Showalter, De Aza, Jones and Tillman after 4-1 win
By Roch Kubatko
BOSTON - The Orioles' magic number is down to nine. Single digits. Don Buford's uniform number. Brady Anderson's number, too, for younger fans.
Chris Tillman lasted only five innings and threw 108 pitches, but he's held opponents to three earned runs or fewer in 18 consecutive starts to tie Steve Barber for the fourth-longest streak in club history.
Alejandro De Aza hit his first two home runs as an Oriole. Adam Jones cleared one of the signs above the Green Monster with his home run, the ball traveling an estimated 429 feet.
The Orioles are 23-0 when they hit three or more home runs. They're 20-9 at Fenway Park since Sept. 20, 2011.
They're still not overly excited about the magic number or their 10-game lead in the division.
"You know me, you know me. I go game by game," Tillman said after a 4-1 victory over the Red Sox.
"We've got a lot of stuff we can get better at. Personally, I've got some work to do and I go game by game."
"You understand what's going on," Jones said, "but until it's at zero and we clinch a spot, we've got something to do."
I've got something to do - pass along more postgame quotes.
Here's manager Buck Showalter:
On De Aza's home runs
"If you look at him a year or so ago, he had 17, 18, something like it. It's there, but you don't expect that, especially in this place that's so big in right-center field. I think the second one was a little further than the first. He put some good swings on it. I really like the ball he hit the other way, too, after the fact. He didn't get big. He's quietly been very steady since he got here."
On Tillman
"The old adage about making some pitches when he had to. We backed ourselves into a corner with (David) Ortiz. He had to win that battle. That's a tough proposition. You don't like your chances of winning that too much. He had a big double play and a strikeout. Stuff-wise, he was good. He got in a lot of deep counts, a lot of foul balls. You look at the 100-some pitches in five innings, it looked like a better outing than that."
On their record when hitting at least three home runs
"I'd have to have something to compare it with. I don't know. Seasons like all seasons, there's always some numbers or something that stick out and that's why it's fun. You're comparing them with a long, long history of baseball. I don't know how it ranks. I like anything that dictates we're 23-0 in it."
On Evan Meek retiring the side in the sixth
"That was probably one of the key innings, key outings, because I wasn't going to use Darren (O'Day) tonight. I had Andrew (Miller) for two hitters only and I was trying to pick my spot with that. I wasn't going to use Tommy Hunter tonight and I had Brad (Brach) for one up and one in, so we knew that he or Webby (Ryan Webb) were going to have to get us through there."
Here's De Aza:
On how it felt to hit two home runs
"It feels great, it feels great, especially putting the team ahead. It's a good feeling."
On importance of showing power here
"Well, like I always say, they brought me here to try and help the team win. Any how, in any way, I just want to help. Today, I was seeing the ball well and my timing was good today and you guys see what happened."
On wanting to be part of homer binge with Orioles
"Oh yes, it's chemistry and I want to be part of that. Honestly, I wasn't looking for those home runs, but it's coming and I'll take it."
Here's Jones:
On De Aza
"He got good pitches to hit and he drove them. Since he's came over here, he's been a good teammate. We all know what he can do. He's been around the league, he's fitting right in. It was good to get a good start for Tillman and allow him to be comfortable."
On the 23-0 record when team hits three or more homers
"I look at it from the side of when we give our pitchers the lead, they're shutting the door. I'll take that. They're the ones who are going down there having a shutdown inning as the next one. We're giving them some support and they're giving us some support by going out there and throwing up a zero."
On being first Orioles outfielder with four straight seasons of 25-plus home runs
"It's just a tribute to my teammates for giving me the opportunity and me staying healthy. As you've seen, I go out there and post up. I feel like if I play, something is bound to happen."
On whether tonight's homer was his longest here
"No, it was just high. Felt good to finally get one out in front, drive the ball."
Here's Tillman:
On how he rates outing
"It was tough for me. From the get-go, my fastball command wasn't sharp, but my other pitches were. I think if I'm able to throw strike one a few more times, I'm a little better off. I struggled in the strike one category. I felt like I was digging myself out of holes all night, but we were able to make some pitches when we needed to and that's always a plus."
On escaping jam in fifth inning
"It was huge. Earlier in the game, they hit some hard balls and (Nick Markakis) made some good plays on them. That inning it kind of worked the opposite. I made some good pitches and they got some hits, but I think it all came down to making pitches when we had to. They were tough on me all night, fouling pitches off, and we had a pretty good idea what we needed to do there."
On success vs. Ortiz
"I've got nothing, but I'd like to keep it going that way. Anytime you can get a guy like that out on a pretty consistent basis, I think you're doing something right. He fouled off some good fastballs, he was on the breaking pitch from the at-bat before and I knew I had to do something different. I threw a changeup and it worked out."
Alejandro De Aza hit his first two home runs as an Oriole. Adam Jones cleared one of the signs above the Green Monster with his home run, the ball traveling an estimated 429 feet.
The Orioles are 23-0 when they hit three or more home runs. They're 20-9 at Fenway Park since Sept. 20, 2011.
They're still not overly excited about the magic number or their 10-game lead in the division.
"You know me, you know me. I go game by game," Tillman said after a 4-1 victory over the Red Sox.
"We've got a lot of stuff we can get better at. Personally, I've got some work to do and I go game by game."
"You understand what's going on," Jones said, "but until it's at zero and we clinch a spot, we've got something to do."
I've got something to do - pass along more postgame quotes.
Here's manager Buck Showalter:
On De Aza's home runs
"If you look at him a year or so ago, he had 17, 18, something like it. It's there, but you don't expect that, especially in this place that's so big in right-center field. I think the second one was a little further than the first. He put some good swings on it. I really like the ball he hit the other way, too, after the fact. He didn't get big. He's quietly been very steady since he got here."
On Tillman
"The old adage about making some pitches when he had to. We backed ourselves into a corner with (David) Ortiz. He had to win that battle. That's a tough proposition. You don't like your chances of winning that too much. He had a big double play and a strikeout. Stuff-wise, he was good. He got in a lot of deep counts, a lot of foul balls. You look at the 100-some pitches in five innings, it looked like a better outing than that."
On their record when hitting at least three home runs
"I'd have to have something to compare it with. I don't know. Seasons like all seasons, there's always some numbers or something that stick out and that's why it's fun. You're comparing them with a long, long history of baseball. I don't know how it ranks. I like anything that dictates we're 23-0 in it."
On Evan Meek retiring the side in the sixth
"That was probably one of the key innings, key outings, because I wasn't going to use Darren (O'Day) tonight. I had Andrew (Miller) for two hitters only and I was trying to pick my spot with that. I wasn't going to use Tommy Hunter tonight and I had Brad (Brach) for one up and one in, so we knew that he or Webby (Ryan Webb) were going to have to get us through there."
Here's De Aza:
On how it felt to hit two home runs
"It feels great, it feels great, especially putting the team ahead. It's a good feeling."
On importance of showing power here
"Well, like I always say, they brought me here to try and help the team win. Any how, in any way, I just want to help. Today, I was seeing the ball well and my timing was good today and you guys see what happened."
On wanting to be part of homer binge with Orioles
"Oh yes, it's chemistry and I want to be part of that. Honestly, I wasn't looking for those home runs, but it's coming and I'll take it."
Here's Jones:
On De Aza
"He got good pitches to hit and he drove them. Since he's came over here, he's been a good teammate. We all know what he can do. He's been around the league, he's fitting right in. It was good to get a good start for Tillman and allow him to be comfortable."
On the 23-0 record when team hits three or more homers
"I look at it from the side of when we give our pitchers the lead, they're shutting the door. I'll take that. They're the ones who are going down there having a shutdown inning as the next one. We're giving them some support and they're giving us some support by going out there and throwing up a zero."
On being first Orioles outfielder with four straight seasons of 25-plus home runs
"It's just a tribute to my teammates for giving me the opportunity and me staying healthy. As you've seen, I go out there and post up. I feel like if I play, something is bound to happen."
On whether tonight's homer was his longest here
"No, it was just high. Felt good to finally get one out in front, drive the ball."
Here's Tillman:
On how he rates outing
"It was tough for me. From the get-go, my fastball command wasn't sharp, but my other pitches were. I think if I'm able to throw strike one a few more times, I'm a little better off. I struggled in the strike one category. I felt like I was digging myself out of holes all night, but we were able to make some pitches when we needed to and that's always a plus."
On escaping jam in fifth inning
"It was huge. Earlier in the game, they hit some hard balls and (Nick Markakis) made some good plays on them. That inning it kind of worked the opposite. I made some good pitches and they got some hits, but I think it all came down to making pitches when we had to. They were tough on me all night, fouling pitches off, and we had a pretty good idea what we needed to do there."
On success vs. Ortiz
"I've got nothing, but I'd like to keep it going that way. Anytime you can get a guy like that out on a pretty consistent basis, I think you're doing something right. He fouled off some good fastballs, he was on the breaking pitch from the at-bat before and I knew I had to do something different. I threw a changeup and it worked out."
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