Friday night preview: O's at Angels
Game Preview
Orioles (35-44) at LA Angels (43-34)
For the Orioles, so much for the momentum they might have taken from Tuesday's nine-run down comeback win vs. Boston.
Since that win, they have lost two games and picked up just 11 hits and a team average of .157 in those two contests.
Tonight, the O's play at Anaheim at 10:05 p.m. in game two of a four-game series. David Hernandez (1-2, 4.19) is set to pitch for the Orioles against LA's Ervin Santana (1-3, 7.47).
Bobby Abreu produced his 14th career two-homer game as the Angels beat the Orioles 5-2 Thursday night. Abreu tied his season high with 4 RBI and now needs just three homers for 250 in his career.
John Lackey picked up his 7th career win vs. the Birds, allowing just four hits over eight innings. He is now 3-3, 4.70.
The O's are now 1-6 in West Coast games on the year and 11-24 in road games this season, with four losses in a row.
Overall, the Birds have lost two in a row, four of five games and seven of their last ten contests. Over a longer stretch, they are 10-8 in the last 18 games.
Several O's players bats have cooled. Aubrey Huff is 2 for 17, Brian Roberts is 2 for 27 and Adam Jones is 1 for 11. Ty Wigginton went 0 for 2 last night as his ten-game hit streak ended. Wigginton hit .472 during the streak.
The Angels are now 3-0 on the year vs. the O's and have won 15 of their last 20 home games vs. Baltimore. They have won four in a row vs. the Orioles.
LA has won seven of its last nine and the Angels are 14-5 over the last 19 games. They are 8-3 in their last 11 home contests.
Abreu had driven in 31 runs the last 30 games while Juan Rivera has homered nine times in 23 games.
The first-place Angels are 34-22 since May 1st.
O's organizational leaders:
Batting Average:
.372 - Oscar Salazar, Norf
.360 - David Anderson, GCL O's
.350 - Blake Davis, Aberdeen
Homers:
14 - Brandon Waring, Fred
10 - Brandon Snyder, Norf
10 - Oscar Salazar, Norf
RBI:
54 - Brandon Snyder, Norf
51 - Brandon Waring, Fred
43 - Oscar Salazar, Norf
Stolen Bases:
26 - Justin Christian, Norf
25 - Matt Angle, Fred
21 - Xavier Avery, Delm
21 - Jonathon Tucker, Bowie
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Categories (click for archive)Orioles News | Steve Melewski |
Angels can pitch that is why they win against the orioles. The orioles need to do the same if they are to win against the angels. But hasnt happened yet this year! Now the bats have left again???
Roch - just wondering, why do alot of hitters "wipe" their bats, usually under their armpits, esp when raining? Does it really matter if the bat is a tiny bit damp vs not??? Curious to know.
THANKS
Ron
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You actually wrote to Steve, here. Besides the obvious of keeping the bat dry, I don't have a good answer for you. - Steve
Steve, I've felt for the last few years that the Orioles offensive numbers were inflated in the many games that were already lost. Players would get their 1 for 3's and 2 for 4's in meaningless games. IMO they never seemed to get their hits early when it could turn a game in their favor. Nice to see Wieters get the hit to tie the game last night but then we couldn't get another there when it counted. Sure Luke Scott hit another home run but it was meaningless an no pressure. I do not know if there are stats to back this up it is just a feeling. We are constanly reminded of a players average with runners in scoring position but how many of those hits ultimately affected the outcome? Your thoughts?
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Shaun, you can sometimes make stats say almost whatever you want. Getting stats in a loss is not meaningless. Luke's homer last night made the score 5-2 in the 7th. He didn't know whether the O's would score three in the 8th to tie it or not get another hit that night.
Look at the all the hits they got on Tuesday while coming back. Was the hit that made it 10-2 meangingless, yet Markakis' two-run double that made it 11-10 most meaningful. Without the other hits, Nick's hit didn't matter as much.
Steve