De Aza hits first home run as Oriole (O's win 4-1)
By Roch Kubatko
BOSTON - Alejandro De Aza hit his first home run as an Oriole tonight, depositing a 91 mph fastball from rookie Anthony Ranaudo into the Red Sox's bullpen after Nick Markakis drew a leadoff walk.
Orioles 2, Red Sox 0.
De Aza has six home runs on the season, the first five with the White Sox before the Aug. 30 trade.
Nelson Cruz doubled with two outs and is now 13-for-28 (.464) in his last eight games.
Ranaudo threw 30 pitches before getting out of the inning. He walked Steve Pearce with two outs.
Meanwhile, the Yankees and Blue Jays are both losing 1-0 in the second inning.
Earlier today, manager Buck Showalter was told that his players seem to be unaware of the standings and how many games they're ahead in the division.
"And you bought that?" he quipped.
"No, I think they're handling it very maturely from a standpoint of, you know, we've got to take care of our business. Every night we've got a chance to get a step closer to where we want to get and that's a chance to roll the dice in October. And that's what it is. So, if you just stay focused on what we have to do every night, then you control it. You control it, whether you've got a one-game lead or an X-number of game lead. You can control it every night, how you're going to wake up the next day."
Showalter is checking the other teams in playoff contention without obsessing over their every result.
"Hey, I'm a baseball fan," he said. "I've got a lot of close friends who are trying to get this done, whether it be players or coaches, managers, front office people, so you do. Anybody who says they don't look at it every now and then... That's not something I pore over every day. I pore over anything that might affect us."
Showalter won't divulge whether he's already planning ahead to the postseason, lining up his rotation for potential match-ups or making other adjustments.
"I would ask the same thing of any manager, but I'm not getting ahead of ourselves," he said. "When we get to the point where that's something that we should definitely turn our attention to, if that happens, then I'll weigh in on it. But I'll never tell at this point."
Update: Have yourself a night, Alejandro De Aza.
De Aza homered again leading off the third inning, and Adam Jones followed with a shot that easily cleared the Green Monster in left field.
Orioles 4, Red Sox 0.
De Aza has two multi-homer games in his career, the other coming on March 31.
The Orioles have gone back-to-back six times this season.
Update II: Chris Tillman has thrown 108 pitches in five innings, but he's holding a 4-1 lead.
Xander Bogaerts homered in the fourth, and the Red Sox loaded the bases with one out in the fifth before David Ortiz grounded into a double play. Ortiz is 2-for-24 lifetime vs. Tillman.
Evan Meek was warming in the bullpen in the fifth.
Update III: Tillman went five innings for the second time in three starts, but his streak of allowing three earned runs or fewer reached 18, tying him with Steve Barber for the fourth-longest in club history.
Tillman allowed one run and six hits, walked two, struck out five and gave up a home run. He threw 108 pitches, 66 for strikes.
Update IV: Game over. The Orioles win 4-1 over the Red Sox and are assured of taking the series.
The Blue Jays won and the Yankees lost. The Orioles' magic number is down to nine games.
The Orioles lead Toronto by 10 games and the Yankees by 11 in the American League East.
Zach Britton picked up his 34th save and the Orioles improved to 85-59 overall and 36-22 vs. the AL East. They're 20-9 at Fenway Park since Sept. 20, 2011.
Nelson Cruz doubled with two outs and is now 13-for-28 (.464) in his last eight games.
Ranaudo threw 30 pitches before getting out of the inning. He walked Steve Pearce with two outs.
Meanwhile, the Yankees and Blue Jays are both losing 1-0 in the second inning.
Earlier today, manager Buck Showalter was told that his players seem to be unaware of the standings and how many games they're ahead in the division.
"And you bought that?" he quipped.
"No, I think they're handling it very maturely from a standpoint of, you know, we've got to take care of our business. Every night we've got a chance to get a step closer to where we want to get and that's a chance to roll the dice in October. And that's what it is. So, if you just stay focused on what we have to do every night, then you control it. You control it, whether you've got a one-game lead or an X-number of game lead. You can control it every night, how you're going to wake up the next day."
Showalter is checking the other teams in playoff contention without obsessing over their every result.
"Hey, I'm a baseball fan," he said. "I've got a lot of close friends who are trying to get this done, whether it be players or coaches, managers, front office people, so you do. Anybody who says they don't look at it every now and then... That's not something I pore over every day. I pore over anything that might affect us."
Showalter won't divulge whether he's already planning ahead to the postseason, lining up his rotation for potential match-ups or making other adjustments.
"I would ask the same thing of any manager, but I'm not getting ahead of ourselves," he said. "When we get to the point where that's something that we should definitely turn our attention to, if that happens, then I'll weigh in on it. But I'll never tell at this point."
Update: Have yourself a night, Alejandro De Aza.
De Aza homered again leading off the third inning, and Adam Jones followed with a shot that easily cleared the Green Monster in left field.
Orioles 4, Red Sox 0.
De Aza has two multi-homer games in his career, the other coming on March 31.
The Orioles have gone back-to-back six times this season.
Update II: Chris Tillman has thrown 108 pitches in five innings, but he's holding a 4-1 lead.
Xander Bogaerts homered in the fourth, and the Red Sox loaded the bases with one out in the fifth before David Ortiz grounded into a double play. Ortiz is 2-for-24 lifetime vs. Tillman.
Evan Meek was warming in the bullpen in the fifth.
Update III: Tillman went five innings for the second time in three starts, but his streak of allowing three earned runs or fewer reached 18, tying him with Steve Barber for the fourth-longest in club history.
Tillman allowed one run and six hits, walked two, struck out five and gave up a home run. He threw 108 pitches, 66 for strikes.
Update IV: Game over. The Orioles win 4-1 over the Red Sox and are assured of taking the series.
The Blue Jays won and the Yankees lost. The Orioles' magic number is down to nine games.
The Orioles lead Toronto by 10 games and the Yankees by 11 in the American League East.
Zach Britton picked up his 34th save and the Orioles improved to 85-59 overall and 36-22 vs. the AL East. They're 20-9 at Fenway Park since Sept. 20, 2011.
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