matusz mania

There's been a lot of buzz about the Orioles getting University of San Diego pitcher Brian Matusz. And now it seems like things are really coming true. The Sun's Jeff Zrebiec has been covering the situation extensively and found out that Matusz is scheduled to take a physical in Baltimore today, which is one of the final steps in reaching an agreement. According to a source, the two sides are closing in on a deal that could be done within 24 hours.

Let's hope so, because the Orioles have until midnight tomorrow to reach an agreement, or they'll forfeit their draft rights to the left-handed pitcher.

Orioles president Andy Macphail said, "The fact that it's not done yet and we thought it would get done earlier, that makes it a concern. We really don't have much in the way of progress to report at this present time." And O's director of scouting Joe Jordan said, "We're working on it as we speak, but there's no need for me to publicly comment."

Matusz himself wrote in an email: "Both the Orioles and myself have been working diligently on getting a deal done. I want to sign and will do so upon receiving a fair (not record-breaking) deal. While I am not at liberty to discuss any parameters or numbers of the deal, I am hopeful that a resolution can be reached."

I certainly hope that we hear more finalized news soon because we could use the skills of this 6-foot-5 left-hander with a 90-93 mph fastball. During the regular season, he went 11-2 with a 1.88 ERA and 131 strike outs in 96 innings. And as this season, especially, has shown us, pitching truly makes or breaks a team.

@ cleveland, tuesday and wednesday

Tuesday night's game against the Cleveland Indians was like deja vu all over again for the O's. Starter Garrett Olson allowed four first-inning runs, but he bounced back to work through the sixth without allowing anymore earn runs. The first was certainly rough for Olson, who hadn't pitched since July 11. He hit the first batter, then watched as the Tribe bunted the runner into scoring position. Then Asdrubal Cabrera and Ben Francisco both singled making it four-zip.

But The O's offense caught up in the seventh: Luke Scott doubled and scored the tying run on a single by Nick Markakis. The Orioles also scored twice in the first and once in the fifth. But on a rare double error charged to Melvin Mora, Cleveland scored in the fourth to add an insurance run. Final score was 7-5.

This game really felt like same old, same old. Though I give props to Olson for bouncing back from his horrible start, it seems like a shaky beginning is all the O's need to lose a game. Oh, and poor defensive moves in the infield. That'll do it, too. Our poor offense keeps catching up, but our mistakes cost us in the end.

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Wednesday night's game, however, was a breath of fresh air. That is usually the case when the Orioles' ace, Jeremy Guthrie, is on the mound.

Guthrie ran up a high pitch count in the first four innings, but he held his former team to two runners in scoring position. The Indians finally broke through in the fifth with doubles from Andy Marte and Grady Sizemore.

But that measly pair of doubles didn't stand a chance to our O's offense. Aubrey Huff got a solo home run in the second and Kevin Millar scored on a groundout later in that rally. The O's also had an awesome ninth inning when Markakis got a two-run single and the O's used a Huff double and a wild pitch to score the final two runs. Closer George Sherrill worked the final three outs to seal the game with a score of 6-1.

Guthrie had pitched to his former team twice on relief stints, both unsuccessful. But last night he looked pretty flawless. With every one of his starts, it's becoming more and more apparent that Guthrie is our team's MVP for the season. No other player spurs that much confidence with the fans and, evidently, the players.

olympics break

Let's take a break from Orioles baseball (just for a post) to talk about the U.S. Olympic team and their incredible performances thus far. Of course there is local (and fellow Towson High '03 grad) Mike Phelps, whose performances, both individual and team, have been amazing to watch. He has already won three gold medals: 400-meter IM, 4 x 100-meeter freestyle relay (he can thank his teammate Jason Lezak for that amazing performance) and the 200-meeter freestyle. He set world-records in all three of the races, as well. Congrats so far!




We also have to recognize the U.S. Men's Gymnastic team, who were definitely underdogs because both their stars, Paul and Morgan Hamm, withdrew due to injuries. But the U.S. prevailed to earn a bronze medal, with special highlights including Jonathan Horton's near flawless floor exercise and Alexander Artemev's flare sequence on the pommel horse.

It figures that sports is one of the few things to really make me feel patriotic. Go USA!

frustrating loss to the tribe

A familiar Orioles game was played last night: shaky pitching start, but an incredible offense brought us back. Unfortunately, the Indians got the last word.

Starter Dennis Sarfate allowed seven runs (six earned) in four-plus innings. He surrendered five hits and walked five. But there was light at the end of the tunnel in the seventh, when Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona issued back-to-back walks and then a single to Alex Cintron. Then Brian Roberts hit an RBI single to right, making it 7-4. Nick Markakis got a triple to tie the game and Mora got a sac fly, bringing the O's to an 8-7 lead.

But reliever Rocky Cherry (which sounds more like a Ben & Jerry's flavor than a pitcher) allowed a leadoff double and a single. Then a pinch hitter followed with a ground ball to Melvin Mora, but Hernandez didn't play the ball correctly and nobody was out. The next hitter tied the game at 8 with a sac-fly.

Jamie Walker then got Asdurbal Cabrera to hit into a routine double play, but it hit off Mora's glove and trickled into shallow left field, and the Indians took the lead. One last mistake: Kevin Millar opted to take the out at first on Grady Sizemore's ground ball before throwing home. Final score: 13-8.

The embarrassing triple-threat of defensive mistakes towards the end cost us the game. Without a doubt. As Dave Trembley said: "Obviously, there was probably lapses in concentration."

It is certainly one thing when AAA players come up and look like they've been in the majors forever. It is quite another when MLB players make minor league mistakes.

weekend wrap-up

I know I've been slacking with posts. Let's just blame the Olympics. So we'll have to do a quick catch up session to get back on track. The Texas Rangers were in town this weekend and we ended up taking two out of three from the Lone Star team.

On Friday, the O's star pitcher Jeremy Guthrie gave up just five hits over seven innings and our offense was a total powerhouse. Kevin Millar hit his 17th and 18th home runs in consecutive at-bats. Other multi-RBI performances were delivered by Brian Roberts, Ramon Hernandez and Juan Castro. Final score was 9-1.

Saturday's game was eerily similar, with starting pitcher Daniel "DCab" Cabrera allowing only four hits over six innings. Melvin Mora homered and had four RBIs, Nick Markakis also connected and Roberts scored three runs. Final was 9-0, which is a combined 18-1 for the first two games, for those keeping score.

We didn't fair so well on the cursed Sunday at the Yard. Revered rookie Chris Waters allowed six runs, seven hits and three walks in four innings. Josh Hamilton hit a three-run homer, Marlon Byrd had a home and four RBI's and Ian scored three runs and had three RBI's. Our usual stars looked great: Aubrey Huff homered, Roberts was 4-for-4 and Mora had a homer and four RBI's. But without the backbone of strong pitching, we lost to the Rangers 15-7. Ouch.

payton's glove turns to gold!

Though the Angels took two out of three from the Birds this series, Jay Payton did make some amazingly impressive grabs from center field:


How about that thud after the second grab?

These make a nice trio with his end-of-the-game catch against Seattle last Saturday. Besides (obviously) robbing the opposing team of home runs, he displayed a very strong defensive game, showing that we could get a pretty decent trade out of him!

montanez's moment!

When left-fielder Lou Montanez (called up from Double-A) made his major league debut in the third inning last night, the O's were down by five runs. Ervin Santana pitched a fastball over the plate and Montanez shot it over the fence in left center-field, becoming only the second Oriole in history to hit a home run in his first majors at-bat. Watch for yourself:

Montanez was leading the Double-A Eastern League in all three Triple Crown Categories, including 26 home runs for Bowie. The left fielder had this to say about his major at-bat: "You never expect that, but you do envision this when you were a kid for your first at-bat," he said. "You want to go deep, and it actually came true, so it's real special."

Like I said before, the only other Oriole to ever get a home-run in his first majors at-bat was pitcher (that's right a pitcher) Les "Buster" Narum on May 3, 1963 in the top of the fourth in Detroit. But the O's ended up winning that game 8-5.

Montanez was very flattered to be in Narum's company: "That means a lot, It means my name's going to be in the record books for as long as baseball exists, so it's real neat."

His confidence was obviously boosted by that first home run because, in his next at-bat, he singled and scored. The hits should probably come as no surprise because of Montanez's numbers in the minor leagues. In one incredibly impressive week (July 27-August 2), he was 17-32, batting .530 with 12 runs and 17 RBI's. Not too shabby.

As Dave Trembley says, "When you're hot, it doesn't matter who's pitching or where you're playing. I told him that it's the same game, maybe a little bit faster. Do the same things that you were doing in Bowie."

And apparently, Lou listened.

o's fall in finale

The star of the O's third game against the Los Angeles Angels was, unfortunately, Vladimir Guerrero, who homered and drove in four runs as the Angels beat the Orioles 9-4.

The Angels were up 9-1 after four innings against Garrett Olson (8-6) and Lance Cormier. The Angels had a three-run first with Guerrero's two-run homer, and Garret Anderson's RBI double. Then Jeff Mathis made it 4-zip in the second with a homer. Teixeira led off the third with a triple (on Lou Montanez's error) and then scored on a wild pitch. Anderson had an RBI single later in the inning. The Angels got three more in the fourth on Guerrero's two-run single and Torii Hunter's sac-fly.

But it wasn't all bad news at Angels stadium! Montanez homered on the second pitch he ever saw in the major leagues. (The only other player in Orioles history to homer in his first big league at-bat was relief pitcher Les "Buster" Narum on May 3, 1963). Another Triple-A success story!! And recent powerhouse Nick Markakis hit a three-run shot in the fifth, which was his 16th homer of the season. Markakis was 5-for-12 with seven RBI's against the Halos this series.

But it was our dismal pitching, as usual, that cost us the game. Olson lasted only 2 2/3 innings, allowing six runs and seven hits. Then the Angels scored three runs off "reliever" Cormier in the fourth.

lou in left

Outfielder Lou Montanez (who did come in last night to make an out) will be starting in left field tonight. Maybe our luck with minor leaguers will continue!

contemplating chris

After last night's awesome pitching performance from Chris Waters, players and coaches had a lot to say:

Torii Hunter: "He was making adjustments and that’s what the game is all about. He didn’t throw off speed until the second time around. He threw all fastballs and one changeup the first time around. The third time around he brought the slider out. He knew what he was doing. He didn’t want us to see all his pitches. He’s kind of bright."


Kevin Millar: "He did a great job throwing strikes, man. From the first inning on, he was pounding the strike zone. He had great movement. He reminds you a lot of Kenny Rogers. He changed speeds, big sinker and he fielded his position. He was an athlete on the mound. He knew what he was doing. It’s a perfect example of if you can throw strikes and keep the ball down, you can have success in this league."


Melvin Mora: "I know you have to give credit to the guy, but you also have to give credit to the guy behind the plate, Ramon. He called a great game. He knows those guys. If Ramon called the best pitch and he threw it the way he wanted, I think he was going to be fine. That’s what this kid did. Whatever Ramon called for the spot, he hit the spot. No problem."


Dave Trembley: "I watched the body language is what I watched. I watched his body language, I watched his eyes. And I watched him on the bench in between innings and I watched his body language on the mound after he threw the ball. He just looked like he had tremendous poise. He was under control. He didn't walk around. He got in a rhythm and a tempo. He just kept throwing."


Aubrey Huff: "He just took out nine years of frustration on the best team in baseball. How great is that?"






Ramon Hernandez: "You have somebody's career in your hands. I was trying to make it a success so he can be in the big leagues for the rest of his career. He was throwing strikes no matter what. It didn't matter who was hitting. He wasn't scared to get hit. That's the main thing about young guys coming in like that."



Chris Waters: "It's been a bumpy road. I went through surgery in '04 and it's taken a while to get everything back. This year is probably the first year that I really felt like I was before I got hurt. I came in knowing that they were probably going to take on me because a rookie coming into a big stadium, I was just focusing in on really trying to find the zone."