"Orioles blank Yankees Burres, Johnson combine for six-hit shutout; Millar homers, Huff and Hernandez drive in two runs apiece"





Aubrey Huff and Luke Scott (30) celebrate after scoring on a double by Ramon Hernandez in the O's 6-0 win over the Yankees.

Overwinning

Kevin Millar (15) celebrates with Aubrey Huff (17) and Brian Roberts (1) after scoring the winning run on a single by Adam Jones against Chicago White Sox during the tenth inning. The O's beat the White Sox, 6-5

Going in the right direction

Forget .500. Why think about .500? Who said anything about .500? We don't need no stinkin' .500.
Nice little comeback at the Yard tonight, and it was full of interesting sub-plots.
How about the bench being emptied and Melvin Mora having to play shortstop, Aubrey Huff replacing him at third base and the Orioles losing their designated hitter?
As they mounted another rally in the 10th inning, the pitcher's spot was approaching. But closer George Sherrill wouldn't have batted. Manager Dave Trembley was getting Steve Trachsel and Adam Loewen ready in the indoor cage. He wanted experience in that situation, and Trachsel has done plenty of hitting in the National League. Loewen, meanwhile, would have been drafted as a hitter by some other organizations if the Orioles hadn't taken him with the fourth pick in 2002.
We never got that far. Adam Jones lined a single to left to score Kevin Millar for a thrilling 6-5 victory.
"We might be outmanned from the standpoint of position players," Trembley said, "but we certainly are not going to back down."
We shouldn't forget that nine-pitch at-bat for Luke Scott that ended with a walk, after Millar had led off with a walk of his own. Aubrey Huff almost ended the game, but his line drive to left field didn't quite carry enough.
No matter. The Orioles weren't going to be denied. They already rallied from 5-2 down in the eighth, scoring once in the bottom half after Kevin Millar struck out and reached first base on catcher A.J. Pierzynski's error. He scored on Scott's double, which gave you the feeling that something special was going to happen.
Millar should have been the final out, but not on this night.
Not for a team that had no interest in .500.

No Homerun

Aubrey Huff disputes his two-run double in the sixth, which was initially ruled a homer. Huff went 4-for-4 with a walk and four RBIs. "We're playing good baseball right now," Huff said. "This is, hands down, more fun than anytime last year, for sure."

5 en 1

Inmiddels zijn de O's 5 en 1, opnieuw de aanvoerder van de ALE. Eigenlijk speelt iedereen een beetje boven een kunnen. Neem Luke Scott en zijn onwaarschijnlijke BA van .500. George Sherrill die bij Seattle de setup man was maar hier de closer geworden is en voorlopig 4 uit 4 is.

Dennis Sarfate, overgekomen tesamen met de eerder genoemde Luke Scott in de Tejada trade heeft nog steeds een 0.00 ERA. Starting pitching blijft shakie, bullpen is great en in de offence wordt Aubrey Huff weer in de armen van de fans gesloten als hij zo blijft slaan.

Vandaag gaan ze aan hun eerste road trip beginnen die langs Texas en Tampa voert. Het zal mij benieuwen hoe dat afloopt.