Not a bad way to start off the season, a series win. Some timely hitting, great pitching (Save the blown Frasor save in game 1) and great overall feeling for the team with the come from behind victory yesterday.
Our boys in blue are right back at it today, as soon as the game was over yesterday they hopped on a plane to Baltimore for an afternoon(ish) start today. The Orioles drew the Rays in their opening series for the year and staved off a sweep by edging the Rays 5-4 in the series finale. The Orioles have been below us in the standings for numerous years but look poised to take a run at that coveted 4th spot in the division. The experts say that they will finish ahead of us this year so this series may prove to be a bit of a measuring stick.
The pitching match-up should be interesting. At least from the Toronto perspective. Brandon Morrow makes his first regular season start for us. Acquired in a trade from Seattle that sent much love and hated reliever Brandon League out west. Morrow was seriously hyped on the west coast in and around Seattle, but it seems that Seattle could not make up their mind about the young pitcher. When he first came into the league he ended up taking over the closer duties in Seattle after JJ Putz left a void, he then got bounced into being a starter but never quite got stretched out and between injury stints and being sent back to the bullpen just never got a groove going. This year however is set to be different. The Jays had told him to train as a starter and a starter he is. The trade at the time was not quite well received by the Seattle fans on most boards that I read, which always makes me think we got the better end of the deal. As much as I liked League I like Morrow's potential more. But we shall see, today's game is our first look at him and will go a long way in our analysis of the trade since it is the 1st impression and opinions unfortunately will be formed quickly.
Brad Bergesen goes for the Orioles. Bergesen was quite good last year in his rookie season. He went 7-5 in 19 starts with a 3.43ERA and 1.281 WHIP. He doesn't strike out a lot of batters only 4.7 over 9 but he doesn't walk a lot of guys either and maintains a 2.03 K/BB ratio. He looks like a good one although a lot of people think he overachieved last year. Brad is just one of the very good young pitchers that the Orioles will be rolling out over the next few years with Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, David Hernandez and Jake Arrieta (I'm sure I missed one....). They picked up Kevin Millwood in the off-season to help give a veteran presence to these youngsters and if you give them a couple more years this will be a downright scary good rotation.
For the opposing view check out Camden Chat.
Tune in after the jump for series information and lineups.
Current Series
3 game series vs Orioles @ Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Toronto Blue Jays Friday, Apr 9, 2010, 3:05 PM EDT Brandon Morrow vs Brad Bergesen Partly cloudy. Winds blowing in from left field at 10-20 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 60. Complete Coverage > | ||
| Sat 04/10 | 7:05 PM EDT | |
| Sun 04/11 | 1:35 PM EDT | |
Keep it civil, and Go Jays Go!
Today's title comes from the Cage the Elephant.