Johnson's Clutchiness Along With Luke's 3-Run Homer Downs The Red Sox, 5-4

A win is always a good thing. However, one against the World Champions and the legions of their fans invading Baltimore is even better.

I really don’t need to rehash the details of last night, but the Orioles beat the Red Sox last night, 5-4. Most of us already know what happened with the Luke Scott three-run homer and Jim Johnson’s clutch performance perhaps saved the game.

Johnson’s matchup with Ramirez was classic in the 7th inning.

The end result could have gone in favor of the Red Sox or the Orioles, but Johnson’s pounding of the strike zone and not being afraid to battle Manny paid off in the end. He helped Guthrie earn the win, and sent Baltimore Orioles fans home happy.

We’re 20-19 right now, and honestly, did any of us think we would be at this point right now? Remember, this was a team projected to lose 100 games. Granted, we still have 120+ games to go, but if this happened in 2007, this would have been a game the Orioles assuredly would have lost.

I don’t know if the Orioles will stay above .500 — the analyst in me says no; however, I like what I see on the field so far and this team is far better than the 2007 version, which on paper had vastly superior talent (on paper).

Finally, I saw a lot of orange mixed in with Boston’s red and blue in the stands. I’d say the ratio was 50-50 of Red Sox vs. Oriole fans, but after several seasons of just the total domination of the Yard by Red Sox Nation, it was great to see a lot of Baltimore fans come out and support the team.

For me, it was good to see a lot of orange in the stands again — the O’s need to do more promotions like that to just foster team spirit.

At this point, it doesn’t matter how it’s done, the organization just needs the perception that people still care.