Trembley's bullpen decision (updated)
Tonight's attendance: 36,973. That's a sell-out.
Bringing in left-hander Will Ohman to face left-handed hitting Carl Crawford with a runner on first base and one out in the seventh inning was the definition of a no-brainer. That's why Ohman is on the roster. He's the lefty specialist.
Ohman retired Crawford on a soft liner to short, bringing switch-hitter Ben Zobrist to the plate.
Right-hander Cla Meredith was ready in the bullpen, but manager Dave Trembley stuck with Ohman. Zobrist...
Kevin Millwood threw 100 pitches tonight before coming out of the game with two runners on base and none out in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Evan Longoria homered to deep left field to open the inning. Carlos Pena reached on a bunt single along the third base line against the Orioles' infield shift, and B.J. Upton lined a single to left after pitching coach Rick Kranitz visited the mound.
Matt Albers has replaced Milwood, who so far is charged with two runs and nine hits. Both runners are...
Who said the O's need a true cleanup hitter?
Their three homers tonight ties for third most hit in O's history in an Opening Day game. They had four vs. KC in 1982 and four vs. Tampa in 2006. They hit three vs. the White Sox in 1964 and three vs. Milwaukee in 1993.
With three homers tonight, the O's have now hit 51 homers in 57 all-time Opening Day contests.
Most O's Opening Day homers, all time:
6 - Brooks Robinson
4 - Cal Ripken Jr.
3 - Gus Triandos, Frank Robinson, Eddie Murray
2 -...
Kevin Millwood allowed his first official run as an Oriole when Jason Bartlett singled to left field with two outs in the fifth inning to score Pat Burrell.
Orioles 2, Rays 1.
Burrell ran through a stop sign and beat the throw from Felix Pie, the ball bouncing past catcher Matt Wieters. They had a shot to get him.
Burrell doubled to lead off the inning, but Millwood struck out Sean Rodriguez on a slider and retired Dioner Navarro on a fly ball to left. It appeared that he would escape...
I just wrote about the Rays' video board displaying Craig Tatum's picture next to Luke Scott's name.
Scott didn't seem to mind. And Tatum should be flattered.
Scott launched a 90 mph fastball deep into the seats in right-center field, giving the Orioles a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning.
Matt Wieters followed with a single, and Felix Pie has doubled to put runners on second and third. Still no outs.
Wieters also crushed a ball in the second inning, but center fielder B.J. Upton made a...
You certainly can't draw many conclusions from the first few innings of the first game, but......
*Adam Jones told Gary Thorne before the game "if someone needs a kick in the butt this year, I'll do it. If I need a kick in the butt, I hope someone will do it." Minutes later, he went out and hit a Jamie Walker "rocket ship" off the center-field wall. Then he homered to right in the third. That's leadership. In his last five Opening Day at bats, Jones is 5 for 5 with a triple,...
The Baltimore Orioles begin their 57th year of Major League Baseball tonight at 7:10 p.m. on the road vs. the Tampa Bay Rays. The O's are opening on the road for just the second time in 15 years.
The O's went 64-98 last year while Tampa finished at 84-78, one year after winning the American League championship.
Tampa sported baseball's best record in spring training games at 20-8 with two ties. In the last 13 years, the team that had the best spring training record in the Majors made the...
Tampa Bay Rays starter James Shields has been impressive tonight.
He'd be unhittable if not for Adam Jones.
Jones doubled to center field in the first inning, and he just homered to right with the count full in the third to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.
Jones kept battling Shields through a 10-pitch at-bat. It ended with Jones going into his home run trot as right fielder Ben Zobrist raced to the fence.
Orioles 1, Tampa Bay 0.
Jones has accounted for both Orioles hits. Shields has walked...
It probably won't come as a shock to anyone that the first ball put in play by the Rays managed to find Miguel Tejada at third base.
Tejada fielded Jason Bartlett's grounder and made a strong throw to first.
It's all downhill from here.
Carl Crawford showed bunt on the next pitch, but pulled back.
Kevin Millwood threw 18 pitches in the first inning, 10 for strikes. He fanned Evan Longoria on a 91 mph fastball with the count full to strand Ben Zobrist at second base.
The Orioles made...
As I sit here in the second row of the Tropicana Field press box, I join my fellow scribes in wondering why it doesn't feel like Opening Day.
Maybe if they could open the roof.
It's so different on a Monday afternoon at Camden Yards. This could be any other game on any other night. I'm half expecting Aubrey Huff to be batting for the Rays and Jorge Julio to be one straight fastball away from a blown save.
It's good to be here. It's just...different.
I hope that makes sense.
You'd...
Brian Roberts kept telling everyone that he'd be ready for the opener, that he could get his body ready while dealing with a herniated disk in his back.
Rather than experiencing a feeling of satisfaction today, Roberts described it more as "relief."
This is one time when he really wanted to be right.
"I'm very thankful that I am here," he said while standing at his locker before batting practice. "The training staff has been great, the doctors have been great. Everybody's gone above...