Orioles - Yankees Series Thread

[Hmark6]

Great oppertunity to get tighten this division up. With the Red Sox squaring off with the Indians, The AL East could get real interesting by the end of the week. That being said, I don't like this matchup. Yankees pitching has been struggling to get men out and now has to face one of the best offensive machines in baseball. Baltimore comes into the series second in MLB in batting at .284 (Boston .286), second in homeruns with 104 (Texas, 116), first in slugging at .473.

[DiamondDave]

But the Yanks are catching my O's at a good time... the O's are slumping.. injury bug is there... a real transition time for the O's.. either they break out of the slump, or expect a prolonged slide back down to 3rd....

[nyjunc]

Both teams are struggling, we need to take 2 of 3 here. No excuses, we blew a golden opportunity by losing 6 of 8 to TB and NYM so we have to take this series and begin to climb back into this thing before the break.

[General]

The O's just got swept by the Braves..they're down...kick them while they're down!

[voodoomon1jd]

Those pics of Smoltz are especially disturbing today. 1-6 road trip, swept by the Braves, and everyone predicting the O's of the last 7 years to resurface. Make no mistake, this team has no quit in it, we got our ass whipped, but were dusting it off and moving on. This is the first of 5 games versus the Yanks before the break, and we have a 4 game series with Boston to close the first half, I concede this division to no one!

[nyjunc]

A good start as the Yanks pull it out and the Sox lose. Ruben was the key to this win w/ a sac fly, a big hit to drive in the first run in the 6th, a hustle play to stay out of the DP that would eventually allow the go ahead run to score and he also had a good throw to the plate that if Jorge would evre learn to block the plate that runner would have been out.

[Hmark6]

A good start as the Yanks pull it out and the Sox lose. Ruben was the key to this win w/ a sac fly, a big hit to drive in the first run in the 6th, a hustle play to stay out of the DP that would eventually allow the go ahead run to score and he also had a good throw to the plate that if Jorge would evre learn to block the plate that runner would have been out.

Yes a very good win to start this series. To Jorge's defense, someone needs to teach Ruben the crow-hop so he doesn't throw anymore rainbows to the plate. But yes he played a great game otherwise. Bullpen looked sharp.

Homeplate umpire, Marty Foster, did a great job of letting the players take care of business last night. When Roberts got hit, Ponson went nuts in the dugout. Did anyone else catch that? We'll see if he's still ticked about it tonight.

[nyjunc]

To Jorge's defense, someone needs to teach Ruben the crow-hop so he doesn't throw anymore rainbows to the plate.

I'd give Jorge the benefit of the doubt if he EVER blocked the plate but he never does and that drives me crazy. Jorge is almost useless at this point in his career.

Ponson went nuts in the dugout. Did anyone else catch that? We'll see if he's still ticked about it tonight.

Yep, it will be interesting to see what happens.

[voodoomon1jd]

The O's played one of the more sloppy games I have seen them play this season. The Yankees might be struggling a little, but if you are going to give them a win without them even playing well, then they are going to take it.

We couldn't throw a strike to save our life(8-9 walks), Julio couldn't get his head out of his ass long enough to break towards first for a tailor made double play, umpire calling a phantom balk. Walking the bases loaded to throw a past ball and give em' more runs. Downright disgusting.

[Hmark6]

umpire calling a phantom balk.

He did exactly what Pavano did. A little more subtle, but he still balked. They both got called, but the only difference was Steve Klein going nuts.

[General]

Poor Orioles..I watched the game and it looked like an Insane Asylum in their dugout.

[Hmark6]

Root for this man:

LAST 20 TEAM GAMES:

    NAME       POS   G  AB  HIT  2B 3B  HR RUN RBI  BB   SO   AVG  OBP  SLG
giambi,jason    1B  16  49   16   3  0   1   7   9  11   10  .327 .459 .449

He's heating up. Tino unfortunately is 3 for his last 25.

[General]

Tino went back down to Earth. Granted, he was playing like it was 1996 all over again.

[nyjunc]

The Yankees might be struggling a little, but if you are going to give them a win without them even playing well, then they are going to take it.

Not really, teams have tried and tried to hand us alot of wins but we have rarely capitalized but luckily we did last night.

[voodoomon1jd]

He did exactly what Pavano did. A little more subtle, but he still balked. They both got called, but the only difference was Steve Klein going nuts.

I've seen the replay 100 times, and I still don't see a balk. Klein was called for a balk earlier in the season with the bases loaded that cost us a game, by the same umpire, that is where the heat was coming from. He conducted himslef badly last night, couldn't tell whether or not he actually touched the umpire when he pointed in his face, but he also started to handle Maz a little bit and that rubbed me the wrong way. But either way, balk or no balk, that is not an excuse for the shabby play of the O's last night.