O's Defeat Yankees for 5th Straight Win; Flanagan

After a miserable, a shocking badly period since June, the Orioles finally had a week to remember -- on the field. They swept the Twins and opened up their series with the Yankees with an easy 12-5 win on Saturday.

With the death of Mike Flanagan on their minds, the Orioles used a six-run second inning to defeat the Bronx Bombers for their fifth straight win. Mark Reynolds hit his 30th homer – a three run shot, J.J. Hardy hit his 25th and Matt Wieters hit his 14th. Youngsters Ryan Adams and Matt Angle each had two hits.

The Orioles pounded an awful A.J. Burnett, who was the object of complete scorn by the legions of Yankee fans in attendance. He gave up nine runs – all earned – in five innings. Burnett is 9-11 on the year, and right now in New York, I am wondering if he will even last up there.

Tommy Hunter came through with a solid performance, going seven innings and giving up four runs. The Yankees made things interesting with the bats as they started to turn in on in the latter half of game; however, they were pretty much buried after the second inning.

Like I said, it’s been a good week for Baltimore. They’ve been playing some crisp baseball and it’s amazing how much better Mark Reynolds looks at first, plus the play of Ryan Adams. As well, Matt Angle – despite being a tad undersized – has filled in nicely for Adam Jones (who has missed a few games), and shows some amazing hustle, plus energy.

>>> Read More