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A’s and Orioles - April 23, 2007

If you happened to be at the game last night, or saw it on MASN, you know towards the end it was a thrill-a-minute game, and the Orioles staged a mounting comeback in which they nearly won the game.

Sadly, we were just a hit away from tying, and most likely winning the game. The team had Huston Street, one of the best closers in the game on the ropes. However, Street was able to prevail and get out of a jam last night, thus killing the Orioles' momentum.

The Baltimore Orioles lost a very competitive game to the Oakland Athletics, by a score of 6-5.

Sadly, the A’s led by Nick Swisher have halted the O’s winning streak.

Well, much was made about the conclusion of the game on the radio and in the newspapers. Seeing the action live, I was almost dumbfounded as to why Mora was bunting; however, considering Corey Patterson was at third (as we all know he’s fast) and Melvin is proficient at the bunt – it sort of made sense.

Things did not go right. Whether it is a missing a sign, or miscommunication, Melvin bunted back to the pitcher and got the second out of the 9^th inning, thus Corey did not wind up scoring.

Nick Markakis got walked intentionally, and Miguel Tejada grounded out the second baseman to end the game.

Well, the Orioles’ ace Erik Bedard started the game and was ever so good for three innings.

And, then came the fourth inning.

Erik Bedard in the 4^th inning just lost his command of his pitches, and let five runs come in that inning, including a two-run homer to Nick Swisher. Bedard also ran into trouble in the fifth inning, as the bases were loaded for another potential rally, until Scott Williamson came in and shut things down.

Brian Burress came in and pitched 2 strong, scoreless innings and that kept the Orioles in the contest, and allowed them to stage a comeback.

The starter for Oakland, Dan Haren pitched well, throwing seven innings and giving up one run, which was a solo homer to Brian Roberts.

Haren, last night showed why he is one of the best young starting pitchers in the league as he has an ERA at 1.41.

Aubrey Huff lead the comeback as he hit a three run homer off reliever Alan Embree in the 8^th, and the Yard went wild.

The Orioles were within one run as the score was 5-4 at the end of the 8^th, but reliever Danys Baez came in and gave up a homer to Nick Swisher (again), as he hit has second of the night.

Today, Jeremy Guthrie is slotted to start for the Birds this afternoon against the Athletics.

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Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has a very detailed recap of the game, and Roch Kutbako gives us an insider view of what happened in the locker room after the game with thoughts from players and manager, Sam Perlozzo.

The Baltimore Examiner and Washington Post have a recap of the game as well.

According to Roch Kubatko, Jaret Wright and Ramon Hernandez will both be in Frederick tonight, and will rehab for the Single-A affiliate of the Orioles, the Keys. In the same entry, Jeremy Guthrie will be starting tonight, and front office executives, Jim Duquette and Mike Flanagan were in Atlanta to watch some potential top draft picks.

The Frederick News Post has more on the rehab assignment for Jaret Wright and Ramon Hernandez. Stan Goldberg believes that the bullpen has been worth every penny based on the results so far…

With the return of Jay Payton (he’s slotted to be the every day left fielder), Sam Perlozzo will have to juggle playing time between Kevin Millar and Jay Gibbons.

The Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore has news on Scott Williamson (he left the game with tightness in his shoulder) and will undergo tests on Tuesday. As well, in the piece, there’s news on Aubrey Huff.

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Much has been made legendary Leo Mazzone, as he had unprecedented success with the Atlanta Braves. However, after a lackluster 2006 and rumored problems with some pitchers, a few people figured that Leo Mazzone’s success over the years was a fluke.

Keep in mind that Leo did not have much of this staff to work with because of the World Baseball Classic 2006; however, he had a full staff to work with in spring training this year, and so far it’s been successful, especially with the bullpen and the young pitching starting to break through.

John Eisenburg has an article on Leo Mazzone and how the Orioles have looked so far in 2007 under his tenure.

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The Baltimore Sun has a Q&A with Jay Payton, and they ask him what his fondest memory playing in Oakland was…

070423 OAK @ BAL condensed
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