The Tampa Rays are a team that's given the Orioles some problems over the past few years. They're also the team that the Orioles have seen more than any other thus far in 2011. Have I mentioned that I think it's ridiculous that after today's game the teams will have met twelve times, and that the O's will see the Toronto Blue Jays for only the fourth time on Tuesday? The wonders of the unbalanced schedule I guess. That aside, the Orioles have seemingly stood up against Tampa thus far this weekend. Even in a losing effort last night, the Birds went tooth-and-nail against the defending AL East champions right down to the wire in the 11th inning.
Friday night's game looked to be a struggle from the beginning. Jake Arrieta was having trouble locating the strike zone, and he walked Johnny Damon to start the game. However the O's caught a break when Damon decided to test Matt Wieters' arm and was thrown out trying to steal second base. That's all Arrieta needed to throw seven scoreless innings and give up two base hits. I'm continually amazed that people still think they can run on Wieters. In fact, it's kind of insulting if you think about it. Oh it's just the Orioles, I'm sure we can steal a base at the very least. Johnny Damon and company have now been put on notice that first off they aren't as quick as they were five years ago, and that this isn't Paul Bako throwing behind the plate anymore. The key play in the game was Nick Markakis' first extra-base hit since May 15th, a second-inning grand slam over the right field scoreboard. What was Earl Weaver's adage?...pitching, defense, and the three-run homer. The O's got a bit more than a three-run homer in this case, but you get the point.
Last night's game was full of bluish gray; I say gray because ultimately they lost, but blue because there were some big positives. Trailing 3-0 early on, the O's battled back behind two Mark Reynolds homers and an Adam Jones RBI-double. The Birds walked in the go-aheaed run in the last of the eighth, however Tampa tied it against Oriole closer Kevin Gregg in the ninth. They ultimately took the lead for good in the 11th inning against reliever Jeremy Accardo; final score, Tampa 7 Orioles 5. As I said, Tampa has given the Orioles problems over time, and they seem to beat the O's with a degree of ease. However in this case the O's trailed by three early on and they battled back. In the past perhaps they would have put a run or two across, only to have the Rays score two more in the seventh or eighth and win the game. They pushed the Rays to the brink in this one, and it went to the 11th inning for someone to win it.
Kevin Gregg blew his fourth save of the year last night, but I'm not overly concerned about that. Blown saves are going to happen in baseball, and Gregg has significantly improved his consistency. Furthermore, while his job is to protect any lead, a one-run lead might as well be like trailing. I've always believed that when a closer comes in for the ninth with a one-run lead the pressure is on him moreso than the opposing team. If anything, the opposing team can almost relax a bit because that guy knows that if he makes one mistake we have a whole new ballgame. To go back to Friday for a moment, the sequence of events that led up to Nick Markakis' grand slam started with a Luke Scott walk. Tampa starter Jeremy Hellickson took the count to 3-0 on Scott, and on the 2-0 pitch Scott did something very uncharacteristic: he squared to bunt. Luke Scott is not a bunter, and as a result Hellickson was unprepared for that. Not only did he walk Scott on the next pitch, but he loaded the bases which were ultimately cleared by Markakis. Pitchers are strange breeds in that one little thing being off can send them reeling, and that seems to be what happened with Hellickson. So the Orioles are now getting inside the heads of opposing pitchers whereas in the past if an opposing pitcher brushed an Oriole hitter back he might go so far as to stand deeper in the box. These two games set up a rubber match this afternoon at Camden Yards; winner take all in this series.
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