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07-16-2002, 08:17 AM
A fab article from the Washington Post this morning about last night's win (6-5, vs. the Mariners). They played some fine baseball, and it was the little things and the hustle that got the win. They're pesky!! :biggrin: And it looks like Bordy may watch today's game from the bench - that little collision at 2nd base. Grover doesn't want to risk losing him for a longer time. He had quite a game last night!!! I'm so proud! :biggrin: Dang. Wish I could have seen this game!
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O's Hustle to a Win
Base Running, Bordick's 3-Run Homer Lead Way: Orioles 6, Mariners 5
http://a188.g.akamaitech.net/f/188/920/1h/www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I10082-2002Jul15
Mike Bordick tagged up and took third base on a fly ball in the third inning, a symbolic play on a night in which the Orioles were at their most resourceful. (Heather Hall - AFP)
By Dave Sheinin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 16, 2002; Page D05
BALTIMORE, July 15 -- The 38,411 fans who turned out at Oriole Park at Camden Yards for the Baltimore Orioles' 6-5 win over the Seattle Mariners tonight saved their loudest roars for the big SportsCenter moments -- Mike Bordick's three-run homer in the fourth inning that put the Orioles up for good, the sliding plays at the plate, the 100-mph heat from closer Jorge Julio.
But the Orioles themselves and any students of baseball nuance went away more impressed with the little things -- the prototypical Orioles small-ball moments -- that meant the difference between winning and losing: the many extra bases Orioles base runners helped themselves to, the two would-be base-stealers gunned down by catcher Geronimo Gil, the sacrifice flies and bunts.
The American League West-leading Mariners have one of baseball's most powerful offenses, but the Orioles have its most resourceful, and tonight resourcefulness prevailed.
As a result, Orioles right-hander Sidney Ponson (4-4) won for the first time since May 23 and for just the fourth time in his last 29 starts, dating from last July. Julio pitched a perfect ninth for his 19th save.
Bordick, in the midst of a record-setting defensive season but carrying a batting average of only .233 entering the game, seemed to be in the middle of every Orioles rally. Aside from his homer off Mariners starter Ryan Franklin (4-2) -- which brought the Orioles all the way back from a 4-0 deficit -- Bordick also doubled and singled.
However, Bordick was pulled from the game in the eighth -- after bruising his knee during a hard slide into second base the inning before -- was denied the opportunity to go for the cycle. He is listed as day-to-day and may spend Tuesday's 12:30 p.m. series finale on the bench.
"I'm not exaggerating," Manager Mike Hargrove said, "when I say I can't imagine where we'd be without Bordy."
Still, of all Bordick's feats tonight, his teammates were most impressed with a seemingly simple act in the third inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Melvin Mora sent a fly ball to left field, scoring the runner from third easily. But when Bordick, the runner on second, saw Mariners left fielder Mark McLemore catch the ball with his momentum heading backward, he took off for third, sliding in safely just ahead of the tag.
"I saw the way he caught the ball," Bordick said, "and knew I had a chance."
McLemore, usually a heads-up player, stood in the outfield with his hands on his hips afterward, upset either about the umpire's safe call or his own carelessness. Moments later, when Bordick scored on Chris Singleton's sacrifice fly to center, he was practically mobbed in the Orioles' dugout by his appreciative teammates.
"That was huge," said first baseman Jay Gibbons. "He has hustled his whole career. Taking the extra base, going hard into second base -- he's a good example for everyone in here for how the game should be played."
"It was an aggressive, heads-up play," Hargrove said. "The kind of play we're looking for."
The Orioles put on a superb base running clinic in the inning, as they scored three times to answer the three runs the Mariners scored off Ponson in the top half of the inning.
Jerry Hairston had also moved up from first to second on Mora's fly ball, and he went all the way from second to home on a ball that never left the infield. Mariners first baseman John Olerud booted Gary Matthews's grounder, and by the time he recovered and flipped -- too late -- to Franklin covering first, Hairston already was sliding across the plate, having been waved home by third base coach Tom Trebelhorn.
Again in the fourth, Gibbons tested the powerful right arm of Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, stretching a single into a double, which set up the three-run inning that hinged on Bordick's towering homer to left, his fourth of the season and his first in six weeks.
Ponson, prone to handing back leads this season, made this one hold up. He had not pitched since July 6 because of a pesky blister that had been bothering him since mid-June, forcing him to leave early in three different starts.
He was the beneficiary tonight of two strikeout/throwout double plays, as Gil gunned down Suzuki in the first and Ben Davis in the seventh following strikeouts. Gil's strong arm has been unassailable of late, as he has thrown out seven of the last eight base runners attempting to steal against him.
Orioles Notes: The team made a seemingly small roster move today, but one that resonated greatly within the clubhouse. The Orioles sent first baseman-outfielder Ryan McGuire, their 25th man, back to Class AAA Rochester and brought up outfielder Howie Clark to fill the same role.
Clark, 28, is in his 11th professional season -- 10 years in the Orioles' farm system, and one in Yucatan, Mexico -- and his first appearance with the Orioles will be his major league debut.
"I'm so thrilled for him," said Orioles right-hander Travis Driskill, himself a veteran of almost 10 years in the minors before making his major league debut this April."
"I've dreamt of this feeling ever since I signed," said Clark, who was hitting .330 for the Red Wings. "It was incredible."
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
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O's Hustle to a Win
Base Running, Bordick's 3-Run Homer Lead Way: Orioles 6, Mariners 5
http://a188.g.akamaitech.net/f/188/920/1h/www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I10082-2002Jul15
Mike Bordick tagged up and took third base on a fly ball in the third inning, a symbolic play on a night in which the Orioles were at their most resourceful. (Heather Hall - AFP)
By Dave Sheinin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 16, 2002; Page D05
BALTIMORE, July 15 -- The 38,411 fans who turned out at Oriole Park at Camden Yards for the Baltimore Orioles' 6-5 win over the Seattle Mariners tonight saved their loudest roars for the big SportsCenter moments -- Mike Bordick's three-run homer in the fourth inning that put the Orioles up for good, the sliding plays at the plate, the 100-mph heat from closer Jorge Julio.
But the Orioles themselves and any students of baseball nuance went away more impressed with the little things -- the prototypical Orioles small-ball moments -- that meant the difference between winning and losing: the many extra bases Orioles base runners helped themselves to, the two would-be base-stealers gunned down by catcher Geronimo Gil, the sacrifice flies and bunts.
The American League West-leading Mariners have one of baseball's most powerful offenses, but the Orioles have its most resourceful, and tonight resourcefulness prevailed.
As a result, Orioles right-hander Sidney Ponson (4-4) won for the first time since May 23 and for just the fourth time in his last 29 starts, dating from last July. Julio pitched a perfect ninth for his 19th save.
Bordick, in the midst of a record-setting defensive season but carrying a batting average of only .233 entering the game, seemed to be in the middle of every Orioles rally. Aside from his homer off Mariners starter Ryan Franklin (4-2) -- which brought the Orioles all the way back from a 4-0 deficit -- Bordick also doubled and singled.
However, Bordick was pulled from the game in the eighth -- after bruising his knee during a hard slide into second base the inning before -- was denied the opportunity to go for the cycle. He is listed as day-to-day and may spend Tuesday's 12:30 p.m. series finale on the bench.
"I'm not exaggerating," Manager Mike Hargrove said, "when I say I can't imagine where we'd be without Bordy."
Still, of all Bordick's feats tonight, his teammates were most impressed with a seemingly simple act in the third inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Melvin Mora sent a fly ball to left field, scoring the runner from third easily. But when Bordick, the runner on second, saw Mariners left fielder Mark McLemore catch the ball with his momentum heading backward, he took off for third, sliding in safely just ahead of the tag.
"I saw the way he caught the ball," Bordick said, "and knew I had a chance."
McLemore, usually a heads-up player, stood in the outfield with his hands on his hips afterward, upset either about the umpire's safe call or his own carelessness. Moments later, when Bordick scored on Chris Singleton's sacrifice fly to center, he was practically mobbed in the Orioles' dugout by his appreciative teammates.
"That was huge," said first baseman Jay Gibbons. "He has hustled his whole career. Taking the extra base, going hard into second base -- he's a good example for everyone in here for how the game should be played."
"It was an aggressive, heads-up play," Hargrove said. "The kind of play we're looking for."
The Orioles put on a superb base running clinic in the inning, as they scored three times to answer the three runs the Mariners scored off Ponson in the top half of the inning.
Jerry Hairston had also moved up from first to second on Mora's fly ball, and he went all the way from second to home on a ball that never left the infield. Mariners first baseman John Olerud booted Gary Matthews's grounder, and by the time he recovered and flipped -- too late -- to Franklin covering first, Hairston already was sliding across the plate, having been waved home by third base coach Tom Trebelhorn.
Again in the fourth, Gibbons tested the powerful right arm of Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, stretching a single into a double, which set up the three-run inning that hinged on Bordick's towering homer to left, his fourth of the season and his first in six weeks.
Ponson, prone to handing back leads this season, made this one hold up. He had not pitched since July 6 because of a pesky blister that had been bothering him since mid-June, forcing him to leave early in three different starts.
He was the beneficiary tonight of two strikeout/throwout double plays, as Gil gunned down Suzuki in the first and Ben Davis in the seventh following strikeouts. Gil's strong arm has been unassailable of late, as he has thrown out seven of the last eight base runners attempting to steal against him.
Orioles Notes: The team made a seemingly small roster move today, but one that resonated greatly within the clubhouse. The Orioles sent first baseman-outfielder Ryan McGuire, their 25th man, back to Class AAA Rochester and brought up outfielder Howie Clark to fill the same role.
Clark, 28, is in his 11th professional season -- 10 years in the Orioles' farm system, and one in Yucatan, Mexico -- and his first appearance with the Orioles will be his major league debut.
"I'm so thrilled for him," said Orioles right-hander Travis Driskill, himself a veteran of almost 10 years in the minors before making his major league debut this April."
"I've dreamt of this feeling ever since I signed," said Clark, who was hitting .330 for the Red Wings. "It was incredible."
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
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