The O's are an AL worst 2-8 in their last 10 games, and despite the top of the order hitting very well thus far, they're only about average as an offense (.339 wOBA as a team; 1 run above average). The pitching staff has been bad (5.60 FIP - which is actually only the third worst in the league), but it's almost entirely due to their horrible 1.88 HR/9. Their 7.12 K/9 is fourth best, and their 3.36 BB/9 is fifth. There is some hope that once their HR/FB (13.8%) regresses towards the mean a little, the team's pitching staff will be good enough to keep them in games more often than not.
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Top 1:
- Ian Kinsler launches the first pitch of the game high and deep to left-field. Luckily it goes just foul - a long strike one. Berg takes advantage and gets him swinging on a tailing fastball down and away.
- David Murphy grounds out to second.
- And Berg gets Michael Young swinging.
- Pretty good first inning, I would say. For a guy with a 4.38 K/9 at Double-A last year, Bergesen has shown some ability to get strike-outs at the major league level.
- Brian Roberts pulls the first pitch through the right side for a lead-off single.
- Adam Jones bloops the first pitch he sees into short left-field. Murphy doesn't get to it in-time and Jones gets in to second as Roberts hustles over to third.
- Nick Markakis swings at the first pitch and hits a deep flyball to left. This one is caught, and Roberts comes in to score, but Jones is thrown out trying to advance to third.
- Aubrey Huff grounds back to the mound to end the inning.
- Hank Blalock flies out to center.
- Marlon Byrd doubles just fair down the right-field line.
- Nelson Cruz strikes out swinging on a nice slider down in the zone.
- Chris Davis gives the Rangers a 2-1 lead with a home run to dead center-field.
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia singles to right.
- Elvis Andrus hits a line-drive to right, but Markakis is there to make the catch.
- Chad Moeller draws a two-out walk.
- Felix Pie follows it up with a single to right.
- Cesar Izturis flies out to left to end the inning.
- Kinsler grounds out to second.
- Murphy works the count well again, and this time ends up with a walk.
- Young grounds a tailor-made double play ball to short, but Izturis doesn't glove it nd everybody's safe.
- Blalock grounds to first, with Huff making the throw to second to get the force. It was hit too slowly and Huff was playing too deep to turn two.
- Byrd grounds out to third. Despite the error, Bergesen is able to get out of it without any damage.
- Roberts his a slow roller back to the pitcher.
- Jones doubles into the left-field corner.
- Markakis can't check his swing on a high fastball and he goes back to the dugout.
- Huff grounds out to second to end the inning.
- Cruz grounds out to second.
- Davis lines out to left.
- Salty lines one into right-center, but Jones is able to cut it off and keep him to a single.
- Andurs follows suit.
- Kinsler grounds to third, with Wigginton's throw just beating a sliding Andrus at second.
- Wigginton flies out to right.
- Salty can't come up with a Scott pop-up in foul territory, and Luke takes advantage of the extra chance and draws a walk.
- Moeller flies out to right.
- Nice at bat by Pie, refusing to chase pitches out of the zone and drawing a walk.
- Izturis with a single to short left, but Scott gets thrown out easily at home. Have to question the decision to send him a little, as Murphy got to the ball quickly, Scott had a bad jump, and the top of the order was coming up. Oh well; still 2-1 Texas.
- Murphy homers to left-center to start the fifth. It looked like a routine flyball, but it just kept carrying.
- Young doubles to left-center.
- Blalock homers into the O's bullpen. 5-1, Rangers.
- Back-to-back infield hits on groundballs to third. Wigginton made a bad throw on the first one and a nice diving stop on the second one, though both batters were safe.
- That'll be it for Bergesen with Baez coming in. Berg's line doesn't look good (4 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 3 HR), but he pitched pretty well I'd say.
- Davis can't hold up on a high fastball and Baez gets his first strike-out.
- Nice running catch by Pie in left to retire Saltalamacchia.
- Wigginton can't handle a grounder to third, and the bases are loaded on the error.
- Kinsler grounds out to short to leave them stranded.
- Brian Roberts deep and gone over the scoreboard. The ball is flying.
- Jones grounds out to second.
- Markakis lines a high fastball into right for a single.
- Huff pulls a single through the right side, but Cruz overthrows the cut-off man. The two-base error lets Nick score and Aubrey take second.
- Wigginton flies out to center.
- Scott doubles to deep left-center to score Huff, and the lead is cut to 5-4.
- Moeller can't bring them all the way back though, as he flies out to end the inning.
- Nice 1-2-3 inning for Baez, getting a couple of grounders and a strike-out.
- Jason Jennings in for the Rangers on the mound.
- Pie tries to bunt for a hit, but he doesn't lay down a very good one and Jennings is able to throw him out.
- Izturis gets hit in the foot with a breaking-ball and hops down to first-base.
- Hit-and-run on, with Roberts shooting the ball through the hole between short and third. Two on with one out.
- Adam Jones goes out and hooks one into deep left-field. The ball is carrying well today, and it goes just over the fence for a three-run home run. O's take the lead, 7-5.
- Markakis draws a five-pitch walk.
- Huff grounds into an inning-ending double play.
- Byrd with a soft liner up the middle that Izturis ranges over to get.
- Cruz grounds to short. Izturis' throw is off-line, but Huff makes a nice dive to catch it while keeping his foot on the bag just long enough to get the out.
- Baez throws a fastball by Davis for his third K. Three perfect innings from Danys out of the pen have been huge for the O's today.
- Moeller lines a two-out single into left-center.
- Pie flies out to end the inning.
- Jim Johnson in for the eighth.
- Salty flies out to left.
- Wicked curveball on the inside corner gets pinch-hitter Josh Hamilton looking.
- Kinsler pops out behind the plate. Easy inning for JJ.
- Izturis grounds out to second.
- Roberts singles to left. That's his fourth hit of the day.
- And he erases himself getting caught attempting to steal second.
- Jones draws a walk. Eddie Guardado coming in to face Markakis.
- Adam steals second, and it comes in handy as Nick singles to right to drive in the run. 8-5, O's.
- Huff flies to right for the third out.
- George Sherrill in for the save.
- Andruw Jones pinch-hits for Murphy. He doubles just out of the reach of Pie's glove in left.
- Young grounds out to third, with Huff coming off the bag at first to get Wigginton's errant throw and tagging the runner as he went by.
- Blalock pops out.
- Byrd with a flyball to left - Markakis is there and makes the catch.
Brad Bergesen pitched pretty well, but his pitches - namely the two-seam fastball and slider, which are the ones he sues most - look pretty similar and Berg doesn't mix them well enough to fool hitters multiple times through the line-up. He needs to mix in his change-up more and use his four-seamer to change the batter's eye level. Personally speaking, Bergesen is kind of boring to watch; though I'd gladly take that over the kind of excitement a pitcher like Daniel Cabrera used to provide.
And Danyz Baez continued his resurgence out of the pen, striking out 3 in 3 perfect innings to bring the totals to 10 K's in 10.1 IP and a 3.48 ERA. Not quite worth his salary, but it's better than the 6.44 ERA he gave the team in '07.
The O's bring their record to 9-10, and will work for the split in this four game series against Texas tomorrow with Jeremy Guthrie on the hill.
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