Monday, May 14, 2012

Pitching, Home Runs and No Defense

I was driving down to Topsail Island yesterday and trying to find a signal for the finale against the Rays.  Two North Carolina towns carry the O's: Washington and Goldsboro. Driving through Mt. Olive--known for its pickles--I could barely hear through the static as the Rays took a 7-1 lead.

It was dead for the next twenty miles or so and when the signal came back I learned Wieters had just hit a home run to cut the lead to 7-4.  It was only the bottom of the 6th and we had a chance. My wife pulled up the "game tracker" from ESPN--something akin to baseball's version of digital pinball.

Poultry farms rolled past on Rt. 117 and suddenly it was 7-6. Then 8-6 Rays. Then 9-6.

On the beach, I received the final verdict, Orioles lose 9-8. It was Wieters with a chance to win the game. He hit a hard grounder to third that nearly found the outfield grass.

Today, I sprang for the web radio option.

With the Yankees in town for the first of two games tonight, the Orioles jumped out to a 2-0 lead and after a booted double play ball, trailed 3-2 against Ivan Nova whose breaking pitch dives like the bonzai pipeline. Another mishandled grounder allowed the Yankees to tie it 5-5 and Texeira homered to give them a 7-5 lead.

The Yankees have way too much talent to be gifted outs--especially two double play grounders--and they made the Orioles pay as they usually do.

The most exciting thing that's happened to the O's in years is Xavier Avery who was called up yesterday. He can fly and has doubled and tripled tonight.

The young pitchers have been somewhat erratic and the defense shaky in key situations--with 35 errors already. More than 20 roster moves have been made thus far.

How long can pitching, home runs and sloppy defense keep you in the win column? We'll see.

There's no point in having any long-term expectations.

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