No history for Chris Davis. I’m going to go and pout now.
I’m also pouting because the Orioles had plenty of chances to win this game and they blew them, and in the end, they managed to blow a hold, as well. Normally Jim Johnson’s a solid fellow, but he’s allowed to lose once in a while. I’ve had an exhausting day, though, so I’m still a little sore about it because I could’ve used a win.
I think this game basically deserves the very first one of these of the year:
Another Opening Day has come and gone, and the Orioles won. It’s been a good one.
I’m a little more dedicated to this sport than the average human. Today, though, I took a new leap – I did the most delinquent, naughty thing I’ve ever done in my life.
I watched the Orioles game in class.
I wasn’t going to miss Opening Day for the Orioles – that’s a very important game to watch, after all. Unfortunately, one of my graduate school classes starts at 3:30 every Tuesday and lets me out at 5:50. The Orioles started playing today at 3:00. I have MLB At Bat on my phone, so I sidled into class, plugged my phone into the wall to keep it charging, and started watching the game on mute.
Without further ado, I present my notes from my Introduction to Information Professions course. I hope Cooperstown needs a new archivist soon.
I even drew baseball enthusiasts Buster Keaton and Joe E. Brown in my notes. But my stupid Comedian Heaven project isn’t the point here.
This was a wonderful day. For the first time, I had to suppress my reactions to a three-run homer (that was for you, Earl Weaver, I’m sure of it) in a public place where I shouldn’t have been watching a sporting event. I was living the dream. Best 1.13 GB of data I’ve ever used.
Your basic scoring summary is this:
Jason Hammel looked pretty good in his first start of the year, although he did run into trouble and allow the two runs that allowed the Rays to temporarily take the lead. Fortunately for him, the team was very offensively strong today and bailed him out. Jim Johnson was old reliable in the 9th, so no worries there. The rest of the bullpen also looked delightful, so they’re still a strength.
Actually, today the entire team looked really, really good. I’m excited.
I just can’t imagine my professor would be if she knew what I was actually taking notes on during her PowerPoint presentation.
Game 5, Game 5!
I could make another Star Wars joke here since I said ‘force,’ but I’m not that cheesy, even when I’m really, really tired.
Tonight all came down to the bullpens, as is to be expected, but this time it went the Orioles’ way, requiring a Game 5 to be played tomorrow – well, later today, actually – at 5 pm. I will be at New York Comic Con when this happens, which means you can probably expect something major to happen. This was one of those typical Orioles extra inning wins – take the starter (Saunders) out after five and two thirds, then throw the bullpen out there and let them pitch well into the night until the other team’s bullpen inevitably fails. It worked fairly well tonight, with Manny Machado leading off the thirteenth with a double, Nate McLouth sacrificing him over to third, and J.J. Hardy driving him in. Jim Johnson then pitched better than he has all series to close things down.
It’s a strategy that’s served this team particularly well, especially in their David vs. Goliath situations like this series – a war of attrition. Wearing the enemy down gradually instead of throwing all your resources at them at once tends to be pretty effective, especially since it can chip away at your enemy’s morale, too. It’s given the Orioles a chance here.
It’s up to them to capitalize on this chance tomorrow.
In related news, it’s a relief to hear that Joba Chamberlain’s x-rays came back negative. The look on Matt Wieters’s face said it all – things like that are genuinely scary.
I really don’t have anything to say here except that this was the first time the Orioles lost a game in extra innings since April and that Raul Ibanez is a very dangerous man.
So here’s a Marina.
This was legitimately a game the Orioles would have won if Raul Ibanez wasn’t in it, plain and simple. He homered off of both Jim Johnson and the previously postseason-flawless Brian Matusz to score the second and third runs of the game, the last one coming in the 12th inning and putting the Yankees over the top.
I’m honestly having trouble coming up with much else to say – Miguel Gonzalez and Hiroki Kuroda were both incredible tonight, so there really wasn’t too much action on the basepaths to comment on. I guess we just have to wait and see what happens tomorrow night now – this has been a very pitching-heavy series, and I can only imagine those of us watching it can expect the same tomorrow evening.
I’m just going to hope for every Orioles fan watching that it’s not over yet after tomorrow night.
Bringing this back because the man on the right has suddenly become a lethal set-up man.
Okay, so the plot tonight was arguably closer to Return of the Jedi since the little guys won, but you get my point. I’m not going to go on a Star Wars tangent. Especially not an Expanded Universe tangent. The Orioles came back with a vengeance, winning tonight’s contest 3-2. Wei-Yin Chen went 6 2/3 innings tonight before handing things off to Darren O’Day. Matusz then came in for four incredible outs before Jim Johnson redeemed himself and slammed the door shut.
Brian Matusz has been stellar in the postseason so far. I’d just like to point that out because he’s become the site mascot here because he’s my favorite person on the team to draw. Go mascot Matusz, go!
Offensively, the Orioles probably should have had more runs than they did – J.J. Hardy, for example, didn’t realize that Jeter was unable to field a ball at shortstop and stopped at third instead of running home. In the end, however, the three runs were enough because the Yankees only managed two (one of which I really do have to give Ichiro credit for because I was impressed). Tonight belonged to Orioles pitching.
The series resumes in the Bronx on Wednesday. I think we all could use a day off to get our nerves back under control before watching more baseball, to be honest.
Especially in the Bronx.
I really didn’t want to write this recap. I couldn’t even find the right words to describe what happened at first. Here’s my visual for this game before I came up with something to say:
Anyhow, I did eventually find some words of analysis, so here’s what I’ve come up with.
Some people deserve some credit tonight. Jason Hammel fought through six innings with his knee brace on, only giving up two runs. Darren O’Day came into a situation where the Yankees had runners on second and third with no outs and managed to get out of it without allowing a run. Brian Matusz pitched an extremely good eighth inning. There were some good takeaways here, at least.
Now we just have to win tomorrow. And you know what? Based on the way this team’s played all year, I think they actually can.
So here we go. It all comes down to this for now.
LET’S DO IT.
I’ll be live-blogging the game inning by inning, so stay tuned for my ridiculous commentary here!
Top 1st: The Orioles manufactured a quick run – Nate McLouth got on base, stole second, and was driven in by J.J. Hardy. (In the meantime, I’m finding it very hard to root against Yu Darvish since he’s a pitcher that I’ve been watching since 2007.) Orioles 1, Rangers 0.
Bottom 1st: Joe Saunders can’t throw strikes. It led to Ian Kinsler walking, getting to third on an Elvis Andrus single, and scoring on a double play. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.
Top 2nd: Mark Reynolds was hit on the hand by a pitch with one out. He ended up stealing second base. Machado grounded out to end things, though, so no score. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.
Bottom 2nd: Despite his inability to throw strikes, Joe Saunders recorded two strikeouts in this inning. No, I don’t know either. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.
Top 3rd: Yu Darvish threw a 1-2-3 inning. I’d complain, but I find that I have an irrational inability to complain about Yu Darvish being on my television. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.
Bottom 3rd: A double play helped Saunders escape this inning relatively quickly. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.
Top 4th: Jim Thome singled down the left field line, but that’s about it. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.
Bottom 4th: Men on first and third with only one out. Saunders struck out Napoli and then induced a force out to second to escape. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.
Top 5th: Yeah, we’ve got nothing at this point. Orioles 1, Rangers 1.
Bottom 5th: Kinsler led the inning off with a single. However, Andrus hit into a double play with one out, which cleared things up. Saunders is pitching disturbingly well so far for someone who hasn’t been hitting the strike zone too consistently.
Top 6th: J.J. Hardy led the inning off with a single like Kinsler did last half-inning. However, Chris Davis decided to vary from what the Rangers did and singled into right field, advancing Hardy to third with no outs. And then magic happened – Adam Jones came through with a long sacrifice fly to score Hardy! Orioles 2, Rangers 1.
Bottom 6th: Did you realize Joe Saunders only walked one person tonight? After two outs, he handed the ball to former Ranger Darren O’Day. O’Day got the out. Phew! Orioles 2, Rangers 1.
Top 7th: Ryan Flaherty singled with one out. He immediately left the game for Robert Andino, Postseason Hero at least if you’re a Rays fan, who came on as a pinch runner. Machado sacrificed Andino over to second and Yu Darvish left the game. This made my eyes very sad. Andino then stole third on a wild pitch to McLouth, the first pitch by Derek Holland, appearing in a relief role. McLouth proceeded to single to left, bringing in Andino! Holland, evidently stressed, tried a snap throw to first, but the ball got away and McLouth ended up on second. J.J. Hardy struck out, though, and the inning ended there. Orioles 3, Rangers 1.
Bottom 7th: Darren O’Day recorded three easy outs. Nothing spectacular to report here. Orioles 3, Rangers 1.
Top 8th: My boy Koji Uehara came in to pitch the 8th! I MISS YOU, KOJI. His first batter was the man he was traded for, Chris Davis, whom he promptly struck out. Actually, he struck out the entire side. I REALLY MISS YOU, KOJI. Orioles 3, Rangers 1.
Bottom 8th: Mark Reynolds started the inning off with a nice play to stab a ball at first. Kinsler ended up getting on with a bloop of a ball that got stuck in the grass and made it very difficult for J.J. Hardy to pick up. And then Darren O’Day decided it would be a great idea to throw the ball over to first, which he missed. Kinsler ended up on second. Amazingly, O’Day recovered and induced a groundout to short from Andrus, then was replaced by Brian Matusz. Matusz struck out Josh Hamilton on three pitches – THREE – to end the inning. Orioles 3, Rangers 1.
Top 9th: Joe Nathan came in to pitch the 9th for the Rangers. He walked Jim Thome to start things off, then struck Mark Reynolds out in an epic battle that lasted several pitches. Andino then just missed a home run, doubling off the left field wall and moving Thome to third. Lew Ford came in as a pinch runner for Thome. Manny Machado then slapped a blooper past short to drive Ford in (I swear that wasn’t a bad car joke) and move Andino to third. Chris Davis hit a sac fly to center to bring in Andino. The inning ended with J.J. Hardy grounding out to second. Orioles 5, Rangers 1.
Bottom 9th: One pitch, one out for Jim Johnson. Nelson Cruz then singled to left. Michael Young grounded out to second to advance Cruz, bringing up Mike Napoli with two outs. Johnson walked Napoli. A 19-year-old whose name didn’t even appear on the TV screen promptly singled, but David Murphy popped up to McLouth for the final out. Orioles 5, Rangers 1. FINAL.
Bring those Yankees on, baby!
(Unrelated footnote: I am now 2-for-2 so far in the postseason bracket I filled out for the annual competition at the school where my mom teaches. TAKE THAT, MOM’S CO-WORKERS.)
Meaningful late-season games! Woohoo!
Admittedly, I’ve been trying to wait out the end of the Sox-Yankees game before writing this one. What we do know so far is that the Orioles and the Yankees will determine where they go, and if they have a one-game playoff to deal with on Thursday, tomorrow. Since the Orioles won tonight, no matter what happens in that other game we won’t know how the AL East ends up until tomorrow night.
As it were, the Sox and the Yankees are in extras now. These things have to be stressful for every single party involved, of course.
The Orioles did what they needed to do tonight, at least. Chris Davis took care of the offense tonight with a solo shot in the fourth inning, whilst Miguel Gonzalez turned in another excellent start to keep the Rays off the board. (Matusz, O’Day and Johnson helped out afterwards, with Johnson notching his 51st save. Wow.)
Okay, let’s all go back to waiting and see what the Orioles’ fate is going to be, I suppose.
The ‘games until the postseason’ countdown continues.
Aaaand it’s a sweep! And we’re still in first place!
Now, the Yankees were losing at one point today, which means we would’ve had first place to ourselves for once, but it didn’t quite work out that way. However, Jim Johnson has 50 saves, we’ve got three games left to play, and we’re all but guaranteed a playoff spot. This rocks.
It’s actually coming down to the last three games of the season. It’s kind of crazy to think about, really. The Orioles and Yankees are probably both in the postseason right now – if Seattle wins today and beats Oakland, they’re up by two in the Wild Card, which pretty much guarantees that they’re in. Which games they’ll be playing in are yet to be determined.
This is coming right down to the wire. It’s a lot more stressful than I’d expected. To be fair, I was expecting us to be eliminated from playoff contention by now, and yet here we are, pretty much guaranteed that we’ll be playing more than 162 games this season. It’s just that we still have more to figure out before we get there.
Three to go. That’s all there is to it. Let’s just wait and see.
So, how about that Manny Machado kid, eh? Pretty good, isn’t he?
Machado was the difference in tonight’s game against the Red Sox. With the score knotted at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Machado stepped up to the plate and hit a line drive home run out to left. It was visually stunning – and psychologically, too, at least for Boston since we won and all that.
Jim Johnson, who will appear in my next cartoon for Camden Depot tomorrow morning trying to perform an antiquated science, now has 49 saves. I think that’s pretty damn incredible.
Oh, and we’re tied for first place with the Yankees again. I have a feeling they’re starting to find us very, very annoying, especially since we decided to take Steve Pearce back. He’s been everywhere this year, it seems, but he’ll get to finish things up with us.
Now we’ve got a bit of a conundrum here. There are four games left to play. If we’re tied with the Yankees still after those four games, we have to have a one-game playoff to determine who wins the division and who plays in the Wild Card one-game playoff. Yeah. Both teams would make the postseason – Tampa Bay’s elimination number is 1 right now, so it’s almost a lock at this point – but there would be two one-game playoffs, and one team would be playing in both of them. Annoying, MLB. Just saying.
Anyway, let’s go out and get a sweep tomorrow because then we’d have 92 wins and that would be neat.
