Okay, I lied. Yesterday, I said I’m taking a break from this team. But then I realized that my life essentially revolves around the O’s and taking a break would entail a whole lot of willpower. And I’m way too lazy to muster up all that willpower…
And luckily, for the sake of my sanity, the O’s beat the Royals last night, 4-3, behind a solid performance by rookie Adam Loewen, who collected his first big league victory after eight opportunities. “I was kind of antsy, just because it was my first win,” Loewen said to the Baltimore Sun. “I really wanted to get this out of the way. It was a little nerve-racking, but that’s baseball. That’s the way the game goes.” I think that now the monkey’s off Loewen’s back, he’ll perform with much less nervousness and will go out and give his team a chance to win.
On a side note, Adam missed out on a common practice after one wins his first Major League game: keeping the game ball after the final out’s recorded. After catching the final out, a liner to left field, Luis Terrero tossed it in to the stands….
While Loewen celebrated his first victory with handshakes in the dugout, Luis Terrero, who caught the final out, tossed the ball in the stands, denying the Orioles’ rookie pitcher, who was their No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft, the game ball from his first victory.
Loewen, who gave up one run on seven hits and three walks while striking out five, took the news in stride, saying that he didn’t know where he would have put the ball anyway. Several Orioles presented him with other balls from the game, including the one Conine hit out, on what turned out to be the last pitch of the night from Kansas City starter Runelvys Hernandez, for his eighth home run. The Orioles have vowed to try to get back the ball Terrero tossed away.
Asked what he would have done with the ball, Loewen said: “Probably toss it with the rest of them until I get a house. I’d have to get a cabinet, I guess.”
As far as the game went, rookies Brandon Fahey and Nick Markakis both collected doubles; Markakis went 2-for-2, drove in a run and scored a run as he pushed his season average over .280. Kakes also had a great outfield assist when he threw out Esteban German at home. The stars of the game were Melvin Mora (3-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base), Jeff Conine (4-for-4 with a homer), and recently-returned utility man Chris Gomez, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Brian Roberts and Miguel Tejada put up goose-eggs as they combined to go 0-for-9 with eight men left on base.
Todd Williams, recipient of much criticism from your’s truly, pitched a solid sixth inning after he inherited two of Loewen’s base-runners on first and second with no outs. He got out of the jam and kept the O’s three run lead. LaTroy Hawkins then came in and proceeded to make this game interesting (good for K.C. fans, bad for O’s fans) by surrendering two hits and two runs in his 1.2 innings of work. After allowing his second run, Hawkins was removed with two men on base and one out remaining in the bottom of the eighth. Chris Ray was put in, got out of the jam, and recorded his 25th save in 1.1 innings of work.
The O’s look to take the series tonight as Rodrigo Lopez (6-11, 6.73), possibly making his final start as an Oriole, takes on youngster Jimmy Gobble (3-3, 4.88). The O’s haven’t seen much of Gobble during his three year career; in 22 team at-bats, Kevin Millar has fared the best against the lefty, going 2-for-6 with a double and an RBI. As for Lopez, Matt Stairs loves facing Rodrigo, as shown in his eight hits in 13 ABs (.615), which include a double, homer, and three RBI. Matt Stairs (4-for-12, 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI) and Angel Berroa (4-for-11, 2 HR, 5 RBI) both like facing RoLo, too. However, Lopez definitely has Joey Gathright‘s number as the speedy outfielder has only netted one hit in 13 opportunities (.077) against the 30-year-old right-hander.
I’m really hoping the O’s can win tonight because losing four of six to the D-Rays and Royals prior to entering in to a series with the White Sox would not be good for momentum. Although there’s no “prize” to play for anymore — there hasn’t been for quite some time now — the O’s must show their fans they still care. After all, they are professionals….
Until tomorrow….Mahalo!
Haha! I knew you wouldn’t leave it alone.
What can I say? I love those Bums!