Starting line-ups:
Brian Roberts - 2B
Adam Jones - CF
Nick Markakis - RF
Melvin Mora - 3B
Aubrey Huff - 1B
Ty Wigginton - DH
Luke Scott - LF
Gregg Zaun - C
Cesar Izturis - SS
Jeremy Guthrie - P
vs
Derek Jeter - SS
Johnny Damon - LF
Mark Teixeira -1B
Hideki Matsui - DH
Jorge Posada - C
Robinson Cano - 2B
Xavier Nady - RF
Cody Ransom - 3B
Brett Gardner - CF
CC Sabathia - P
I'm glad Luke Scott is in there, since he hits lefties better than either Freel or Pie. Odd seeing Mora batting clean-up; guess they wanted to split up the lefties (which wouldn't be an issue if they just flipped Nick and Adam like they should).
Top 1:
- Derek Jeter works the count full, fouls off a couple of pitches, and then lines a single back up the middle.
- Johnny Damon flies out to Jones in center.
- Mark Teixeira is coming to the plate to a chorus of boo's. And they aren't letting up much as Guthrie pitches to him. He flies out to Jones in right-center.
- Hideki Matsiu grounds to Roberts, who flips to Izturis covering at second to end the inning.
- Roberts starts things off well with a single to center-field.
- Sabathia throws a wild pitch (possibly due to some distracting dancing at first) allowing Brian to get to second.
- Adam Jones walks on four pitches.
- Nick falls behind 0-2, and CC gets him to flyout to center.
- Another wild pitch (passed ball?) by Sabathia allows the runners to move to second and third.
- Mora grounds to third. With Roberts going on contact the ball beats him home easily though Posada never tags him. That doesn't stop the ump from calling him out, however.
- Huff grounds sharply to short on the first pitch, with Jeter stepping on second for the third out.
- The O's threaten but can't score, and they may regret not being able to take advantage of the wild pitches.
- Guthrie hits Jorge Posada on the foot with a 1-2 breaking-ball.
- Cano flies out to Scott in left.
- Guthrie strikes out Xavier Nady on three pitches, using a darting slider to get him swinging.
- Ransom flies out to Nick in right. Jeremy has looked a lot better thus far than I would have expected given his spring.
- Ty Wigginton flies out to right on the first pitch.
- Scott works the count full and hits the ball hard, but it's right to Gardner in center.
- Zaun grounds out to short.
- Gardner serves one into left-field for a single.
- He runs, and Jeter singles through the hole that Izturis left at short (covering second)to put runners on the corners with no outs. Good time for one of those K's, Jeremy.
- Damon flies out to left-field, with Adam Jones cutting in-front of Luke to catch it. Gardner scores to give New York the 1-0 lead. Neither guy was likely to throw him out though.
- The boo's are even louder the second time for Teixeira, who grounds back to the mound.
- Matsui hits a long flyball to center, but Jones is able to glide it down. (I guess he was running, but it didn't look like he was putting much effort into it.)
- Cesar Izturis hits a single down the first-base line in his first Orioles' at bat.
- A huge jump allows Izturis to steal second-base easily.
- Roberts works the count full, and draws a walk. CC isn't showing his usually good level of control today. May the O's have more success against him than the Reds did against Santana.
- And they do! Adam Jones, after bunting a ball foul, takes an inside fastball to the wall in right-center to give the O's a 2-1 lead. Jones gets into third with a triple.
- Nick lifts a flyball to left. Damon makes the catch, but Adam comes in to score and make it 3-1.
- Mora grounds out to second on the first pitch he sees. Bad approach against a guy that's having some control issues.
- Huff gets ahead 3-1, but ends up grounding out to first. When Tex fielded it he was showered by boo's again.
- Guthrie K's Posada swinging with a good slider on the outside corner.
- Cano grounds out to Huff at first.
- Nady runs the count full and takes a fastball just low for ball four.
- Great diving catch by Melvin Mora to rob Ransom of a line-drive hit.
- Wigginton gets ahead 2-0 and lines a single to left-field. CC definitly isn't having his best game.
- Luke draws a five-pitch walk. Go get him, guys. And remember - that may invlove not swinging.
- Zaun tries to bunt and misses the ball. Swing away, man. The O's want to give him an out, but Sabathia is having trouble throwing a strike. A foul makes it 2-2, so maybe Zaun can actually do some damage. It's not like Izturis is a particularly good hitter. Gregg flies out to the track in left, and with Damon's noodle of an arm out there Wiggy tags up and goes to third
- Izturis grounds into the inning-ending double play. Oh well.
- Aflac Trivia Question in the Nat's-Marlins game (where Washington is getting killed 8-2, including three HR by Florida): Adam Dunn is 2nd amongst active players with 5 Opening Day HR; who's first? Answer: Ken Griffey Jr. (Correct - 1 for 1 on the young season)
- Gardner drops down a bunt, but Zaun makes a strong throw to get him at first.
- Jeter grounds out to short.
- Damon hits a flyball to deep center-field. Jones tries for an over-the-shoulder basket catch (think Willy Mays) but it goes off his glove and Damon goes into third with a triple.
- Even more boo's for Teixeira throughout his at bat. I'm impressed that the fans can keep it going for so long. 3-2 slider called high for ball four (I thought it might have been in the zone.)
- Matsui pops out to end the inning. Guthrie's doing his usual deal - couple of K's, couple of walks, some hits, but not a lot of runs.
- Roberts hits a flyball to deep right-center that just keeps carrying. Nobody can run it down, and it bounces over the wall for a ground-rule double.
- Jones tries to bunt (again) and fouled it off (again). Just let the man swing away. Jones hits a grounder to the left side that goes off of a diving Ransom's glove for an infield single. Roberts alertly moves over to third. Runners on the corners with no outs.
- Markakis runs the count full, and Jones takes off from first. Jeter moves over to cover, and Nick hits a grounder towards short. Jeter is able to get to the ball, but he has no chance to throw anyone out. Infield single makes it 4-1. Sabathia has had no command, and Jon Albaladejo is warming in the New York pen.
- Mora grounds to third. Ransom knocks it down, but he can't make a throw in-time. Everyone is safe, and the bases are loaded with no outs.
- Huff grounds out to second, but they can only get one and another runner scores.
- Wigginton will be walked intentionally with first-base open and the lefty Scott on-deck.
- Luke does a nice job to run the count full (Sabathia has thrown a ton of pitches). A chorus of LUUUUKE erupts from the crowd, and Scott takes a slider just outside for ball four. That forces in the O's sixth run of the game, and that's it for CC. Enjoy the New York media after this game - 4.3 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 5 BB, and 0 K. Yikes.
- Zaun laces a pitch deep but foul down the right-field line against Albaladejo. Flyout to center, with Gardner throwing Melvin out at the plate to end the inning. Even though the tag was late. Stupid Yankee Magic.
Top 6:
- First pitch to Posada is launched way to to center. Cuts the lead to 6-2.
- Cano draws a walk.
- Nady doubles down the left-field line to bring in Robby. That makes it 6-3. A fan touched the ball, so it's possible that Cano shouldn't have scored. But the umps will let it go. How nice of them.
- Guthrie gets Ransom looking with a slider on the outside corner.
- Gardner flies out to Scott in left-field.
- Awesome. Jeter hits a groundball up the middle. Izturis dives and knocks it down, but has no shot at first. Luckily, Nady took a big turn around third, and Cesar was able to throw to Mora to apply the tag as the runner retreated back to the bag. Inning over.
- Guthrie's night is over, with a reliever coming in for the seventh. 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K. A very Jeremy pitching performance.
- Izturis grounds out to second to start the sixth for the Birds.
- Roberts pulls a hard groundball passed Cano at second for his third hit of the day.
- Brian gets picked off, but does give us a fairly entertaining run-down.
- Jones with a line-drive to left for his third hit of the game. The top of this line-up is really firing on all cylinders.
- Lefty Phil Coke in to face Markakis. He gets to Nick to groundout to third to end the inning.
- First pitch for Chris Ray is a 94 mph fastball at the knees for a strike. The second gets looped into short right for a single by Damon.
- We don't even have time to hear the boo's, as Teixeira swings at the first pitch and pops out down the third-base line with Izturis ranging over to make the play.
- Matsui, deep and gone to right-center. Lead cut to 6-5, and that is not the best way for Ray to make his comeback.
- Posada walks on four pitches. I thought the bullpen was supposed to be a strength for this team? That's it for Ray, with Jamie Walker coming in.
- Cano singles up the middle, and that ends Walker's day. He couldn't get the lefty, and it'll be up to Dennis Sarfate to get Nady.
- After falling behind 2-0, Sarfate is able to get a couple of fastballs over before getting nady to ground to Mora at third. Melvin steps on the bag and then throws over to first to complete the inning-ending double play. Still 6-5.
- Melvin draws a lead-off walk against Coke. That makes five different Oriols who have taken a free pass in the game.
- Luke grounds to Jeter at short, who steps on second and completes the easy double play with the throw to first. Some insurance runs would be nice.
- Wigginton strikes out check-swinging. That's the first K by the Birds.
- Jim Johnson in for the eighth, facing Nick Swisher as the pinch-hitter.
- Swish starts the Yanks' attack with a ground-rule double into left-field. He'll be removed for a pinch-runner.
- Gardner bunts Pena (the runner) over to third with one out.
- JJ gets Jeter to ground to a pulled-in Izturis who throws him out at first. Pena stays at third, and there are two outs now.
- Damon draws a walk to bring up Teixeira to boo's again. I have to say, a hit here would be really heartbreaking for the O's faithful.
- Sick sinker on the inside corner for strike one. It started out letter high and inside. Groundball to second - Roberts flips to Izturis covering second, and they're out of it.
- Scott goes down swinging. Even with the 0-2, he's walked twice and had a good at bat every time up.
- ZAUN! Double to right-center. It's been 13 years inbetween hits as an Oriole for him.
- Izturis! Deep... off Damon's glove and into the stands! It's gone! Home run Izturis (we may not see another for a while). On replay it looks like a fan may have hit Damon's glove. They may review this one, but Izturis is all smiles in the dugout for now. They don't, and the homer will stand. 8-5, Orioles.
- Brian Bruney in to face the top of the line-up. Roberts is finally retired on a groundout to second.
- Jones is fouling off a bunch of pitches in running the count full. And he walks for the second time.
- Markakis singles to left-field.
- Wild pitch advances both runners, as Bruney is losing some control on the mound. Mora walks on four pitches.
- Damaso Marte in to face Huff. Mistaaaaake. Aubrey sends an absolute rocket into the right-center gap. Two runners score to make it 10-5, O's.
- Wigginton with a slow roller to short - Teixeira had to pick Jeter's throw out of the dirt to end the inning and keep at least one more run from scoring.
- It's not a save situation, but Ol' Flat Breezy was already warmed up in the pen.
- Felix Pie comes in to play left.
- Matsui can't check his swing and is Sherrill's first strike-otu victim of the year.
- Posada swings at the first pitch and flies out to Jones in right-center.
- Cano draws a walk.
- Nady swings at the first pitch and flies out to Jones in center.
And I know it's last year's version, but...
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