My shining moment came in game two. A line drive hit off the glove of our third baseman and into shallow left field. Our third baseman hustled into shallow left to retrieve it and I went to cover third base. He overthrew me and the ball went to our catcher. The runner broke for third and our catcher threw back to third and I slapped a JJ Hardy like tag on the runner to record the out. In my opinion he may have been safe but the quick slap tag influenced the call. The other team was fuming and complaining about the call. Kudos to our umpire Tony, he made the call, stuck by it and didn’t take any crap from anyone. I wish all the umpires we had took control of a game like that.
We once again were in a close battle as darkness descended on the field. We were nursing a 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth when our second baseman, Bryan Hindle, couldn’t handle a line drive hit right at him. That opened the door for them to tie it up and send it to the seventh inning tied at six. Once again our bats came alive and we put up a seven spot in the seventh. I was able to lock down the final three outs and we recorded our first double header sweep since the first week of the season.
The only thing better than coming home with two victories in hand was getting home and watching the Orioles bounce back tonight to get the 4-1 victory over the Red Sox. Brian Matusz was great tonight pitching 7 1/3 innings of two hit ball. The bullpen was better. Darren O’Day has really fit well into that seventh inning role as a set-up man and Pedro Strop and Jim Johnson were lights out as usual. Wilson Betemit hit another clutch home run in the eighth to give the pen some breathing room. I don’t care what his average is he has been the Orioles best clutch hitter in the late innings. Matusz’s curve ball was close to unhittable tonight. If he can command his fastball and bring anything near that quality of a curve ball to the mound on most nights he can definitely be a factor for the birds. Please tune into the show tomorrow. We will be joined by Mike Utley. Utley is the former Detroit Lions Offensive Lineman who was paralyzed on the field. Some of the things he has done in his recovery have been absolutely incredible. I Can’t wait for him to share his story with all of our fans tomorrow. Remember if I can do it you can do it too.
Until next time…
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