On The Road Again . . .

The Orioles begin their next road trip, a 10-gamer, tonight in Atlanta. Newly-acquired RHP Russ Ortiz will make his Orioles debut on Saturday against some of his old Braves teammates. Lucky for the O’s, the Braves have one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball. As for us . . .

On the mound tonight for the O’s is Daniel Cabrera, the proud owner of one-fifth of the total walks by Oriole pitchers with 60. Danny’s two free-passes behind Cubs’ stud Carlos Zambrano, the league-leader for walks, except Cabrera has pitched 44.1 less innings. Daniel is on track to finish 2006 averaging just about one walk per inning.

Just thought I’d let ya know.

If Daniel stays course with his current trend, look for an early appearance by former-Brave Bruce Chen or fastball-addict LaTroy Hawkins.

As for the O’s battery, Javy Lopez is making his return to Turner Field but it may be one that sees less of him and more of Ramon Hernandez, who, as of late, is hitting as good as just about anyone. In his past five games (since ending an 0-for-23 skid), Ramon has netted eight hits and five homers, as well as 10 RBI. And since there will be no DH for the O’s in the next 10 games, expect to see a lot less of Javy in general.

Trade rumors regarding Miguel Tejada have seemed to have died down since the Washington Post broke a couple stories this past week discussing trade options, front office musings, and such. One would have to be quite naive, however, to think nothing is being discussed behind closed-doors; the O’s may not be shopping him, but they sure as hell are listening to offers.

As far as the Braves go, the only true bright points on their pitching staff are John Smoltz (lucky for us, we miss Smoltz during out visit to ATL) and Horacio Ramirez, as well as 31-year-old, perennial Minor Leaguer Ken Ray.

The Braves aren’t short on productive hitters; Andruw Jones, Edgar Renteria, Brian McCann, and Matt Diaz are all having great seasons at the plate, while Marcus Giles, Ryan Langerhans, and Pete Orr are still trying to find their strokes.

The key to winning this series for the O’s is to get to the starting pitchers early. Braves ace Tim Hudson, the RHP the O’s face Saturday, is having an uncharacteristically inconsistent year and the Orioles need to capitalize on all opportunities the normally dominant pitcher gives them. Southpaws Chuck James and previously-mentioned Ramirez could give the O’s quite a tough time as the Orioles have struggled to hit lefties all year.

If the O’s can send the Braves’ starters packing early, the runs could potentially come in droves as the Braves’ pen is among the league’s worst.

Once again, Daniel Cabrera (4-5, 5.11) takes on Chuck James (1-0, 1.40) tonight. On Saturday, Russ Ortiz (0-5, 7.54) faces Tim Hudson (6-7, 4.27) and Erik Bedard (8-6, 4.72) squares-off against Horacio Ramirez (3-2, 3.48) Sunday afternoon.

And in World Cup news, Germany beat Argentina in a shoot-out and Italy defeated Ukraine 3-0. England and Portugal square-off tomorrow at 11 am ET and Brazil and France play at 3 pm ET in a rematch of the 1998 final.

¡Viva Alemania!

Goose-egg!

4-0 Phils. On to The Big Peach. Can Russ make a return to consistency? Will our bats stay alive in Hotlanta? Sweep, perhaps?

If you build it, they wi . . . you know what — that makes no sense.

. . . just cross your fingers or something.

Sleep first. Series thoughts later.

Bring Out The Swiffers!

After last night’s 12-5 massacre of the Phillies, it looks like the O’s may be turning things around.

Nick Markakis had arguably the best game of his young career thus far, netting 4 hits in 4 plate appearances, raising his batting average to a season-high .250.

Miguel Tejada, amid all the trade rumors and the media and fans questioning his personal dedication to the team, went 4-for-5 with 2 RBI. Ramon Hernandez continued his hot-streak, going 2-for-5 with another homer. That was his fifth dinger in 5 games.

A decent outing was provided by Kris Benson, who earned his ninth win on the year. The game was interrupted by rain for about an hour, but Benson bounced back from the delay and went a few more innings.

The double-header sweep was made especially sweet by the 19 runs scored in the two games by the O’s, as well as the fine performance by Jeff Conine, who, amid age and ability questions, silenced critics (at least temporarily) by going 5-for-8 with 3 runs scored, a double, triple, and 2 walks over the course of the two games.

The O’s look to sweep the series tonight at 7:05 as Rodrigo Lopez (5-8) takes on young Ryan Madson (7-5) in a duel of pitchers with ERAs eclipsing 6.40.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

5-1 O’s and it’s raining at The Yard. So far, Benson’s looking great.

And it seems all this media and fan scrutiny the past couple days has sparked Miggi to improve his play. He’s had quality ABs every time he’s appeared at the plate today and has had valuable support from the Robertses, Moras, and Hernandezezizzes…ezes…

More on this game later.

One Down, One To Go

The O’s defeated the Phillies 7-4 in the first game of a day-night double-header.

Erik Bedard extended his scoreless inning streak to 16 today as he mowed through 7.0 innings, surrendering 5 hits, walking 2, and fanning 7.

Jeff Conine’s second inning triple followed by Corey Patterson’s sacrifice to send Niner home put the first run of the game on the board for the O’s.

Following that inning, the O’s put 6 runs on the board over the course of 3 consecutive innings. This surge of runs was marked by Ramon Hernandez’s two-run homer in the third inning, but more so, Brian Roberts’ first homer of 2006 in the fourth.

Kevin Millar and Miguel Tejada added RBIs in the game and Chris Ray collected his 20th save of the season as well as strikeouts 31 and 32.

Kurt Birkins imploded for the first time this year. He surrendered 2 two-run homers to bring his still very strong ERA up to 2.78.

The O’s and Phillies take the field again at 7:05 as Kris Benson goes for win number 9. I’ll be on my couch watching intently…