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07-18-2006, 09:10 AM
3 wins in a row?!? And this one against Oakland?!!?
We're on a tear! :thumbsup: :D
Young Adam Loewen pitched last night. Apparently he was a little wild, but the offense won the game.
Orioles 5, Athletics 3
O's tame A's for wild Loewen
Lefty walks 6 in Orioles return, but Mora, Tejada have RBIs in 7th
By Jeff Zrebiec
Sun reporter
Originally published July 18, 2006
They have grown accustomed to this type of outing from one of their young starters every five days. For nearly 3 1/2 months, the Orioles sent Daniel Cabrera to the mound and watched him mix periods of dominance with frustrating wildness, until their patience finally ran out.
The Orioles demoted Cabrera to Triple-A Ottawa last week, and summoned rookie Adam Loewen to take his spot. Last night, Loewen did his best Cabrera impression, allowing one hit in five innings but walking six. However, by the end of a near three-hour game played in stifling heat, Loewen's wildness was merely a subplot.
Two-out seventh-inning singles from Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada sent the Orioles to their third straight win, a 5-3 victory over the American League West-leading Oakland Athletics before 19,652 at Camden Yards.
"It's good we came back," said Mora, whose line-drive single off A's reliever Kirk Saarloos broke a 3-3 tie. Chris Ray pitched a scoreless ninth for his 23rd save, after clutch scoreless innings by Kurt Birkins and Todd Williams.
"We should've won that game easy, but it didn't happen."
Loewen, recalled after three strong Triple-A outings, sent Orioles fans, who braved a game-time temperature of 99 degrees, on quite a roller coaster ride. In addition to his six walks, Loewen hit Nick Swisher twice and committed a balk that led to one run. The young lefty did strike out five and left with his team nursing a 3-2 lead.
"If you look at the positive things in the game, I gave up one hit, the bullpen did a great job, we hit the ball well and we won the game," Loewen said. "If you just look at the walks and nothing else, it's a bad thing. But it's a situation where there were a lot of positives that came out of this."
The Orioles (44-51) gave Loewen a 3-0 lead heading into the fourth inning, aided by a two-out throwing error by Oakland starter Jason Windsor on Miguel Tejada 's routine comebacker. Tejada, who was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, then came home on Jeff Conine 's single.
After three solid innings extended the Orioles' streak to 26 innings without yielding an earned run, their longest such streak since a 46-inning one in 1995 and 1996, Loewen started to unravel in the fourth. He walked Eric Chavez and Frank Thomas and then loaded the bases with a two-out walk to Bobby Crosby.
A free pass to Mark Ellis then brought home Oakland's first run. Loewen said that sweat on his hands kept him from gripping the ball. The 22-year-old impressed team officials with his composure in his first stint with the club this season.
But he appeared to lose it slightly in the fourth, balking in a run after failing to come to a complete stop despite second baseman Brian Roberts reminding him to do just that before the pitch.
"It wasn't frustrating for me," said Mora when asked about Loewen's rocky inning. "I was frustrated for the pitching coach and for Loewen. It's not easy now for him. But he's going to be OK.
"I was talking to Frank Thomas, and he was saying he's one of the toughest lefties he ever faced. He reminded him of Al Leiter, coming from the top."
Loewen did get out of the fourth by striking out Jason Kendall. He then pitched a scoreless fifth. Still looking for his first major league win, Loewen's ERA is 6.62 and he still hasn't gone six complete innings in six starts.
"I guess we could say he bent a lot but he didn't break," manager Sam Perlozzo said. "When he throws the ball over the plate, he's been tough to hit."
The A's tied the game at 3 with a run off Chris Britton in the sixth with Jay Payton stealing home when catcher Ramon Hernandez couldn't handle Tejada's throw. The Orioles had Milton Bradley picked off at first and Payton broke for home during the rundown.
The inning could have been much worse for the Orioles if not for Nick Markakis ' leaping catch at the wall in right field, getting the first out with two on.
"I didn't think it was going to go that far, but it stayed low enough on the wall where I could jump up and catch it," Markakis said. "It was one of the toughest catches I've had. Hopefully, it kept us in the game. That's why I am out there, to help the team win."
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun
We're on a tear! :thumbsup: :D
Young Adam Loewen pitched last night. Apparently he was a little wild, but the offense won the game.
Orioles 5, Athletics 3
O's tame A's for wild Loewen
Lefty walks 6 in Orioles return, but Mora, Tejada have RBIs in 7th
By Jeff Zrebiec
Sun reporter
Originally published July 18, 2006
They have grown accustomed to this type of outing from one of their young starters every five days. For nearly 3 1/2 months, the Orioles sent Daniel Cabrera to the mound and watched him mix periods of dominance with frustrating wildness, until their patience finally ran out.
The Orioles demoted Cabrera to Triple-A Ottawa last week, and summoned rookie Adam Loewen to take his spot. Last night, Loewen did his best Cabrera impression, allowing one hit in five innings but walking six. However, by the end of a near three-hour game played in stifling heat, Loewen's wildness was merely a subplot.
Two-out seventh-inning singles from Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada sent the Orioles to their third straight win, a 5-3 victory over the American League West-leading Oakland Athletics before 19,652 at Camden Yards.
"It's good we came back," said Mora, whose line-drive single off A's reliever Kirk Saarloos broke a 3-3 tie. Chris Ray pitched a scoreless ninth for his 23rd save, after clutch scoreless innings by Kurt Birkins and Todd Williams.
"We should've won that game easy, but it didn't happen."
Loewen, recalled after three strong Triple-A outings, sent Orioles fans, who braved a game-time temperature of 99 degrees, on quite a roller coaster ride. In addition to his six walks, Loewen hit Nick Swisher twice and committed a balk that led to one run. The young lefty did strike out five and left with his team nursing a 3-2 lead.
"If you look at the positive things in the game, I gave up one hit, the bullpen did a great job, we hit the ball well and we won the game," Loewen said. "If you just look at the walks and nothing else, it's a bad thing. But it's a situation where there were a lot of positives that came out of this."
The Orioles (44-51) gave Loewen a 3-0 lead heading into the fourth inning, aided by a two-out throwing error by Oakland starter Jason Windsor on Miguel Tejada 's routine comebacker. Tejada, who was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, then came home on Jeff Conine 's single.
After three solid innings extended the Orioles' streak to 26 innings without yielding an earned run, their longest such streak since a 46-inning one in 1995 and 1996, Loewen started to unravel in the fourth. He walked Eric Chavez and Frank Thomas and then loaded the bases with a two-out walk to Bobby Crosby.
A free pass to Mark Ellis then brought home Oakland's first run. Loewen said that sweat on his hands kept him from gripping the ball. The 22-year-old impressed team officials with his composure in his first stint with the club this season.
But he appeared to lose it slightly in the fourth, balking in a run after failing to come to a complete stop despite second baseman Brian Roberts reminding him to do just that before the pitch.
"It wasn't frustrating for me," said Mora when asked about Loewen's rocky inning. "I was frustrated for the pitching coach and for Loewen. It's not easy now for him. But he's going to be OK.
"I was talking to Frank Thomas, and he was saying he's one of the toughest lefties he ever faced. He reminded him of Al Leiter, coming from the top."
Loewen did get out of the fourth by striking out Jason Kendall. He then pitched a scoreless fifth. Still looking for his first major league win, Loewen's ERA is 6.62 and he still hasn't gone six complete innings in six starts.
"I guess we could say he bent a lot but he didn't break," manager Sam Perlozzo said. "When he throws the ball over the plate, he's been tough to hit."
The A's tied the game at 3 with a run off Chris Britton in the sixth with Jay Payton stealing home when catcher Ramon Hernandez couldn't handle Tejada's throw. The Orioles had Milton Bradley picked off at first and Payton broke for home during the rundown.
The inning could have been much worse for the Orioles if not for Nick Markakis ' leaping catch at the wall in right field, getting the first out with two on.
"I didn't think it was going to go that far, but it stayed low enough on the wall where I could jump up and catch it," Markakis said. "It was one of the toughest catches I've had. Hopefully, it kept us in the game. That's why I am out there, to help the team win."
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun