The Weekend That Was; Jay Gibbons

The Orioles continued their winning stretch since Buck Showalter was named manager as they won again, 4-3 over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

Although they suffered a close loss to the White Sox, 3-2 on Saturday, they bounced back nicely thanks to an ace-like effort from Jeremy Guthrie, who went eight innings and gave up only a run. His record is now 6-11, but he’s gone 3-1 with a 1.78 ERA in his last five games.

They beat an always tough Mark Buehrle, who gave up four runs in seven innings and took the loss.

Baltimore got a home run from Felix Pie in the first and took the lead for good thanks to back-to-back RBI-doubles from Nick Markakis and Ty Wigginton in the sixth inning. Up 3-1, Brian Roberts added a vital insurance run with an RBI-single.

Alfredo Simon got his 17th save of the season, but it didn’t come without some drama. He gave up a long two-run homer to Ramon Castro in the ninth inning, but was able to retire Juan Pierre for the final out of the game.

Speaking of Pierre, is there an issue between him and Guthrie – or was it the matter of the pitcher trying to take the inner half of the plate and the hitter being way too close?

At the end of the day, what can you say about the Orioles?

They are 5-1 since Showalter has taken the helm of the squad and there seems to some semblance of hope when it comes to improvement – granted, the team’s record is still awful.

I don’t know if the Orioles’ improved play is based on some influence from Showalter or just luck; however, it’s been the matter of timely hitting, pitching and making fewer mistakes.

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