...well, okay I have no idea if Seattle Mariner pitcher Luke French has lineage in France or not, but it was an attractive title! But the fact remains that at least for one day that blondish yellow sun bore down on someone else in the Showalter administration, as the Mariners defeated the Orioles 4-0 behind a gem of a game by Luke French. He held the O's in check giving up no runs over three hits in 7.2 innings. Luckily for the Orioles, Kevin Millwood was almost equally as good, giving up only one run over eight innings. The lack of run support has been a familiar tune for Millwood in that he's seemingly had this issue all season long. If you give up one run in a ballgame, you should be in good shape to win; that hasn't generally been the case for Millwood this season.
As has been stated, Oriole bats were quiet all night. Prior to Showalter being here, I probably would have been concerned that this would have indicated the Orioles were going into another tailspin. However Buck Showalter's smart enough to know that good pitching will generally shut down good hitting. And as I said, French was really good last night. Ultimately over a 162-game schedule, you're not going to win them all. On a positive note, Josh Bell had a two-hit night, including a key double in the later innings.
Manny Machado is expected to be in Baltimore later this week (possibly tomorrow) to take his physical. The team is expecting to introduce him to the Camden Yards' faithful during the next homestand, although that's not confirmed as of yet. Oriole fans saw Caesar Izturis make a dazzling gold-glove caliber play last night; Machado is touted as the kind of guy that can do that all while swinging the bat as well.
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