Peter Angelos, the owner of the Orioles, can't be a happy man this morning in one regard. Last night he treated 16K plus to four innings of free baseball as the O's needed 13 innings to beat the Tampa Rays. It was a wild game to say the least, ending four hours and 38 minutes after it started. It was probably after 1 AM when the Orioles' post-game show ended on 105.7 "the fan" (if anyone was listening that late at night). That aside, it was a huge win for the Orioles, who snapped a four-game losing streak that had plagued the start of the second half to date. In my opinion, Jake Arrieta pitched a solid game. Juan Samuel lifted him after just 5.1 innings, which I thought was a bit of a curious move. While Arrieta had a slim one-run lead with two runners on, I personally felt that he was pitching a decent game. Jason Berken came in and promptly allowed the two runners on base to score, putting the O's in a hole. Hindsight is always 20/20, but I'd be interested to know Samuel's reasoning in taking Arrieta out of the game.
The Orioles did manage to give the fans some fireworks last night as opposed to the past few games; for the first time since 1995, the O's hit back-to-back-to-back home runs (Scott, Wiggington, Jones). Luke Scott has picked up where he left off when he went on the DL, which is a very positive sign for a streaky player like Scott. Tampa managed to tack on a few extra runs in the middle innings, which put the score at 8-4 in the middle of the seventh. Conventional wisdom would say that in most cases the game was all but over. But remember that we're talking about the 2010 Baltimore Orioles here, and this season has been anything but conventional. In fact, the O's have been bitten in the rear each time they've tried to do things by the book, or by "conventional wisdom." In the last of the seventh the Orioles had runners at the corners with one down, and Miguel Tejada hit an opposite-field double to right field which scored Craig Tatum and the speedy Felix Pie (from first base no less). That brought Luke Scott to the plate, and as the crowd bustled in hopes of seeing a third round-tripper, Scott was only able to manage a single. However that single scored Miguel Tejada, and suddenly 'dem O's were within one.
When Tampa's Rob Brignac homered in the eighth, you once again had the feeling that the game was slipping out of reach with Tampa up 9-7. There was no way that the Orioles could muster up another rally was there? Perhaps not in the eighth inning, however with two runners in scoring position and nobody gone in the last of the ninth, Tejada came through in the clutch again with a double, knotting the game at nine. Moving into the 11th inning, Tampa took a 10-9 lead on Willy Aybar's RBI-single which scored Carlos Pena from third. This has to be the end, right? Game over; drive home safely...Rays win. NO! NO! NO! Scott Moore's sac fly scored Corey Patterson from third, and we were tied again. At this point you had the feeling that this could be one of those marathon games where the fans that are left get up in the middle of the 14th inning to sing Take me out to the ballgame a second time. But after Caesar Izturis led off the 13th with a walk, that wasn't necessary. Felix Pie sacrificed him over to second base, and Julio Lugo singled him home, putting the O's in the win column.
Did Jake Arrieta and Matt Garza really start this game for their respective sides? It seems like such a long time ago! This was a big win for the Orioles because not only did they snap a losing streak, but they came back and beat a team that had been having their way with the O's for the better part of two seasons. This game gave us flashes of the Battle of the Beltways a few weeks ago when the Orioles overcame six, five, and three run Washington leads to sweep the series. The one down side is that the bullpen is absolutely spent, and today brings an afternoon matinee. However Tampa's in the same situation, and baseball often provides this sort of thing by it's sheer nature. Juan Samuel needs for Brad Bergesen to have a long outing today, because the bullpen might not necessarily be available to save the day if need be. In my opinion, today's game might well come down to which starter (Bergesen or James Shields) is able to stay in the game the longest. On a side note, the O's optioned Chris Tillman to Norfolk in order to make room for Kevin Millwood yesterday, and they're expected to call up Mike Gonzalez this morning as well. Normally after games like this teams try to say that it was only one win and they have to put it behind them just like they would a loss. However perhaps they should cling to this feeling for awhile longer...I kind of liked it!
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