Wednesday, May 21, 2008

O's-Yankees, (Another) Blowout In The Bronx

The Orioles try to continue their winning ways after beating up on the Yanks yesterday.

Two strike-outs for Darrell Rasner in the first - Roberts swinging and Markakis looking on a pitch way inside.

I guess Jeter wasn't hurt to badly by that pitch, since he's in the game today. Bobby Abreu singles, but Garrett Olson comes back to get A-Rod looking to end the inning.

1-2-3 go the O's again. No early lead today.

At least not for the Orioles. A Shelly Duncan single and Robbie Cano double put New York up 1-0. Chad Moeller singles to make it 2-0. Then Melky singles. Olson looks like he is getting hit around pretty good. Usually after a coaching visit pitchers settle down a bit, but Olson walks Damon to load the bases. Jeter grounds out to bring in another run, but an Abreu groundout ends the inning. 3-0 Yanks.

Rasner is changing speeds, mixing his pitches, and throwing strikes. Freddie Bynum doubles with two outs, but Roberts strikes out swinging again.

A-Rod homers for the second straight day, and Matsui walks. I doubt Olson will be in much longer. One out later, Cano singles to right. I don't know what happened, but Mora is hurt and Cintron is coming in for him. Another groundout, and then Melky gets hit with a pitch to load the bases. Olson clearly doesn't have it today. 6-0, as Damon singles to left. Dennis Sarfate is coming in. He ends it by getting Jeter looking. I guess this is some payback for yesterday.

Cintron gets off to a good start with a line-drive single. I wish he had been up all year, though I am under no illusions that he is a particularly good player. Nick follows it up with a single of his own. The O's still have time, but they need to put some runs on the board. Huff flies out, Millar pops out, and Scott strikes out. Two on but they fail to score.

Sarfate keeps dealing, striking out Abreu swinging. A-Rod fouls off some fastballs, and finally gets a curveball that he hits to right for a double. He doesn't score though, as Matsui grounds out and Duncan strikes out. Nice job by Dennis, who we haven't seen much of lately.

1-2-3 again. Come on guys, don't get shutout by Darrell Rasner.

Sarfate is taking one for the team, pitching more innings than he usually would. He walks Melky, but gets another strike-out and keeps the Yanks off the board.

Roberts walks to start the sixth, but Cintron erases him with a double play ball. Kakes gets his second hit of the day, lining a single to center. Huff grounds out to end the inning. Still 6-0.

That's it for Sarfate. Lance Cormier is in to just finish things off. Jeter walks and steals second (up 6-0). Nice. Abreu strikes out, but A-Rod brings the Captain in with another double to right. There's a reason he was the MVP last year - the guy is the best player in baseball. Matsui walks, and Rodriguez goes to third on a passed ball. He comes in on a Duncan groundout to make it 8-0. Cano hits it Roberts to end the sixth.

Millar singles, but the O's can't bring him around. What a poor offensive display tonight.

Jamie Walker is coming in. Maybe he can regain his 2007 form in the low-pressure situation. Single-out-single-out-single loads the bases. Maybe not regaining form then. The Yankees do the nice thing and pinch-hit for A-Rod with Morgan Ensberg. He goes down swinging to leave three on.

Joba is in to get some work. Cintron draws a walk, but that's it. Just one run, guys - just one.

Matt Albers relieves Walker and pitches a quick, scoreless eighth. Time for a rally.

With one out, Millar singles and then Luke works Joba for a walk. Quiroz and Jones both go down though, to end the game.

An all-around poor game for the Orioles, as the drop the second game of the series 8-0. Olson had his worst start of the year, and the offense could not solve Darrell Rasner. On the bright side, Albers and Sarfate both pitched pretty well. It'll be Brian Burres vs. Ian Kennedy in the rubber game. Hopefully Burres can figure out what Olson did wrong and not make the same mistakes.

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