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05-10-2003, 10:07 AM
:clap2: :jump: :luvkiss:
Boy, talk about a team picking me up outta the baseball doldrums!!! (I'm waaaaaay too emotionally involved. :D )
So here's what muh boys what I love did yesterday. (They're such good boys. :luvkiss: )
Sweep relief: O's take two from Royals
Orioles hold off K.C. rally to win tight nightcap, 5-4, after 15-5 rout in opener; O's rebound from Tigers debacle; Helling, Ponson victorious; 17 hits power Game 1 win
By Joe Christensen
Sun Staff
Originally published May 10, 2003
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Orioles got more than two victories in last night's doubleheader sweep of the Kansas City Royals.
They got some therapy, too.
Coming off four straight losses, including three against the lowly Detroit Tigers, the Orioles won a cakewalk and a nail-biter in a span of six hours.
They pounded the Royals, 15-5, in the opener and watched Sidney Ponson out-duel Runelvys Hernandez for the second time in a week in their 5-4 Game 2 victory before 38,995 at Kauffman Stadium.
It was the Orioles' second doubleheader sweep in nine days, and those haven't come easily in the recent past. Before sweeping two games in Detroit on May 1, the Orioles had played 19 doubleheaders without a sweep, splitting 12 and getting swept seven times.
These two wins over the American League Central-leading Royals moved the Orioles back above .500 at 18-17.
"The only ones who hadn't forgotten about Detroit was you guys," Orioles manager Mike Hargrove told reporters after Game 2. "You learn early on in this game, what's in the past is in the past. Take every experience you need and then forget about it. If we're sitting there thinking about Detroit, then we're not ready to play."
In Game 1, every Orioles starter had a hit and scored a run. Jay Gibbons matched his career high with four hits, and Tony Batista matched his career high with five RBIs.
In Game 2, the Royals led 1-0 until the sixth inning, when Gibbons hit a two-out, two-run homer off Hernandez. The Orioles added three runs in the seventh, as Melvin Mora hit a two-run single off Royals reliever Jason Grimsley and Jeff Conine added a two-out RBI-single.
Ponson (4-2) went seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits. In his past six starts, He is 4-1 with a 2.74 ERA, having pitched into the seventh inning each time.
"I didn't have the stuff I normally have tonight," Ponson said. "I fell behind [in the count] a lot. When I had to make a pitch, I did, and that's what got me out of a couple jams."
The Royals scored two runs against Buddy Groom in the eighth, but Kerry Ligtenberg got pinch hitter Brent Mayne to ground to first with the bases loaded, ending one of the tensest moments of the young season for the Orioles.
Jorge Julio came on for the ninth and earned his ninth save, getting Carlos Beltran to ground into a game-ending double play.
Hernandez (4-2) allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He was cruising until the sixth, when Mora reached on an error by shortstop Angel Berroa.
Then Hernandez dropped the ball, literally, while he was standing on the mound and was called for a balk, which moved Mora to second. With two outs, Hernandez threw a first-pitch fastball to Gibbons, who drilled it over the right-center-field fence for his fifth homer.
Runs came much more easily for the Orioles in Game 1. They had a season-high 17 hits and batted around twice, scoring five runs in the third inning and five more in the eighth, and finished with their most runs since scoring 15 against Tampa Bay on April 11, 2002.
David Segui hit his second homer of the season, Batista added his sixth and Gary Matthews drove in three runs.
The game featured the same pitching matchup that produced a 5-2 Royals victory one week earlier at Camden Yards. Miguel Asencio (2-1) pitched a complete game in that win, but this time the Orioles drilled him for eight runs in six innings.
Rick Helling (2-3) went seven innings, holding the Royals to three runs on eight hits.
Helling had what he hopes can be a season-altering moment in the fifth. The Royals trailed 6-1 but had the bases loaded with two outs. At the plate stood Beltran, a player the Orioles would still covet in a trade.
After walking the previous two batters with a full count, Helling ran the string full again before getting Beltran to wave at a curveball for strike three. Helling hopped off the mound and pumped his fist.
In a season of frustrating moments, Helling finally had one go his way.
"That's what I was thinking coming off the field," said Helling, who had given up 11 runs and 18 hits in his previous two starts, both losses. "Maybe this is the pitch or the at-bat that gets me going in the right direction. It was nice to finally get a big out when you needed one."
Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun
Boy, talk about a team picking me up outta the baseball doldrums!!! (I'm waaaaaay too emotionally involved. :D )
So here's what muh boys what I love did yesterday. (They're such good boys. :luvkiss: )
Sweep relief: O's take two from Royals
Orioles hold off K.C. rally to win tight nightcap, 5-4, after 15-5 rout in opener; O's rebound from Tigers debacle; Helling, Ponson victorious; 17 hits power Game 1 win
By Joe Christensen
Sun Staff
Originally published May 10, 2003
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Orioles got more than two victories in last night's doubleheader sweep of the Kansas City Royals.
They got some therapy, too.
Coming off four straight losses, including three against the lowly Detroit Tigers, the Orioles won a cakewalk and a nail-biter in a span of six hours.
They pounded the Royals, 15-5, in the opener and watched Sidney Ponson out-duel Runelvys Hernandez for the second time in a week in their 5-4 Game 2 victory before 38,995 at Kauffman Stadium.
It was the Orioles' second doubleheader sweep in nine days, and those haven't come easily in the recent past. Before sweeping two games in Detroit on May 1, the Orioles had played 19 doubleheaders without a sweep, splitting 12 and getting swept seven times.
These two wins over the American League Central-leading Royals moved the Orioles back above .500 at 18-17.
"The only ones who hadn't forgotten about Detroit was you guys," Orioles manager Mike Hargrove told reporters after Game 2. "You learn early on in this game, what's in the past is in the past. Take every experience you need and then forget about it. If we're sitting there thinking about Detroit, then we're not ready to play."
In Game 1, every Orioles starter had a hit and scored a run. Jay Gibbons matched his career high with four hits, and Tony Batista matched his career high with five RBIs.
In Game 2, the Royals led 1-0 until the sixth inning, when Gibbons hit a two-out, two-run homer off Hernandez. The Orioles added three runs in the seventh, as Melvin Mora hit a two-run single off Royals reliever Jason Grimsley and Jeff Conine added a two-out RBI-single.
Ponson (4-2) went seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits. In his past six starts, He is 4-1 with a 2.74 ERA, having pitched into the seventh inning each time.
"I didn't have the stuff I normally have tonight," Ponson said. "I fell behind [in the count] a lot. When I had to make a pitch, I did, and that's what got me out of a couple jams."
The Royals scored two runs against Buddy Groom in the eighth, but Kerry Ligtenberg got pinch hitter Brent Mayne to ground to first with the bases loaded, ending one of the tensest moments of the young season for the Orioles.
Jorge Julio came on for the ninth and earned his ninth save, getting Carlos Beltran to ground into a game-ending double play.
Hernandez (4-2) allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He was cruising until the sixth, when Mora reached on an error by shortstop Angel Berroa.
Then Hernandez dropped the ball, literally, while he was standing on the mound and was called for a balk, which moved Mora to second. With two outs, Hernandez threw a first-pitch fastball to Gibbons, who drilled it over the right-center-field fence for his fifth homer.
Runs came much more easily for the Orioles in Game 1. They had a season-high 17 hits and batted around twice, scoring five runs in the third inning and five more in the eighth, and finished with their most runs since scoring 15 against Tampa Bay on April 11, 2002.
David Segui hit his second homer of the season, Batista added his sixth and Gary Matthews drove in three runs.
The game featured the same pitching matchup that produced a 5-2 Royals victory one week earlier at Camden Yards. Miguel Asencio (2-1) pitched a complete game in that win, but this time the Orioles drilled him for eight runs in six innings.
Rick Helling (2-3) went seven innings, holding the Royals to three runs on eight hits.
Helling had what he hopes can be a season-altering moment in the fifth. The Royals trailed 6-1 but had the bases loaded with two outs. At the plate stood Beltran, a player the Orioles would still covet in a trade.
After walking the previous two batters with a full count, Helling ran the string full again before getting Beltran to wave at a curveball for strike three. Helling hopped off the mound and pumped his fist.
In a season of frustrating moments, Helling finally had one go his way.
"That's what I was thinking coming off the field," said Helling, who had given up 11 runs and 18 hits in his previous two starts, both losses. "Maybe this is the pitch or the at-bat that gets me going in the right direction. It was nice to finally get a big out when you needed one."
Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun