What?!?!?!?

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Orioles vs. Rangers

Final: 10-3, O's.

I log off when it's 3-1, Rangers.

I watch TV and fall asleep, then log on again later and the final score is 10-3.

:clap2:

Who are these guys?!??


:D

Nice.

More later.

[rockin500]

the aliens are back. :)

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Originally posted by rockin500
the aliens are back. :)

My thoughts exactly, Ray! :D

Here's the scoop from Roch. It was a Mighty Mel kind of night. :thumbsup: And sounds like Omar was pretty solid. Grover used only 2 pitchers, giving the 'pen a rest.

Sparky Watch: Went 1 for 5, and scored 2 runs.

Mora's homer warms O's, who cool off Rangers, 10-3
3-run shot in 7th paves 6-run 8th, ends Texas roll
By Roch Kubatko
Sun Staff
Originally published May 25, 2003



ARLINGTON, Texas - An Orioles offense that came to life in the past five games went back into hiding last night until Melvin Mora located it in the seventh inning.
Given the way he's swung the bat lately, he was the right choice to lead a search party.

Mora crushed a three-run homer off Texas starter John Thomson and matched his career high with five RBIs, and the Orioles subdued one of baseball's hottest teams with a 10-3 victory before 48,635 at The Ballpark in Arlington.

Thomson fell behind 2-0 to Mora after singles by Geronimo Gil and Brian Roberts put the tying runs on base. Mora launched the next pitch, a cut fastball, into the seats in left-center field to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead and begin an onslaught that included nine runs and 10 hits over two innings.

The Orioles sent 11 batters to the plate in the eighth. Jeff Conine homered off reliever Aaron Fultz and delivered a run-scoring single off Jay Powell.

Deivi Cruz, a late-inning defensive replacement, drilled a two-run double off Todd Van Poppel, and Mora brought in two more with a single.

"When you get up that many runs," said manager Mike Hargrove, "it makes it a lot easier to breathe."

In the lineup again, Luis Matos had a career-high three hits, including his first home run since Sept. 26. He's 5-for-9 since being recalled from Triple-A Ottawa.

Alex Rodriguez hit his 14th homer in the sixth inning to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead and point them toward their eighth consecutive victory, but Mora changed the direction of a team, and an entire game.

Mora has strung together six consecutive multi-hit games. He's batting .452 in his past seven games, and .373 in his past 13, while roaming among left field, center field, shortstop and second base.

"I'm always trying to just hit the ball," he said. "I'm not thinking about hitting it out of the park. I was just trying to make good contact, and whatever happens, happens. And we needed to get a lot of runs because they have a pretty good lineup here. It's crazy to play a game in Texas."

Along with Mora's heroics, the night was notable because it brought the first major league start for Rule 5 shortstop Jose Morban, who must be kept on the major league roster all season or be returned to his previous team.

Having only three official at-bats before last night, Morban struck out twice, walked and stole a base. He also handled all three chances cleanly in the field, starting a double play in the sixth that stranded two runners, before Cruz replaced him in the seventh.

Cruz is hitting .366 in his past 13 games, but Hargrove had considered giving Morban a start for almost a week, and batted him ninth last night.

"I felt that now was as good a time as any. There wasn't any specific reason," Hargrove said.

Morban was part of a youthful defensive alignment up the middle. Besides having Gil behind the plate, the Orioles started Morban at short, Roberts, 25, at second base and Matos, 24, in center field.

Perhaps Omar Daal looked behind him, saw a few unfamiliar faces and decided it was safer to play catch with Gil. He struck out six of the first eight batters before Ryan Christenson singled into left field and Michael Young ripped a double over Matos' head for a 1-0 lead. Frustrated, Matos removed his glove and spun it in the air, but Daal had a better reason to vent.

The next hitter, Severna Park native Mark Teixeira, grounded to Tony Batista at third. Batista mishandled the ball while ranging to his left and bounced a throw to Conine. Young came home as the ball rolled toward the mound.

After setting down the first eight batters, Daal couldn't keep the next four off the bases. Rodriguez reached on a slow grounder to Batista, but the rally ended when Rafael Palmeiro popped to short.

Fast starts are nothing new to Daal. Last Sunday, he retired the first 11 batters before Tampa Bay scored three runs in the fourth inning. He only gave up one run in seven innings against the Chicago White Sox. It scored in the fourth inning.

Back in April, he retired the first nine Cleveland Indians, but they erupted for seven runs over the next two innings. In his previousApril start, the Orioles were leading Tampa Bay 6-0 after three innings before the Devil Rays scored four in the fourth.

Daal matched his season high in strikeouts in the fourth inning, getting his seventh after freezing Ruben Sierra. He eclipsed it in the fifth after a two-out double by Young, and completed six innings to earn his first victory since May 1. Kerry Ligtenberg didn't allow a runner over the last three innings and earned his first American League save.

"You've got to go out there and keep battling," Daal said, "because sooner or later, we're going to score some runs."



Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun

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Wow. Luis Matos has been hot since coming from Ottawa. :thumbsup: And Omar did well against hot-hitting Texas. Kind of impressive! :clap:

5/24/2003 10:22 PM ET
O's flow on Mora's muscle
By Alan Eskew / Special to MLB.com


ARLINGTON -- Melvin Mora is making sure manager Mike Hargrove keeps writing his name in the Orioles' lineup.
Mora drove in five runs, matching his career high, with a three-run homer and a two-run single as the Orioles rallied to defeat Texas 10-3 Saturday night, snapping the Rangers' seven-game winning streak.

Mora has a seven-game hitting streak in which he is 14-for-31, with a .452 average, and has six consecutive multihit games. The versatile Mora, who has hit safely in 11 of his 13 games, has started in 28 of the past 32 games in second, shortstop and all three outfield positions.

"It would be hard to take him out of the lineup," Hargrove said. "He hasn't been swinging for them (home runs). You don't see that wild long-lifting swing like you saw at the first of the year last year."

Hargrove added: "When the pitcher has made a mistake, Melvin has been ready for it and hit it hard and he's gotten some up in the air. That's the way it should be. That's the way it should happen. Melvin's approach is real good right now."

With the Orioles trailing 3-1 with two out in the seventh, Mora hit a 2-0 offering from Rangers starter out John Thomson out with Geronimo Gil and Brian Roberts aboard.

"I was just trying to make good contact and whatever happens, happens," Mora said. "It was good to hit the cutter out, especially with two outs. I'm feeling fine. I feel comfortable at the plate."

Mora singled home two more runs in the Orioles' six-run eighth. Jeff Conine led off the inning with a home run and also had a single before the eighth ended.

The Orioles sent 11 men to the plate and collected seven hits off three Rangers relievers in the eighth. Todd Van Poppel faced six Orioles in the inning and retired none, giving up two doubles, two singles and two walks.

The inning included a Orioles barrage: a Deivi Cruz two-run ground rule double, a Tony Batista double into the left-field corner, and a Luis Matos single, his third hit of the game to equal his career high.

Matos, who is 5-for-9 in two games since his promotion Friday, led off the fifth with a home run.

The huge eighth turned a tight game into a seven-run Orioles' cushion.

"When you get up by that many runs, it makes it a lot easier to breathe," Hargrove said. "But not until the ninth inning, I did not feel comfortable because I've seen them put a lot of points on the board real quick."

Orioles left-hander Omar Daal made the Rangers hitters feel uncomfortable early.

He stifled the Rangers' potent offense by striking out six of the first eight batters he faced and had a season-high eight strikeouts before departing after six innings and 93 pitches, 67 for strikes. Daal, who picked up his first victory in four starts, since a May 1 win over Detroit, gave up three runs on eight hits.

The Rangers pieced together four two-out hits, two that failed to leave the infield, for two runs. Alex Rodriguez opened the sixth with his 14th home run.

"I was hitting my spots most of the time," Daal said. "I had a great changeup today. I just made a couple of mistakes and it cost me two runs."

Daal said his two miscues were a changeup over the middle of the plate to Michael Young, who jumped on it for a RBI double in the third, and a fastball that "I tried to go away with to A-Rod and he hit it out."

"Overall, I threw great," Daal said.

He threw first pitch strikes, mostly fastballs, to eight of the first nine batters he faced.

"After that, I said I've got to mix it up now, this is my second time around so I don't want to throw the same pitches," Daal said. "That way I kept them guessing. The second time around I threw first pitch curveballs."

Said Hargrove: "Omar threw well. He made a bad pitch to Young to start things off. He got out of the inning without just getting crushed. He kept us in the ballgame."

Daal said he pitched better on May 13 against the White Sox, holding them to one run on seven hits over seven innings, but lost 1-0.

"Tonight my changeup was low with some motion to it, maybe because of the hot weather," Daal said. "I was hitting my spots with my fastball in and out. All my pitches were working for most of the game and that was the key."

Daal continued: "There's no chance to make many mistakes because they're great hitters. Anytime I make I mistake I know I'll pay for that, so I had to concentrate and focus on what I do, just keep the ball down. I just wanted to hold them right there at three runs. Sooner or later I figured we're going to score some runs. We came back and scored nine runs."

Kerry Ligtenberg worked threw spotless innings and struck out four to pick up his first career American League save.

"That is probably the best he's looked since we've had him for an extended time," Hargrove said. "He threw the ball well, kept his fastball down and threw some good sliders."

Alan Eskew is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.


BOX SCORE


Baltimore AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Roberts, B, 2B 5 2 1 0 1 0 0 .316
Mora, LF 5 1 2 5 0 1 0 .321
Segui, DH 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 .298
Conine, 1B 4 1 3 2 1 1 0 .282
Gibbons, RF 5 0 1 0 0 1 0 .267
Batista, 3B 5 1 1 0 0 1 0 .260
Matos, CF 5 2 3 1 0 0 0 .556
Gil, C 3 2 2 0 1 0 0 .265
Morban, SS 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 .200
Cruz, SS 2 1 2 2 0 0 0 .222
Totals 41 10 16 10 4 6 0

BATTING
2B: Batista (7, Van Poppel), Cruz (3, Van Poppel).
HR: Matos (1, 5th inning off Thomson, 0 on, 0 out), Mora (6, 7th inning off Thomson, 2 on, 2 out), Conine (5, 8th inning off Fultz, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Roberts, B; Mora 5; Segui; Conine 6; Gibbons; Batista 2; Matos 6; Gil 2; Cruz 3.
RBI: Matos (1), Mora 5 (20), Conine 2 (31), Cruz 2 (17).
2-out RBI: Mora 3.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gil, Segui, Roberts, B.
GIDP: Batista, Gibbons.
Team LOB: 9.

BASERUNNING
SB: Morban (5, 3rd base off Thomson/Greene).

FIELDING
E: Batista (4, throw).
DP: (Morban-Conine).


Texas AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Young, 2B 4 1 2 1 0 2 0 .346
Teixeira, 1B 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 .241
Rodriguez, SS 4 1 2 1 0 2 0 .302
Blalock, 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .361
Palmeiro, DH 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .278
Gonzalez, RF 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 .283
Perry, 3B 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .174
Sadler, 3B-SS 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .077
Sierra, LF 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 .261
Greene, C 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .233
Christenson, CF 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 .198
Totals 34 3 8 2 0 12 0

BATTING
2B: Young 2 (7, Daal, Daal).
HR: Rodriguez (14, 6th inning off Daal, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Young 4; Teixeira; Rodriguez 5; Palmeiro; Gonzalez; Christenson.
RBI: Young (21), Rodriguez (34).
2-out RBI: Young.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Palmeiro, Teixeira.
GIDP: Sierra.
Team LOB: 4.

FIELDING
DP: 2 (Perry-Young-Teixeira, Young-Rodriguez-Teixeira).



Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Daal (W, 3-5) 6.0 8 3 3 0 8 1 4.98
Ligtenberg (S, 1) 3.0 0 0 0 0 4 0 2.49
Texas IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Thomson (L, 3-5) 6.2 8 4 4 2 5 2 4.85
Fultz 0.2 1 1 1 0 1 1 2.05
Van Poppel 0.0 4 5 5 2 0 0 7.71
Powell 1.2 3 0 0 0 0 0 10.13


Van Poppel pitched to 6 batters in the 8th.

HBP: Gil (by Powell).
Pitches-strikes: Daal 93-67, Ligtenberg 33-25, Thomson 103-66, Fultz 18-11, Van Poppel 18-7, Powell 33-21.
Ground outs-fly outs: Daal 6-4, Ligtenberg 3-2, Thomson 7-8, Fultz 1-0, Van Poppel 0-0, Powell 2-3.
Batters faced: Daal 25, Ligtenberg 9, Thomson 29, Fultz 3, Van Poppel 6, Powell 8.
Inherited runners-scored: Powell 2-1.
Umpires: HP: Rick Reed. 1B: Tim Tschida. 2B: Dan Iassogna. 3B: Alfonso Marquez.
Weather: 84 degrees, clear.
Wind: 14 mph, In from RF.
T: 2:49.
Att: 48,635.

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball and the Office of the Commissioner