Smart Baseball From The Orioles?

So with the first half of the gut check complete, the Orioles actually have reason to smile. Two out of three is always nice, especially when the opposing pitchers were Pettite, Clemens, and Wang. Jeremy Guthrie had an outing that we're starting to get used to--gutsy, determined, and string enough to win. Guthrie has now won three in a row. That said, he may have been outdone by Brian Burres, who just shut the Yankees down, which was a tall tasks given he hadn't pitched in a week-and-a-half. Take away the start against the White Sox and you really wonder why we're skipping this guy instead of Trachsel or even D-Cab. Speaking of Cabrera, he had another one of those starts again. He is consistently inconsistent. This time, he reverted to the "dig a hole and then help trying to crawl out". The potential is still insane, but at some point, this is getting a little too much to handle. Still, it's hard to dampen the success of taking two of three against the Yankees, who came in playing hot baseball and bringing half of New York down I-95 to see A-Rod's 500th HR. With the Cal Ripken induction on Sunday, there was undoubtedly criss-crossing traffic with those from Maryland heading up to New York while the New Yorkers headed down to Baltimore. While Oriole fans making the trip up were rewarded with a day to remember (I was one of those fans and I will write about it in a future post), those Yankee fans making the 200 mile trip went home with one win and zero HRs from Mr. Rodriguez. There's a balance sheet I can appreciate.

The Orioles have gotten kudos for their second half success. Of course, they have their doubters. For example, on Baseball Tonight Thursday, Eduardo Perez remarked that the Orioles weren't playing the Devil Rays and that's why they were playing better--as if they would be exposed by the Yankees. Well, count Joe Torre as one of the believers as he openly commended the newfound Orioles confidence. I don't think any play embodied it more than Corey Patterson's stolen base on Saturday. In a nutshell, the infield moved in, Corey took a lead, glanced at second. Saw Cano and Jeter creek in a little, noticed thehy wre a little too far in to be able to get back and just ran for it. The Yankees stood there stunned as they lost the chance for the double-play. Smart, aggressive baseball against a team that has done it to them constantly for the last ten years. That's a play that you see Derek Jeter make with us. And this coming from a guy (Patterson) who has taken a lot of heat for non-chalant outfield play. Who knows if this continues throughout the rest of the season or it's just the short-term effects of change and will go away as they settle back into their lethargic selves. This much I now--the Orioles are clearly within striking distance of playing 500 ball this season and that would clearly be a huge step for this team given the amount of youth that is bound to grow. We may see them overmatched by the Red Sox, but then again, maybe not. The gut check goes on...