Steve Trachsel gets his first win of the season, also his first win as an Oriole.

Steve Trachsel went out there and kept the team in the ball game. Thats all we were asking for. He got out of some tough jams and left with runners on 1st and 2nd. Chad Bradford came in and got the first batter to ground into a double play to get out of the inning. But before that, Trachsel went 5 and 1/3rds innings of solid work. He gave up only 4 hits, 1 run (on a solo homer), and 4 walks, while striking out 3. Scott Williamson pitched a perfect 7th while striking out a batter in only his 5th appearance of the season. Jamie Walker followed suit for the 8th, and Brian Burres got through a rocky 9th to seal the win. Burres gave up 3 hits, a walk, and 2 runs before getting his 2nd strikeout to end the game.

The offense basically consisted of 2 innings, but they were a good 2 innings. Nick Markakis had a double, a triple, and 3 RBIs. Miguel Tejada had 3 hits and 3 RBIs, Jay Payton had 3 singles, and Melvin Mora had a single with 2 walks. Corey Patterson had an RBI single to round out the hitting. Kevin Millar got hit by a pitch twice and Chris Gomez walked.

Player of the game: Nick Markakis -  2-4, 2 Rs, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI

Tomorrow night, the Oakland A’s come to Baltimore for a 2 game series. Erik Bedard (3-1, 5.40) is pitching for the O’s, Dan Haren (1-2, 1.44) for the A’s. Go O’s.

Adam Loewen gets the win, hes 2-0, while Chris Ray gets his 6th save.

Loewen was wild again, but this time it didn’t cost us much. Adam had 7 walks (4 of them were in the last inning he pitched), he gave up 5 hits and the lone 2 runs, while striking out4 guys. He got pulled in favor of Chad Bradford with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the 6th. Bradford then struck out Travis Smith to end the inning, then pitched a scoreless 7th, only giving up a single. Danys Baez pitched another quick, scoreless inning. And Chris Ray gets another save, giving up a single, but striking out a batter.

Brian Roberts didn’t play because he had the flu, so Chris Gomez started in his place. Gomez had a couple of singles and 2 runs in his place. Corey Patterson was the lead off guy for the day, while wearing number 42 to tribute Jackie Robinson, and he had 2 singles. Patterson drove in an important cushion run late in the game. Nick Markakis walked twice and had a single. Miguel Tejada and Kevin Millar each had a single and a walk, Miggy’s walk brought in a run with the bases loaded. Paul Bako also chipped in with a single.

Player of the game: Miguel Tejada -  1-3, 2 RBI, BB

Today the Orioles go for the sweep of the Blue Jays, but it isn’t going to be easy. Steve Trachsel (0-1, 5.19) goes for the O’s, while the Jays have a lefty on the mound, Gustavo Chacin (2-0, 3.57). Go O’s.

Chris Ray gets the win, his 2nd.

Daniel Cabrera started for the O’s and went into the 7th inning. I’d give him a quality start for the effort. He went 6 and 2/3rd, giving up 8 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, and 7 strikeouts. He had only given up 2 runs until he got pulled from the game with the bases loaded. John Parrish came in and gave up a 2 RBI single to Vernon Wells before getting the next batter out. That makes 2 starts in a row where Cabrera left the game with the bases loaded and at least 2 of them came in to score. But the bullpen, yet again, refused to allow a run of their own in. Parrish pitched the 8th inning perfectly. Chris Ray gave up 2 hits, but struck out a batter without giving up any runs in the 9th. The Orioles won it in the bottom of the inning, so Ray got the win.

The top of the order did a good job last night. Brian Roberts had a single and a walk. Melvin Mora hit a 2-run homer, his 4th, and walked 3 times. Nick Markakis had 3 singles, including the game winning RBI on a single with the bases loaded. Miguel Tejada hit a double, Kevin Millar hit a single to go along with a walk, and Corey Patterson had a single. Aubrey Huff drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Jay Payton made his return from the disabled list, but spent the entire game sitting on the bench.

Player of the game: Melvin Mora -  1-2, HR, R, 2 RBI, 3 BB

Tonight, we face Josh Towers (1-1, 2.03) as a former Oriole goes up against a current one, Adam Loewen (1-0, 3.95). Go O’s.

Erik Bedard gets his 3rd win of the season, Chris Ray gets his 5th save.

Bedard struggled again yesterday, but (again) he kept the team in the game long enough to get the win. He ended up pitching 5 and 2/3rds, striking out 8 batters. He gave up 7 hits, 4 runs, and walked 3 batters. You just know that hes going to start getting dominant again sometime soon. Chad Bradford came in to finish the 6th with runners on first and second and 2 outs. He got out of the inning with a groundball to shortstop. That was all for Bradford, as John Parrish came in to pitch the 7th. He walked a batter, but that was it as he also struck out a batter. Danys Baez came in and got out of the 8th very quickly, while Chris Ray struck out the side in order to pick up the save. The bullpen continues to be outstanding.

The hitting showed up today against the lefty Scott Kazmir. Brian Roberts (0-4, BB) and Melvin Mora (0-3, 2 BBs) went hitless, but they were the only ones in the starting lineup to do that. Nick Markakis hit a solo homerun, his 3rd, in the late innings for an insurance run. Miguel Tejada had 2 singles and a double, his best game of the season so far. Kevin Millar, Freddie Bynum, and Alberto Castillo had a double each as their only hits in the game. Jon Knott got the start in left and made the most of it. He went 2 for 3 with 2 runs, an RBI, and a walk. Chris Gomez also had a couple of singles in the game.

Player of the game: Miguel Tejada -  3-4, 2B, 2 Rs

The Orioles have off today before starting another home stand, starting with the Toronto Blue Jays Friday night. Daniel Cabrera (1-1, 3.66) starts for the O’, while A.J. Burnett (1-1, 7.07) goes for the Blue Jays. Go O’s.

Steve Trachsel gets his first loss as an Oriole.

Trachsel could only get through 2 outs in the 4th before being pulled from the game. He gave up 6 hits, walked 3 batters, gave up 6 runs, and only struck out one batter. This is the kind of start that I’ve been fearing, and will continue to fear, Trachsel will throw every time out. Brian Burres came in and got out of the inning, and 3 more after that, only giving up 2 hits and striking out a pair. Jamie Walker also threw a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out a batter. Its been a while since the bullpen has given up a run…

The hitting fell off a little bit, but thats to be expected of the Orioles when they face a lefty. The big hit was Jon Knott, who finally got a chance to prove himself for the O’s, who hit a pinch hit 3 run homer (his first) to bring the game to 6-4. Melvin Mora hit a triple and Jay Gibbons hit a double, while Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, Miguel Tejada, and Freddie Bynum had singles. The Orioles need to keep Jon Knott on this team and bat him against left handed pitching, which is his strong suit.

Player of the game: Jon Knott -  1-1, HR, R, 3 RBI

The series ends with both teams aces going up against each other. For the O’s, its Erik Bedard (1-1, 5.09). For the Devil Rays, its another lefty in Scott Kazmir (1-1, 4.95). Go O’s.

Jeremy Guthrie gets his first win as an Oriole, Chris Ray gets his 4th save.

This was a crazy game. Adam Loewen didn’t pitch good. That said, the defense didn’t help him at all and probably was the reason he pitched as poorly as he did. The Orioles made 3 errors on one play that lead to 2 runs, plus they made boneheaded plays all night. Loewen’s final line was 3 and 2/3rds innings pitched, 3 hits, 6 runs (4 earned), 5 walks (ouch), a hit batter, and 3 strikeouts. Loewen walked in a run with the bases loaded before being lifted for Jeremy Guthrie with outs in the bottom of the 4th inning. Guthrie promptly gave up a bases clearing double to Ty Wigginton to make the game 6-0. He finally got out of the inning and pitched 2 more innings after that, only giving up one more run (the only one charged to him) on a hit and 3 walks. He had 3 strikeouts also. Chad Bradford started the 7th and gave up 2 ground ball singles and got 2 outs. The Truth (John Parrish) came in and put the fire out, striking out the only batter he faced. That makes the last 7 outs John Parrish has gotten all strikeouts. Danys Baez pitched a quick perfect 8th, striking out a batter. Chris Ray followed suit, also striking out a batter, to get the save.

The hitting was good again, pumping out 13 hits for the second game in a row. That makes 4 games in a row with at least 12 hits for the O’s. Your catalyst for the night to start the comeback? Freddie Bynum, of course. With the Orioles down 7-1, Boom Boom Bynum belted a 2-run homer, his first, to shrink the lead to 4 and the Orioles never looked back from there. He also drove in the winning run with a fielders choice ground out in the 7th. Melvin Mora (who also had a single in the game) hit a 2-run homerun (3rd of the year) in the 7th to bring the lead to 3. Aubrey Huff hit his first homerun as an Oriole in the 9th to pad the lead, he also had a double. Jay Gibbons’ only hit was a good one. He hit a 2-run double, also in the 7th, to tie the game. Brian Roberts had a stolen base, a single, and a double. Nick Markakis and Paul Bako had singles. And Kevin Millar stayed hot with a double and 2 walks. He also hit a ball that should have at least been a double, or a homer, that the umps eventually ruled a foul ball.

Player of the game: Freddie Bynum – 1-4, HR, R, 3 RBI

Tomorrow night we have to face a lefty, Casey Fossum (0-1, 7.59), and we have Steve Trachsel (0-0, 2.63) going for us. If theres one game to be scared of in this series, this is it. Go O’s.

Scott Williamson get his first win of the young season. Chris Ray got his 3rd save.

Daniel Cabrera started this rain soaked game for the O’s. He had some bad luck, but otherwise pitched OK. His official line was 5 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 1 walk, 2 HBP, and 5 strikeouts. The first batter of the game was ruled to be hit by the pitch, but the replays showed that he was not struck by the ball at all. The play stood. Later in the inning a bloop fly ball was hit into shallow left field where a range-less Kevin Millar couldn’t get to it. If Jay Payton wasn’t hurt, or possibly even if Jay Gibbons was in left (although I’m not going to assume) the ball would’ve been caught. Cabrera’s second hit batter was on an 0-2 count. He only walked one batter, but he took way too many pitches to work through his performance.

How do you think the bullpen did? Well, they continued their dominance over the opposition by combining for 4 scoreless innings to preserve the win. Scott Williamson gave up a hit and had a strikeout in an inning of work, John Parrish also gave up a hit, hit a batter (again on an 0-2 count), but then struck out the next 3 batters. Jamie Walker struck out 2 in his inning, and so did Chris Ray to get the save. So far, the bullpen has done everything we expected it to and more. Lets hope they can keep up the good work.

The offense was solid again. For the third night in a row we had at least 12 hits (13 tonight). And on back to back nights the Orioles hit a grand slam. This time it was Chris Gomez, for his first of the year, with no outs in the bottom of the 6th. The Orioles were down 2-4 with rain threatening to stop the game when he hit it, so that would most likely make it the most important hit of the year. That was Gomez’ only hit of the game, but it was a good one. Brian Roberts, Miguel Tejada, and Kevin Millar each had 2 singles, Alberto Castillo had a single, a double, and a walk, and Melvin Mora, Nick Markakis, Aubrey Huff, and Corey Patterson had a single each. The only problem with the offense so far has been consistency and batting with runners in scoring position. I still think the offense will improve.

Player of the game: Chris Gomez -  1-4, HR, R, 4 RBI

The Orioles were rained out today, but they go to Tampa Bay to play the Devil Rays starting tomorrow. Adam Loewen (1-0, 1.80) will look to continue his good start against James Shields (1-0, 4.61). Go O’s.