The O's Comeback Again: Defeat Houston 2-1 in 10 Innings

For the second night in a row, the Orioles once again had another come-from-behind victory as they beat Houston, 2-1, in the ten innings. Kevin Millar poked a base hit up the middle off of Houston closer Jose Valverde in the 10th inning to drive in Adam Jones and send the crowed at Oriole Park at Camden Yards rocking home.

The Orioles were buoyed by Luke Scott's homer in the seventh inning that tied the game, and once again, the bullpen kept the game close when Chad Bradford pitched two scoreless innings for the win.

Once again, Jeremy Guthrie pitched his heart out -- however, once again, the de-facto ace of the staff earned the no decision. His only mistake was giving up a solo homer -- a bomb -- to one of the best hitters in the NL, Lance Berkman in the top of the seventh inning.

Guthrie's final line: 8 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 8 K.

Perhaps if he was on any other team, he might have easily earned the 'W', but with the Orioles, the lack of run support for Guthrie seems to be standard operating procedure. Guthrie has a sub four ERA, and with that alone, he should have at least a .500 record, if not above it -- alas, the Orioles don't score runs for him which has now become some crazy epidemic.

Once again, Oriole Magic came alive as Baltimore was able to pull out the win, and make things exciting for fans; however, all these comebacks may set a dangerous precedent.

Is the bullpen going to always deal with added pressure to keep the game close when the the Orioles are always seemingly behind? Are the hitters going to start pressing? And finally, what happens when the luck runs out? (Disagree with me, but the law of averages may start to catch up with the Orioles).

Well, the starting pitching needs to go deeper, and the Orioles have to be a lot more effective when they have men in scoring position.

It sounds simple enough, but it's always easier said than done.

The comebacks may be great for us fans, as we are getting no doubt our money's worth; however, I think they can only keep this up for so long.

O's Nearly Stage Another Comeback Against the Bucs...

If you weren't at the Yard yesterday -- much less this weekend -- you've missed some incredible baseball by out 2008 Orioles. Well, Sunday was nothing short of incredible, as the Baltimore Orioles nearly came back in an inexplicable fashion, but the Pirates knocked us out the 10th inning. In the end, Baltimore dropped the third game of the interleague series to Pittsburgh, 5-4.

For third consecutive game, Oriole Magic came alive again as Brian Roberts jacked a two-run opposite field home run off Matt Capps in the bottom of the ninth inning with two out. The usually reliable George Sherill came into the game in the tenth inning, but a RBI single by Adam LaRoche’s in the tenth drove in the winning run.

It was later revealed via Roch's blog that Sherill now has a case of "tired arm".

Despite the loss, the Orioles engineered yet an incredible comeback that no one could have foreseen; however, this season, anything is now possible.

However, in light of yesterday's near euphoria, there's one troubling thing that most fans noticed -- could Daniel Cabrera be regressing after perhaps having a breakthrough? After looking like a completely different pitcher in April and May, June has been a return to the Daniel of old -- inconsistent, lacking confidence and command.

A while back, it was discussed on the blog what would happen if Daniel lost a game and would he be able to come back and be effective? That question is now up in the air. Like I said before the season began, Daniel Cabrera may be the one ingredient that may help the Orioles in 2008 or break them. His poor starts have been somewhat overlooked by Baltimore's unexpected performance, but his last three starts have been troubling and his ERA has nearly climbed up a run since then.

Every good pitcher has a poor start every once a while, but most don't have three in a row.

I'll ask again nearly a month later -- do you think Daniel Cabrera could ever be a consistent pitcher at this level, or will we have to get used to his Jeckyll and Hyde performances?

Oriole Magic Happens Again? Trembley Your Manager of The Year?

Seriously, is this team charmed, lucky or just that damn good? The Orioles once again staged one of their amazing comebacks -- their 19th! -- as they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the bottom of the ninth, 8-7.

After coming back from behind twice, it looked the Orioles had their backs against the wall as Adam LaRoche hit a 2-run homer to put the Pirates up 7-6.

Well, in the spirit of the 2008 Orioles, the game is never over until the final out. Against Pittsburgh closer Matt Capps, Oscar Salazar led off the bottom of the ninth with the tying homer and three batters later, Ramon Hernandez singled in the winning run with two outs, as the Baltimore Orioles garnered another improbable victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Baltimore is now 34-33, and seemingly have all the confidence in the world. In a year in which gloom and doom was expected, the Orioles are competing in the AL East -- something no one would have imagined in March.

Thus, it brings to mind one question -- should Dave Trembley -- 67 games into the season be given AL Manager of the Year consideration? Well, seeing what I have, if the Orioles continue their nice little run, he should! In today's Baltimore Sun, Rick Mease asks that question and it causes you to wonder how much of a difference has Trembley made (could you imagine this happening to Sam Perlozzo?)