O's Shut Out Fish!

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Woohoo! Eric Bedard pitches a fine game!That would be 8 shut-out innings for Eric B!!

:cheer: :jump: :cheer:

Bedard, O's shut down Marlins
By Spencer Fordin / MLB.com

BALTIMORE -- Pick a superlative. Chances are, Erik Bedard earned it on Wednesday night, when he pitched the best game of his career against the Marlins.

Baltimore's starter allowed just two hits -- both for singles -- and threw eight shutout innings in a 4-0 win for the Orioles. The southpaw tied his career high with 12 strikeouts and gave up just three flyball outs.

Bedard (7-6) was in control from the first inning and retired Florida's first 10 batters without a hitch. Second baseman Alfredo Amezage broke up the no-hit bid with a single in the fourth inning, and Bedard went on to notch another 11 consecutive outs. The 27-year-old allowed another single and also hit a batter in the eighth, but responded by striking out the side.

Baltimore (33-40) didn't get a lot of offense, but it got enough to support Bedard's effort. Third baseman Melvin Mora doubled and scored on a two-out single in the fourth inning, and the Orioles didn't score again until the seventh. Designated hitter Javy Lopez drilled a solo homer in that rally, and leadoff man Brian Roberts hit a two-out single to score another run.

Florida (30-38) lost to break a nine-game winning streak, and rookie starter Ricky Nolasco allowed all of Baltimore's offense. Three of the four runs were earned, with the lone exception coming in the home team's three-run seventh inning. Nolasco (5-4) gave up a single to Corey Patterson, who scored from first base on a single and an error in center field.

Spencer Fordin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Wow! This sounds like Eric-B had a spectacular game!!! Good for him!! :hail: :thumbsup:

Orioles 4, Marlins 0
Bedard gets Marlins to finally flounder
By Jeff Zrebiec
Sun Reporter
Originally published June 22, 2006

The eighth-inning sequence symbolized the most dominating night of Erik Bedard 's career. After retiring 11 straight Florida Marlins, the Orioles pitcher allowed an infield single and then hit Jeremy Hermida with a 3-0 pitch. For the first time all game against Bedard, the Marlins had a runner in scoring position.

Bedard responded by striking out Miguel Olivo, who flailed at a curveball. Then, it was Chris Aguila's turn to swing through another curveball. Finally, with a good portion of the crowd of 16,135 standing, Bedard fanned Reggie Abercrombie on an outside fastball, his catcher Ramon Hernandez pumping his fist on the way to the dugout.

His last pitch, like his first about two hours earlier, registered 95 mph on the stadium radar gun. In between, Bedard was spectacular, tying a career high with 12 strikeouts and holding the Marlins to just two hits in a 4-0 Orioles victory last night at Camden Yards. The left-hander faced just three over the minimum through eight innings, before giving way to Chris Ray , who pitched a one-hit ninth to end the Marlins' nine-game winning streak.

"It was fun," said Bedard, who won his second straight start and improved to 7-6. "I got my fastball, curveball, changeup for strikes pretty much whenever I wanted. It's easy when you put all those for strikes."

Bedard has frustrated team officials with his deliberate style, his tendency to nibble around the strike zone and rely on his fastball. Last night, he threw 105 pitches, 75 for strikes.

He turned to his curveball in the eighth inning when his fastball couldn't find the strike zone. He remained confident in his new changeup, a pitch that he has never trusted, but is now relying on with pitching coach Leo Mazzone's urging, and a new grip taught to him by Kris Benson . His 12 strikeouts were the most for an Oriole all season.

"It was pretty special watching him out there," said Orioles first baseman Kevin Millar . "The [Marlins] first base coach [Perry Hill] looked at me and said, 'How is this guy 6-6?' Phenomenal stuff, dominating stuff."

A testament to how overpowering he was, Bedard struck out Miguel Cabrera, one of the best hitters in the National League, three times. He retired the first 21 of 22 batters he faced, giving up only a fourth-inning single to Alfredo Amezaga and an eighth-inning infield hit to Wes Helms. He didn't walk a batter and allowed only three Marlins to hit the ball out of the infield.

"I've always loved Bedard," said Florida manager Joe Girardi, familiar with the Orioles pitcher from his days with the New York Yankees. "He's got great stuff, and his performance tonight was as good as we've seen. This was as good as it gets."

Tempers flared with the Orioles holding a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth. A day after being hit in the left knee by a Dontrelle Willis fastball, Melvin Mora was drilled in the ribs by Ricky Nolasco's 0-2 pitch, the American League-leading 12th time he has been hit this season.

Mora glared at Nolasco, who reminded the third baseman that he was hit with an 0-2 pitch. Mora yelled something back and walked toward the mound before first base coach Rick Dempsey grabbed Mora. Several players from both sides left the benches.

"He was just staring looking at me, and I was like 'What are you looking at?' And he said, 'Two strikes, two strikes, no balls,'" said Mora. "And I say, 'So. I mean what are you trying to tell me? That you hit me because you were trying to come in?'"

Said Nolasco: "He wasn't very happy, but [come on], it's a 1-0 game, 0-2 count."

Nolasco pitched well, until the seventh when he allowed a leadoff homer to Javy Lopez and two other runs. He just couldn't match Bedard, but on this night, who could have?

"He was outstanding," said Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo, who also got three hits and one RBI from both Brian Roberts and Corey Patterson . "I don't think you can say enough good things about him."

Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun