a 1-0 lead on the O's. It scored Bautista who led off the inning with a single. Nick Markakis made a shoestring catch of a liner to right by Travis Snider to end the inning and strand runners at 2nd and 3rd.
Tor 3-9-0
Balt 0-4-4
Postgame Notes
They only had six at bats, but it's the 5th time the O's were shutout this season and second time in the last seven games......They were held to four hits and went 4-22 at bat in the game......The four hits were singles by Roberts, Markakis, Mora and Huff.
The O's have lost ten games in a row by a combined 23 runs.........They have lost 14 of 17 and 29 of 35 games.......The O's have been held to two runs or less 7 times in the last 11 games and 13 times in 22 contests.....the O's are now 21-50 vs. the AL East.
The Birds fall to 28-24 in series opening games......and are now 36-42 at home on the season....The Jays picked up their 85th win and have won 9 of their last 13 games at Camden Yards.
Scott Richmond picked up his first Major League win in his 5th big league start......The O's 5th-9th hitters went 0-10 against him.........He had three strikeouts with no walks with threw 79 pitches.
Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog From Camden Yards
A First
Jays' 25-year-old catcher Curtis Thigpen hit his first Major League homer leading off the seventh inning tonight. It went 370 feet to left. Thigpen hit just 3 homers in 96 Triple-A games with Syracuse this season. He was a second-round draft pick in 2004 out of the University of Texas and played on a College World Series winner in 2003.
The Starters Through Six:
Chris Waters: 6IP, 6H, 1R-ER, 2BB, 6K.........93 pitches
Scott Richmond: 6IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, 3K..........79 pitches
Probables, Toronto Series:
Sat 7:05pm: Brian Bass (3-4, 5.08) vs. LH John Parrish (1-0, 4.10)
Sun 1:35pm: Jeremy Guthrie (10-11, 3.57) vs. RH Jesse Litsch (12-9, 3.67)
This Date in O's History
On September 26, 1962 - Dave McNally beats the Kansas City A's, 3-0 in his first Major League start. It's the shortest game in Memorial Stadium history at one hour and 32 minutes. It's also the game where Andy Etchebarren makes his big league debut.
Orioles Hits Leaders (starting tonight)
181 - Aubrey Huff
180 - Brian Roberts
178 - Nick Markakis
Markakis led the club last year with 191 hits.
Game Time
The final series of the season is underway. It's game one of this three-game series with Toronto to end the 2008 Orioles' season. Tonight's first pitch was at 7:08pm and it's 72 degrees.
Starting Lineups
Blue Jays
2B Marco Scutaro
1B Jose Bautista
CF Alex Rios
DH Vernon Wells
LF Adam Lind
3B Scott Rolen
RF Travis Snider
C Curtis Thigpen
SS John McDonald
P Scott Richmond
Orioles
2B Brian Roberts
RF Nick Markakis
DH Melvin Mora
3B Aubrey Huff
1B Oscar Salazar
CF Adam Jones
LF Luke Scott
C Omir Santos
SS Brandon Fahey
P Chris Waters
Sarfate Set for Surgery
O's reliever Dennis Sarfate is scheduled to have surgery this coming Tuesday in Los Angels on his fractured right clavicle. He had pitched with the injury almost all season.
"I just want to get back to feeling good. It got worse at times this year, it will be nice next year not to have pain when I throw and even when I pick up my daughter. At the end here it was really starting to bother me. They are going to shave off a bone spur from where the fracture healed. There is no structural damage or anything like that."
Sarfate got hurt back in April moving into his apartment. He dropped his keys near a door and when bending over to pick them up the door recoiled back at him and hit his shoulder.
Sarfate says doctors have told him he will be recovered enough to pitch in a game by mid to late February.
"That is a more conservative estimate, since I'll be throwing again by early January. I can get ready for the season pretty quick."
Sarfate went 4-3, 4.74 in 57 games, four starts this year. He was pitching to an ERA of 1.35 in September but last pitched in a game on the 9th vs. Cleveland. His ERA was 10.34 as a starter and 3.38 out of the pen.
"I'm a little disappointed I couldn't finish the season. It just got to the point where I couldn't. After I got out of the rotation, as a reliever I was better. My walks were down, next year my walks should be no way near where they were this year. "
Trembley's Talk
The skipper today said Brian Bass will be Saturday's starter. He said Juan Castro was in the original lineup at shortstop but was scratched due to a strained groin and Brandon Fahey will start.
Much of today's interview with reporters went along the lines of a season review and look ahead to next year.
Trembley cited three areas for improvement for 2009:
1 - Starting Pitching
2- An offensive-minded Shortstop
3 - Settle the bullpen in terms of what current injured players will be healthy for 2009.
"It's pretty clear the first four and a half months we played as good a baseball as could be expected. We competed, we won one-run games, we came from behind a lot. The last six weeks have been just the opposite. Our pitching hasn't been what we expected it to be, we've had injuries. Our weaknesses became very glaring.
"We need to improve our starting pitching number one. We need to find an offensive-minded everyday shortstop. We need to put the bullpen in order. We know some guys our coming back from injuries there so we need a Plan A and Plan B for the pen."
Trembley did say he expects his second baseman back next year.
"I don't see Brian Roberts going anywhere. I've said that since last winter. I fully expect Brian Roberts to be our leadoff hitter for a long time. Because of what he means to this team and community. I don't see him going anywhere and I don't think he wants to go anywhere."
Game Preview
Toronto (84-75) at Orioles (67-91)
What began on Monday March 31st vs. Tampa Bay will end this Sunday at Camden Yards vs. Toronto. The Orioles host the Jays tonight to start the final series of the 2008 season.
It's the O's final chance to win a series for the first time since mid August when they took 2 of 3 at Detroit. Since then, the O's have lost ten series and tied one.
The Orioles have lost nine straight games by a total of 20 runs.
The Birds, just 4-18 in September, have lost 21 of 25 and 28 of 34 games. The Orioles' last win was September 16th when tonight's starter, Chris Waters, pitched a shutout vs. tonight's opponent, Toronto.
The O's won 69 games last season and will need two wins this weekend to tie that and three for a 70-win season.
The Blue Jays beat the Yankees 8-2 last night as Roy Halladay improved to 20-11, 2.78 with a complete-game six hitter. It's Halladay's Major League leading 9th complete game. He records his second career 20-win season. Halladay threw just 96 pitches as he improved to 5-1 this season vs. New York and 15-5 in his career vs. the Yankees.
Toronto ended a three-game losing streak Thursday and stopped New York's seven-game winning streak. The Jays are 14-9 in September and are 49-36 since Cito Gaston took over as manager June 20th.
Gaston received a two-year contract extension on Thursday, running through 2010.
The Blue Jays, who are 37-41 on the road this year, lead the American League in team ERA and are 11th in the AL in runs and batting average.
The Orioles are 5-10 vs. Toronto this season, 2-4 at home and have lost 9 of the last 11 games between these teams.
Pitching Match-Up
LHP Chris Waters (3-4, 5.06) tonight makes his 11th start of the season, his 6th at home and his second of the season vs. Toronto.
In his last start, Sunday night at Yankee Stadium, Waters took the loss. He gave up six hits and five runs in 5 2/3.
Two starts ago, Waters pitched a four-hit shutout vs. the Blue Jays team he faces tonight. Waters, who threw 106 pitches in that outing, retired the leadoff hitter in 8 of 9 innings and never needed any more than 15 pitches in an inning.
Waters opponent average, innings 1-2: .301
Waters opponent average, innings 3-4: .194
In five home starts, Waters is 1-3, 7.00. His ERA in road games is 3.41. The Orioles are 4-6 in his starts this season.
Waters, who has recorded three quality starts, has pitched to an ERA of 1.64 in his wins and 6.08 in his losses.
RHP Scott Richmond (0-3, 5.14) tonight makes his 5th start of this season and of his Major League career for the Jays. He was a September callup this year and his previous four starts all came at home.
Richmond, who has allowed exactly 3ER in all four of his starts, has not pitched longer than 5 2/3 in any outing. The Jays are 1-3 when he starts.
Richmond spent most of this year in the Minors and, in 24 starts between Double-A and Triple-A, went 6-11, 4.45.
In these four starts the 29-year-old has been excellent vs. righty hitters but rocked by lefties.
Richmond vs. RHB: .132 opponent ave, one extra-base hit
Richmond vs. LHB: .479 ave with 9 doubles, 2 triples and 2 homers
Lefty hitters are 23-48 vs. Richmond while right-handed batters are 5-38. Tonight, Richmond makes his first-ever appearances vs. the Orioles.
O's Hitters, 2008 vs. Toronto:
Castro: 4-15/0/0
Cintron: 3-9/0/2
Fahey: 1-13/0/2
Hernandez: 6-45/2/5
Huff: 16-51/2/5
Jones: 14-52/4/9
Markakis: 21-58/3/9
Millar: 8-48/2/6
Montanez: 0-3/0/0
Mora: 20-51/3/18
Payton: 6-23/0/6
Quiroz: 1-10/0/1
Roberts: 19-60/0/2
Salazar: 3-7/0/0
Scott: 15-48/3/7
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