O's keep cruising along, reach 81-win mark

I don't know exactly what to say about this awesome, improbable Orioles season, but man, is it a lot of fun. Yesterday, the O's won yet another one-run game, this time in 14 innings. And, oh by the way, they've also now won 13 consecutive extra-inning games, which is just ridiculous. To top it all off, Manny Machado's walk-off single gave the O's 81 wins, meaning that with 19 games left, they're going to finish above .500 for the first time since 1997.

This isn't supposed to be happening. Not only did the O's not look all that talented heading into this season, but they're far from fielding their best possible lineup. With Nick Markakis lost at least for the rest of the regular season, Nate McLouth is batting leadoff -- and getting the job done. But even before that, he was batting third, and he wasn't doing a terrible job. Lew Ford may be the team's best right-handed bat off the bench. Machado, only 20 years old, is playing a phenomenal third base after basically not playing the position in the minor leagues, and while not getting on base a ton, he's demonstrated some power and has come up with some timely hits. Pedro Strop and Darren O'Day have transformed into lethal late-game relievers. Brian Matusz seems more comfortable in the bullpen and is actually getting hitters out, routinely. And all Taylor Teagarden does is get hits in important situations. I could keep going, but all that matters is this: The O's are getting great performances at just the right time from so many different, random names, and they're doing this without a handful of their best players.

Against all odds, the wins keep coming. About a month ago, I looked at the O's remaining 44 games and how difficult it would be for them to stay in the playoff race. Here's what they've done since:

2-1 at Detroit
1-2 at Texas
2-0 vs. Toronto (one game rained out)
3-1 vs. White Sox
2-1 at New York
2-1 at Toronto
2-2 vs. New York
3-0 vs. Tampa Bay

That's a 17-8 record, which is absurd.

At 81-62, the O's are currently tied with the Yankees for first place in the AL East, one game behind the A's for the top wild card spot, and 3.5 games up on the Angels in the second wild card spot. After a playoff berth looked incredibly implausible a month ago, the O's now, according to ESPN's playoff odds (provided by coolstandings.com), have a 72 percent chance of making the postseason. The O's huge three-game sweep against the Rays reduced Tampa Bay's playoff chances to about 27 percent, but again, there's still about three weeks left to go, so anything is still possible. And it's not like the O's haven't been defying odds all season long, so it'd be foolish to close the book on other teams until they're officially eliminated.

After a nine-game road trip in Oakland, Seattle, and Boston, the O's have a seven-game homestand (four against the Blue Jays and three against the Red Sox) before three final games in Tampa Bay. Depending on how both teams fare between now and then, that could be an enormous series. But, for now, the O's still have a lot of work to do, and they're guaranteed of nothing. But, considering they were all but guaranteed to finish last in the AL East, finishing over .500 is fantastic.

But this is no time for settling for simply a winning record, as weird as that is to say. This is Birdland, where meaningful September games are played, apparently.

Playing without Markakis (again) will not be easy

Heading down the stretch, the Orioles could not afford to lose one of their best players. Nick Markakis is certainly one of those names. And now, for the second time this season, the O's will need to battle on without Markakis, who broke his left thumb courtesy of an errant fastball from CC Sabathia last night in a 5-4 win over the Yankees and is out for the rest of the regular season.

Markakis had already missed a portion of the season -- part of May, all of June, and some of July -- with a broken hamate bone in his right wrist. But when he returned, Buck Showalter decided to bat Markakis leadoff. And that decision has proved to be extremely wise: After returning, Markakis batted .335/.390/.489 in 54 games. For an O's lineup with the fourth-worst on-base percentage in the American League and that has been in the middle of the pack at scoring runs, losing Markakis really hurts. And let's not forget to mention the toughness of Markakis, who arguably returned a little too early from his right wrist injury but has still been raking ever since.

What should the O's do? There aren't many options. Nate McLouth could shift from left to right field, meaning a platoon of Lew Ford (against lefties) and Xavier Avery (against righties) could occupy left field. Chris Davis, Ryan Flaherty, Steve Tolleson, and Wilson Betemit have also played at least some outfield for the O's this season, though they're not really outfielders. But don't be surprised if one or more of them receive occasional playing time.

Unless the O's get extremely lucky and guys like Ford, Avery, and Davis, etc. play out of their minds for the next few weeks, replicating Markakis's bat will be nearly impossible. But they should be able to improve the outfield defense with Markakis out, especially with a McLouth/Jones/Avery outfield. Yes, Markakis won a Gold Glove in 2011, but a lot of that defensive value came from his arm (he had 14 assists). He's only had three assists in 2012, and he also hasn't looked as spry out there as he's looked in the past. McLouth, who's played a pretty good left field for the O's, has more speed and a decent arm, so he should be able to play a more than adequate right field.

I'm also interested to see who will bat first. Showalter typically alternates right- and left-handed batters in the lineup, but he may not have that luxury without Markakis, unless he simply plugs in Avery, which isn't all that likely. Avery, 22, had some bright spots in 25 games earlier this season, hitting .233/.317/.356, but pitchers seemed to figure him out the longer he played.

But maybe Avery will catch fire, or maybe someone else will. Unbelievably, the O's have a 78-61 record on September 9 and are tied with the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Their chances of making the playoffs without Markakis aren't promising, but, really, they've never looked good anyway. This team was never supposed to make it this far. And I'm not going to be the one to say they can't still somehow make it to the postseason. It won't be easy, but when was it supposed to be that way, especially for the O's?

Worried about the Orioles in the second half

I didn't expect the Orioles to win many games this season. In fact, I thought they were going to lose at least 100 and be one of the worst overall teams. Instead, the O's have gotten some very strong first-half performances, and they've put together a 45-40 record at the all-star break.

Unfortunately, a division like the AL East in unrelenting, meaning there are still plenty of games left against the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, and Blue Jays, who all have records of at least .500 or better. Also, with a -36 run differential -- the third-worst mark in the American League -- the O's have more wins than they probably should have, meaning they've been lucky. There's no guarantee that luck continues in their 77 remaining games.

Though his numbers have come down somewhat over the last few weeks, Adam Jones is hitting .289/.330/.534, which would be the best offensive season of his career if he continues to hit for that much power. The O's also locked Jones up with a long-term deal of six years, $85.5 million, which means he'll be in Baltimore through 2018 unless he's traded. Some were worried about owner Peter Angelos's recent unwillingness to spend money, but Jones's contract is the largest contract handed out in O's history. The deal was mostly lauded by fans and baseball analysts alike.

Besides Jones, Matt Wieters is having a nice year, hitting .247/.327/.431 and offering his typically strong defense behind the plate. Many expect better offensive numbers from Wieters, though it's fair to point to his .267 BABIP and note that he's been somewhat unlucky and may be due for a few more hits to drop in.

After Jones and Wieters, though, there isn't much to get excited about. J.J. Hardy is playing solid defense at shortstop, but he's struggling mightily at the plate, posting an on-base percentage of .262. I'm not sure that's being discussed enough. And he's doing that while hitting second in the lineup, which is far from ideal. Even more so than Wieters, Hardy has been unlucky (.233 BABIP), but the O's are going to need much more production from him if they're going to continue to win games. Nick Markakis was recently activated from the disabled list, and he should help the lineup. Still, he was hitting .256/.333/.452 in the first half, which is decent but certainly not great. And obviously the team's other regular hitters -- Wilson Betemit, Chris Davis, Mark Reynolds, Jim Thome, Robert Andino, etc. -- don't strike that much fear into opposing pitchers. It also doesn't help that Nolan Reimold's lost for the season, and Brian Roberts might be as well.

Maybe that's why Dan Duquette has said that the O's need "to address the on-base percentage at the top of [the] lineup." There's no question that he's right. But it's important to note that Duquette is also exploring the possibility of dealing for another starting pitcher and has already traded two lower-level prospects for Thome. Since the O's most likely are not as good as their record indicates, trading any decent-to-great prospects away to win right now might not be a very good idea. Obviously no O's fans want to see the team trade Dylan Bundy or Manny Machado away, though the odds of that happening are slim to none. But would it even make sense to trade someone like Jake Arrieta or Xavier Avery for a rental starter or outfielder? I guess that simply depends on who that player would be, how he performs in Baltimore, and whether the O's keep winning games. Duquette is in a difficult position, particularly since the O's haven't finished with a winning record since 1997. They haven't even won more than 70 games since 2005. And if the O's do somehow finish with a winning record, it'll be a minor miracle since most people figured they'd be absolutely horrible.

And, as noted above, since the hitting isn't likely to improve all that much, it's going to come down to pitching -- something to also be concerned about. According to FanGraphs' wins above replacement numbers, the three best pitchers for the O's have been Jason Hammel (2.6), Jake Arrieta (1.6), and Wei-Yin Chen (1.1). Arrieta's inclusion is surprising, but his peripheral stats suggest he's been better than his 6.13 ERA indicates. (For more on Arrieta and not giving up on him yet, see this FanGraphs article from yesterday.) But besides Hammel and Chen, there isn't much to get excited about -- and there's also no guarantee that Hammel and Chen continue to pitch this well. Can a collection of starters, including Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz, Miguel Gonzalez, Dana Eveland, Tommy Hunter, and maybe Zach Britton or someone else, pitch well enough to get the job done? The depth of that list seems deeper than in seasons past, but if they aren't effective, it doesn't matter that much.

The bullpen also seems like it's due to regress a little bit, even with its AL-leading ERA of 2.75. Pedro Strop, Darren O'Day, Troy Patton, Jim Johnson, and Luis Ayala have all been very good. Collectively, they don't walk many batters (2.78 BB/9), but they don't strike out a ton either (7.2 K/9). They also have the third-highest left-on base percentage (80.3%) in the majors. Still, they get a ton of ground balls (49%) and don't give up many home runs (0.87 HR/9), which are both very good things. So even if the bullpen isn't quite as good, it should still be the best part of the team in the second half.

Team fWAR ranks:

Batting: 5.7 (last)
Starters: 5.8 (21st)
Relievers: 2.6 (9th)
All pitching: 8.4 (17th)
Fielding: -13.1 UZR (24th)

So, yeah, not overly positive numbers. Some O's fans are optimistic -- and good, I'm glad they are, because I like that. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about how this team will finish the season. They have a few key weaknesses, and a couple of mid-season trades won't rectify that.

Markakis had surgery on Thursday, hopes to be ready for Opening Day

So Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun dropped this bit of news a few minutes ago:

#Orioles RF Nick Markakis underwent significant abdomen surgery on Thursday in Philly to repair a torn rectus abdominus muscle
— Dan Connolly (@danconnollysun) January 6, 2012

Connolly also said that "Markakis is hopeful he will be able to be ready by Opening Day but will have a significantly lighter load in [spring training]." The injury/surgery news is surprising, but maybe not overly so. Markakis, who sustained the abdomen injury in September, had still not completely recovered in November and has not been able to work out.

Hopefully Markakis is ready for the start of the season. Still, it's something to file away as April approaches.

There's always hope

Last night, one of my followers on Twitter brought up a great point on the topic of trading Nick Markakis:

@KremsSports if the Angels took Vernon Wells' salary, you gotta figure someone would pay Markakis'.Thu Jul 21 03:47:47 via Twitter for iPadEd Schultheis
EdSchultheis

Not only did the Angels deal for Vernon Wells and the $86 million left on his contract, but they also gave away Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera. All right, so that's the best possible hope for a trade involving Markakis: getting another team to take his contract AND getting a couple of players in return. But Markakis also has much less money remaining on his deal ($44 million, including a $2 million buyout on his $17.5 million 2015 club option), is five years younger, and is probably better than Wells.

Like I said before, it won't be easy, but there's a chance. Maybe the Angels are interested.

Salary information, as always, via Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Time to trade Markakis

I don't know exactly how it would get done, but now is the time for the Orioles to do whatever it takes to trade Nick Markakis. He is scheduled to make $12 million in 2012, $15 million in 2013, and $15 million in 2014; he's a good player, but he's not that good.

Even though Markakis is one of the best players on the team, the O's should be looking to unload his contract on another team, while also possibly hoodwinking that team into throwing in a useful prospect or two. It won't be easy, but it's worth a shot. And at the end of the day, even just getting rid of his contract would probably be considered a minor victory, since that money would be better off spent on future pieces that could help the team in the next several seasons.

One of the best reasons to deal Markakis now? He's on fire. Just look at his monthly splits:

Mar/Apr: .204/.275/.286, .259 wOBA
May: .287/.352/.357, .318 wOBA
June: .351/.371/.459, .365 wOBA
July: .338/.386/.523, .406 wOBA

So that's impressive. It would be difficult for him to take yet another step forward in August, but it's fun to watch him hit right now. Still, even with his surge at the plate, his numbers are still similar to his disappointing 2009 and 2010 seasons.

One of the oddest things about Markakis's 2011 season is the lack of walks. He has drawn a walk only 6.1 percent of the time this season; he has a career 9.4 BB%. Despite his fantastic numbers the last several weeks, Markakis walked only four times in June and has just four walks so far in July. He does have more than a week and a half to draw more walks this month, but that just doesn't seem like many for Markakis, who has a very good eye at the plate.

He's cut down on his strikeouts: 9.2 K% this season; 13.9 K% in his career. So he's walking less and striking out less as well, meaning he's making a ton of contact. That's not really a great thing for someone whose slugging percentages have been dropping each season since 2008.

So why would another team be so eager to deal for Markakis? Good question. The biggest hurdle is his contract; no small-market team would be willing to bring his contract aboard, which certainly limits the O's trading partners. But he's still a 2.5-3.0 WAR player at this point, and there's certainly value in that. He also plays every day and has never spent much time on the disabled list, so injuries aren't much of a concern (unlike, say, the recent J.J. Hardy signing).

To be honest, it's hard to get too excited about Markakis. At 27 (turns 28 in November), he seems to be playing like he will for the next several seasons: pretty good on-base percentage, limited power, solid contact hitter who uses the entire field, average right fielder, great arm, and slightly above average speed. He's not someone other teams should target if they're thinking of getting a guy who's going to transform an entire offense. He's not that kind of player. But he is a steady force who would seem more imposing on a team with more talented hitters already on it. That doesn't mean he'd hit better there -- after all, lineup protection has more or less been proven to be nonexistent -- but there would be lower expectations on him if he's batting sixth instead of second or third.

Maybe only a handful of teams would be looking to pick up a guy like that -- maybe less. And even if they did, they would resist giving up anything in return. Regardless, the O's should be seeking out those teams and trying to work something out. Then again, if a potential Markakis trade ends up with Buck Showalter playing Felix Pie in right field on a daily basis, I'd reconsider the whole thing. Maybe.

The O's still aren't developing younger players

The Orioles lost again last night, but that's not surprising considering how they've been playing lately. The loss included bad starting pitching, terrible relief pitching, and mediocre hitting -- all things that the O's excel at right now. (For what it's worth, Matt Wieters did steal a base [the first of his career], which is something that should never happen.)

It's hard to watch the O's at the moment for obvious reasons; it's never fun to tune in to watch your team lose night in and night out. But something that's even more troubling is an issue that has been plaguing the O's for more than a decade: They still aren't developing their young talent.

Let's take a look at O's players 27 years old and younger and how they're doing. Sure, 27 seems like an arbitrary number and isn't necessarily "young," but it's my list. Here they are, with hitters listed first, then pitchers.

Adam Jones: .283/.326/.457. Jones, who turns 26 on August 1, was having a very good season a few weeks ago before he started to slump a bit and his numbers took a tumble. Still, his numbers are still up slightly and he's on pace to have his best season in Baltimore. It's somewhat concerning that FanGraphs doesn't rate his defense very highly, and the same is true this season. I've wondered why Jones seems to make several fantastic, flashy plays but tends to have a few defensive lapses here and there and not always make the routine plays. I still think he's a pretty good center fielder, but he just may not be an elite one. The same can be said of his skills at the plate; he's not necessarily going to be an elite hitter, but he can be a productive hitter who isn't batting at the top of the lineup. Jones hasn't developed (yet) into a star, per se, but he's still one of the best young players the O's have.

Matt Wieters: .269/.319/.413. The 25-year-old Wieters, the lone O's All-Star this season, still seems to make many people angry because he's not hitting like Joe Mauer. Because of his pre-O's hype, many expected him to completely alter the entire franchise with his amazing abilities. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened, but he's still an intriguing piece. Thanks to his .288/.340/.412 batting line in 385 plate appearances in his rookie year (2009), Wieters probably set the bar a little too high, too early. He hasn't been able to hit for that average or get on base that often since then, but he is hitting for as much power this season and has shown signs that he may be able to hit for even more. It is surprising that with his eye at the plate he doesn't walk more (6.7 BB% this season) -- though he did walk three times last night. While he still has work to do at the plate, Wieters has developed into one of the best defensive catchers in all of baseball. He's caught 24 of 54 runners (44.4 percent stolen base percentage), far and away the best among all qualified MLB catchers. (The next closest is Alex Avila, at 36.9 percent.) FanGraphs rates his defense the highest among all catchers as well, which is also a top reason why he's leading the O's with a WAR of 2.3.

Nick Markakis: .293/.339/.385. Markakis, 27, has been on fire over the last few weeks and has turned his season around. He's still not walking a ton or hitting for a whole lot of power, but he's been much better lately. Check out my recent post on Markakis for more analysis.

Nolan Reimold: .271/.362/.492. Reimold turns 28 in October, and the O's still have no idea if he's an everyday player or not. Buck Showalter obviously doesn't think too highly of him or else he wouldn't be mostly benching Reimold when a lefty isn't on the mound or pinch-hitting Felix Pie for him. I've written about Reimold plenty lately, so I don't have much more to say. But I will add this: I don't have much faith in the O's playing well in the second half of the season, but I do hope they give Reimold, and maybe some other younger players in Triple-A, some playing time that's being wasted on guys like Vladimir Guerrero and Derrek Lee.

Mark Reynolds: .230/.350/.504. Like Markakis, Reynolds, who turns 28 in August, has turned it on lately and has been hitting the cover off the ball. Unlike Markakis, many of those hits have been home runs. I'm not sure if he's quite this good or not, but he's hitting for a lot of power and is getting on base. He also walks much more than anyone on the team, another valuable skill. Under Reynolds's current contract, he's due to make $7.5 million next season and has a club option for $11 million (with a $0.5 million buyout). Compared with someone like J.J. Hardy, who will likely be looking to cash in as a free agent, Reynolds is still under team control for at least one more season. There's value in that, especially if the O's want to deal him before the trade deadline. Unfortunately, Reynolds has been an absolutely terrible defender at third base this year, and he'll probably need to be moved to either 1B or DH. If the O's had a better option at third, it's possible that Reynolds would have already been moved across the infield to play first. But they don't, and that may play a part in the O's holding onto Reynolds instead of dealing him.

Felix Pie: .231/.244/.282. Pie, 26, probably isn't anything better than a fourth outfielder (if that). Sure, he doesn't receive consistent playing time, but he's never really showed the ability to hit or get on base. He has some value as a defensive replacement and a runner, but that's about it. Sorry, Felix.

Zach Britton: 3.47 ERA, 3.82 xFIP. At 23, Britton has taken over the role as the most promising pitcher on the O's roster. Britton has already thrown over 100 innings, so it's probable that the O's will limit the rookie's workload in the second half of the season. With the way the other young starters have pitched, Britton and Jeremy Guthrie are basically carrying the load right now. Britton (1.7) is second in WAR among all rookie pitchers behind Michael Pineda of the Mariners (2.5). Not bad at all.

Brian Matusz: 8.77 ERA, 5.06 xFIP. Matusz (24) is supposed to be in the O's rotation right now, providing another reliable starting option. Instead, he's back in Triple-A Norfolk after a frustrating, awful return from the disabled list. Much has been written about Matusz's reduced velocity, and it's possible that he's still hurt. But if he never recovers that velocity, he'll have to learn to pitch a new way. It won't be easy, but Matusz still has the secondary stuff to be an effective starter even without that low-90s fastball.

Jake Arrieta: 4.90 ERA, 4.33 xFIP. Like Matusz, the 25-year-old Arrieta has disappointed (though not as much). The frustrating thing about Arrieta is that he has the stuff to be effective, but he can't seem to find the strike zone consistently. He's walking 4.44 batters per nine, which is way too many. He walked four again last night in an ineffective outing against the Red Sox. And there's also a concern that Arrieta may have some kind of elbow injury. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this soon.

Chris Tillman: 4.69 ERA, 4.86 xFIP. There's not a whole lot to say about Tillman (23) right now. Tillman received 10 starts at the beginning of the season, and he pitched OK at times. His big issue, though, was his inability to stock around past the fifth inning, because he tends to throw lots of pitches each inning. When he was demoted, instead of returning to Norfolk and dominating Triple-A hitters in an effort to get back to Baltimore, he's still struggling, walking too many batters and not striking out enough either. I'll be surprised if he doesn't return to the O's at some point later in the season, but he has plenty left to prove. It's also worth mentioning that he's about four months younger than Britton.

Brason Berkensen: 5.90 ERA, 4.06 xFIP; 5.92 ERA, 4.39 xFIP. Jason Berken (27) and Brad Bergesen (turns 26 in September) aren't quite the same -- Bergesen is younger and probably a little better -- but I'm lumping them together because they're both pitching out of the bullpen and haven't been very good. Both have pitched well at times this year, but they're essentially the mop-up crew now (you could add Alfredo Simon to that group, too). Whenever the O's are down by more than a few runs, one of them is usually the guy the O's turn to to get through the next few innings. Sure, there's value in that if it's done properly, but I have a hard time believing that either guy will ever be effective over an entire season (especially in the AL East).

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There's also a few guys in Norfolk -- Brandon Snyder, Josh Bell, Ryan Adams, Troy Patton, Matt Angle -- who have some promise, but that's not much to choose from. The goal all along was for the guys above to take the next step (or several steps) forward, but only a few have really done that.

Responding to a comment

Yesterday, a reader posted the following comment on my Nick Markakis post:

Anonymous said...
No mention to his consistently changing approach at the plate?

Markakis has always had pressure on him to be the face of the Orioles, but the real question is: is he good enough to be the face of a good team?

With the stats he is producing now, no. But when he was doing good things consistently, then yes, he was. How do you get him back to that sense of continuity?

I do realize that Markakis tinkers with his batting stance frequently -- moving his hands and feet around, changing how upright he stands, etc. Cal Ripken used to do similar things. I would assume that most of that is a comfort thing. Maybe he's just doing something different simply for the sake of doing something different. For the most part, Markakis's swing -- the end result -- still looks the same. Again, he's still hitting a lot of line drives, but he just isn't a power hitter. Maybe he wants to be one and is working hard to get there; if so, I commend him for putting in the work. But he's essentially a gap-to-gap hitter who's going to hit a lot of singles and doubles. The Markakis who walks a lot and hits a ton of doubles has value, but the current Markakis isn't getting the job done. And he knows that.

In his 2008 season, yes, Markakis was outstanding. But it's also possible that that's the best he'll ever play. He hasn't come close to replicating those numbers, and he may never get back to that level.

I don't know if he's good enough to be the face of the Orioles. Honestly, I'm not really sure exactly what that means. All I know is that the problem with the O's is that they lack overall talent, and I do believe they're in the process of rectifying that problem. The issue with Markakis right now is that he wasn't supposed to be something that the franchise had to worry about, at least for the duration of his current contract. Hopefully he gets things going.

Nick Markakis: declining star?

First, let me get this out of the way: Players go through slumps. It happens. And some last longer than others. It's too early to completely give up on Nick Markakis, whose 0-4 game last night dropped his on-base percentage under .300 (to .298). But he's looked pretty bad for more than two months now, and there are some disturbing trends forming.

Markakis is 27 years old. He should be in the prime of his career and hitting the cover off the ball. But as my friend Daniel Moroz of Camden Crazies pointed out the other day, "Some guys peak at 24." That's true, and it's yet another reason to be concerned about Markakis.

What are the things that (at least previously) Markakis does best?

- Gets on base a lot.
- Covers the plate and hits line drives to all fields.
- Is an OK outfielder with limited range, but has a great arm.

Those are the main three, right? He doesn't hit for much power, doesn't have blazing speed, and is probably an average to below-average right fielder at this point. (FanGraphs has him slightly above average so far this season, so that's something.) It's probably not entirely fair to judge Markakis on a broader scale solely because of his current numbers (he's slugging only .304 too), but if he's not excelling in those three areas above, then he's not giving the O's much value. And so far, he has a -0.1 fWAR (FanGraphs WAR).

Markakis has cut down on his strikeouts (12.2 K%), but he's also walking much less (6.9 BB%). He's always been willing to work the count and take a walk, but that hasn't been the case this season. He's been unlucky on balls in play (.251 BABIP), and he's hitting a lot of line drives as well (22.3 LD%). But he's doing some weird things too, like owning a 17.3 percent infield fly ball percentage, swinging at more pitches out of the zone (27.3%) and overall (46.0%), and making less contact when swinging at all pitches (85.7%). So sure, he's due for a few more hits to drop in here and there, which should raise his numbers a bit. But that won't necessarily result in a huge jump in extra-base hits for Markakis, who has only hit four doubles and four home runs. Now that's shocking.

Markakis's current deal runs for at least three more seasons. He's making $10.25 million this year, and he'll make at least $42 million over the next three. (He also has a $17.5 million club option in 2015, with a $2 million buyout.) Markakis's deal, signed in early 2009, seemed pretty good at the time, but it's not looking that great now. So for those people out there, not that there's many of them, suggesting that the Orioles simply trade Markakis away, that may not be such an easy task.

Maybe the most frustrating thing about Markakis is that he's supposed to be the one constant in the O's lineup. I've been saying for a while now that the O's have struggled to produce young talent at the major league level, but guys like Adam Jones and Matt Wieters appear to be taking at least small steps forward (not to mention the strides by a few young pitchers). Unfortunately, if Markakis really has regressed this much, that's yet another position the O's need to be worried about.

O's hold on for 3-1 win over Rays

After a relatively stress-free opening day win over the Rays yesterday (thanks to Jeremy Guthrie's outstanding pitching performance), the Orioles survived a potential game-winning (or at least tying) hit because of a spectacular game-saving catch by Nick Markakis.

With the O's leading 3-1, the Rays had runners on first and second with two outs in the ninth. Ben Zobrist hit a deep fly ball to right field, but Markakis -- and his glove -- seemingly appeared out of nowhere to snatch the ball before it hit the wall. Markakis then smashed into the wall and took a moment or two before revealing to the umpires that yes, he did in fact make the catch. Thanks to Markakis, Brian Roberts's three-run homer in the eighth inning, and a solid start by Chris Tillman, the O's move to 2-0.

Tillman threw six no-hit, shutout innings in place of the now-injured Brian Matusz. Tillman was, in a sense, wildly effective (three walks), but he also struck out five and kept hitters off balance with a powerful fastball and filthy change-up.

After Tillman left the scoreless game, Jeremy Accardo took over and retired the first two batters he faced. Then, though, things got a little dicey. B.J. Upton singled and stole second, and Matt Joyce was walked intentionally. Kelly Shoppach followed with a single to left field. But Felix Pie, who had just entered the game as a pinch-runner for Luke Scott that same inning, threw a bullet to Matt Wieters to nail Upton at home. Wieters blocked the plate brilliantly and applied the tag on Upton in time, keeping the game tied.

The next inning, despite leading 3-0 after the Roberts home run, the bullpen continued to live dangerously. Mike Gonzalez relieved Accardo and walked consecutive batters before retiring Johnny Damon. Koji Uehara then came in and got the final two outs of the inning, but not before allowing an RBI single to Manny Ramirez. Still, at least Uehara pounded the strike zone -- seven of his eight pitches were strikes.

Holding that 3-1 lead in the ninth, Kevin Gregg was sent in to get the save. Upton led off with a single, and then Joyce grounded into a fielder's choice (which sure looked like a double play on replay). Gregg then walked Shoppach before getting a strike out and the huge defensive play by Markakis to end the game.

I'm going to preface what I'm about to say with this: Yes, it was just one game, and there's no sense in overreacting, especially since the O's did win. Fans know what they're going to get out of Gregg. He's never been a shut-down closer/reliever, and he's going to have some roller-coaster saves, along with some blown saves as well. That's who he is. As for Gonzalez, though, he started last season out on a rocky note, blowing two saves in his first three appearances with the O's. The O's are desperately going to need him to be effective, particularly if he's going to be the only left-handed reliever in the bullpen (which I don't think will last very long, for what it's worth). Gonzalez deserves the opportunity to overcome a bad outing or two, as do most of the players since the season just started. But if he keeps having difficulty throwing strikes and handing out free passes to opposing hitters, the bullpen as a collective unit is in trouble.

Sorry for the negative spiel after such an exciting win. The starting pitching and defense to start the season have been great, and I'm definitely looking forward to watching Zach Britton make his major league debut tomorrow.

O's beat Red Sox again

Trailing 1-0 going into the top of the sixth, the Orioles scored nine unanswered runs in four innings and defeated the Red Sox, 9-1. Brad Bergesen got his eighth win on the season, and while he wasn't spectacular by any stretch of the imagination -- 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K -- he still got through six innings and only gave up one run. He then handed the ball off to the O's bullpen, who pitched three scoreless innings.

Ty Wigginton and Adam Jones, both with three hits, led the way on offense. Wigginton hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning, and Jones had a double. Wigginton also drew a walk. Nick Markakis added two hits, both singles, and Brian Roberts, Luke Scott, Matt Wieters (double), Felix Pie (triple), and Cesar Izturis each had one hit apiece. Roberts also walked twice. Altogether, the O's accumulated 13 hits and three walks.

To make matters worse (for Red Sox fans) and better (for O's fans), the O's tacked on four runs to their 5-1 lead in the ninth off of Jonathan Papelbon. Here's how that inning started, courtesy of ESPN's play-by-play:

B Roberts singled to center.
N Markakis singled to left center, B Roberts to second.
T Wigginton reached on infield single to third, B Roberts to third, N Markakis to second, B Roberts scored, N Markakis to third, T Wigginton to second on throwing error by third baseman A Beltre.
L Scott singled to left, N Markakis scored, T Wigginton to third.
T Wigginton scored, L Scott to second on wild pitch by J Papelbon.

The O's also added their ninth run in that inning on a ground out by Pie.

The O's go for the sweep tonight with Kevin Millwood on the mound; the Red Sox will counter with John Lackey. A win would give the O's a 10-8 record against the Red Sox this season.

O's top Dice-K, Red Sox

The Orioles scored four runs off of Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Brian Matusz and the bullpen held the Red Sox to just two runs on five hits in a 4-2 O's win. Matusz didn't get the win and only pitched five innings because of a high pitch count -- he walked three and finished with 102 pitches -- but he also struck out four and gave up only one run on three hits. That's not the most effective start, but it worked.

David Hernandez got the win, allowing one run in two innings, and Jim Johnson and Koji Uehara each threw a scoreless inning. Uehara also earned his 10th save.

Nick Markakis and Luke Scott each had two hits and a walk. Both of Markakis's hits were doubles. Brian Roberts had a single and two walks, and Felix Pie, Cesar Izturis, and Josh Bell each singled. Matt Wieters went hitless but did draw a walk.

With the win, the O's pull to 8-8 on the season against the Red Sox, a monumental accomplishment considering how poorly the O's have played against not only the Red Sox in the last few seasons, but also the entire AL East. Here are the O's records against Boston since 2005:

2005: 8-10
2006: 3-15
2007: 6-12
2008: 6-12
2009: 2-16

Sure, the Red Sox are down this year, but they're still 83-67, which would be good enough to compete in most divisions that don't also include the Yankees and the Rays -- and another .500 team, the Blue Jays (currently 75-74).

At 60-90 after last night's win, the O's have 12 games left: two more in Boston, three in Toronto, three in Tampa Bay, and four at home against the Tigers. If the O's can win just three of those, they'll avoid 100 losses, which is pretty impressive considering how awful things were going a couple months ago. By the way, the O's are now 28-17 since Buck Showalter took over.

And for what it's worth, the O's are now just two games back of the Nationals (62-88).

O's win again

Jake Arrieta pitched six scoreless innings, and the O's offense finally broke through for a bunch of runs in an 11-3 win over the Blue Jays. Leading 3-0, the O's tacked on six runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to put the game away for good. Overall, the O's pounded out 16 hits, including three doubles and two homers, and five walks. Nick Markakis and Adam Jones had the home runs, and Robert Andino, Markakis, Ty Wigginton, Felix Pie, Matt Wieters, and Jones all had multi-hit games. Also, every Orioles starter recorded a hit.

Arrieta was more than solid enough to earn the win, allowing just four hits. He also walked only one batter while striking out five. He hasn't walked more than one batter in a start since August 26, which spans only three starts, but that's still some progress considering he has 52 strikeouts and 48 walks on the season.

The O's are now 8-5 in September and 25-15 overall under Buck Showalter. They're also 8-2 in their last 10 games and could have won all 10 if not for the bullpen blowing two leads late in games. And for whatever the reason, the O's have won a lot more and been much more enjoyable to watch under Showalter. Hopefully that doesn't end and provides a nice lead-in for next season.

A few other notes:

- Since the All-Star break, Wieters is hitting .286/.357/.474 with five home runs. He's also walked 17 times and struck out only 21 times.

- Also, since the All-Star break, Jones is hitting .301/.376/.446 with four home runs. In those 45 games, he's also three walked more times (13) than he did in 87 games before the break (10).

- Here is the O's pitching staff ERA by month:

March/April: 4.62
May: 4.68
June: 5.72
July: 5.60
August: 3.38
September (so far): 4.07

Have they gotten a little lucky? Probably. But starters are throwing more innings and giving the bullpen leads to protect -- and fewer innings to throw.

- Brian Matusz, who had to leave the game on Monday after just one inning because of a line drive that struck his left triceps, may have been robbed of a chance to improve his Rookie of the Year chances. Matusz has more than held his own in his rookie season and has thrown a lot of innings, but there's a strong chance that the O's will hold Matusz out of his next start if he's not 100 percent healthy -- as they should. Unfortunately for Matusz, Austin Jackson continues to hit and still seems like the top ROY choice in the American League.

Arrieta outduels Sabathia in O's win

Jake Arrieta and CC Sabathia both pitched 6.1 innings last night, but Sabathia allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits while Arrieta allowed just two runs on eight hits. Arrieta also walked only one batter while striking out three.

Matt Albers relieved Arrieta in the bottom of the seventh and entered the game in a tough situation -- the Yankees had runners on first and third, one out, and Alex Rodriguez at bat, pinch-hitting for Ramiro Pena. But Albers got two ground balls -- one by Rodriguez and another by Brett Gardner -- to get out of the inning unscathed. Albers, who also pitched a scoreless eighth, lowered his ERA to 4.09. He also hasn't allowed a run since August 14 -- a span of nine appearances. And with a four-run cushion, Mark Hendrickson pitched a scoreless ninth.

So, yes, the three-headed monster of Arrieta, Albers, and Hendrickson held the Yankees to two runs in September. Not a bad performance.

On the season, Arrieta has more walks (46) than strikeouts (44), but he's getting close to changing that and has walked only one batter in his last two starts.

On offense, Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, and Ty Wigginton each had two hits. One of Wigginton's hits was a double. Nolan Reimold hit a two-run home run in the third, giving the O's a 5-1 lead at the time. Felix Pie drew the lone walk for the O's.

The O's have now won four games in a row -- two against the Rays, and two against the Yankees -- and are 4-3 in September. They'll go for the sweep in a day game today as Brad Bergesen faces 23-year-old Ivan Nova. And according to the game preview on ESPN, the O's will try for their first road sweep of the Yankees in more than 24 years.

ROY Watch: Brian Matusz won the first game of the series on Monday, pitching six innings and allowing three runs while striking out four and walking two. The outing didn't do much to lower his ERA (4.71), but he did win his fourth start in a row -- and winning in Yankee Stadium is always a good thing.

O's take first game against Red Sox, face tough test today

Brian Matusz allowed just two runs in six innings, striking out six and walking just one, and Luke Scott and Felix Pie both hit solo home runs in the eighth to give the Orioles a 5-2 win over the Red Sox.

The two runs scored on Matusz came on a two-run shot by Jed Lowrie in the fifth, but those were the only runs the Red Sox could muster against Matusz and the O's bullpen. But with Matusz running out of gas after 98 pitches, the well-rested bullpen went to work, and Jim Johnson, Michael Gonzalez, and Koji Uehara combined for three shutout innings to close the game out. Uehara was particularly impressive, earning a five-out save (his fifth).

The only O's hitters without a hit were Cesar Izturis and Josh Bell, and Scott and Brian Roberts each had two hits. Scott also walked. Nick Markakis went 1-4 with a double, which just happened to be a milestone hit. According to Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com, with the hit Markakis became the 19th outfielder since 1900 to record four seasons with at least 40 doubles. Congrats, Nick.

Tonight, though, the O's face a difficult obstacle in Red Sox ace Jon Lester. Lester is already having another fantastic season -- 14-8, 3.12 ERA, 176 K, 63 BB -- but he particularly thrives against the O's. In 15 career starts against Baltimore, Lester is 12-0 with a 2.00 ERA with 77 strikeouts and just 31 walks. The O's will counter with Jake Arrieta (5.10 ERA, 39 K, 46 BB), who lasted just four innings in his last start, against the White Sox. This will be Arrieta's first career start against the Red Sox.

(Photo via)

O's drop White Sox in 10 as win streak hits four

The Orioles haven't had much to get excited about this season, but their recent four-game win streak has been one of those times. Brad Bergesen (7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 5 K, 1 BB) matched the outing by the more-accomplished John Danks (7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 5 K, 0 BB) and gave the O's their fourth strong starting pitching performance in a row (and, more importantly, the chance for an eventual 2-1 win). In those four games, O's starters (Jeremy Guthrie, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, and Bergesen) pitched a combined 27.2 innings and allowed just seven runs. Timely hitting has also been a factor, but getting starting pitching like that has been a relief.

Back to the game: Danks may have pitched seven innings, but the O's made him work (he threw 120 pitches). The O's only drew two walks -- none off of Danks -- but every Oriole who started the game saw more than 14 pitches at the plate. Only three White Sox hitters saw more than 13.

Still, that didn't lead to many runs. The O's had 10 hits, but they were all singles. Just about all of the damage in this game was done by the top of the lineup. Brian Roberts went 2-4 with a walk, Nick Markakis had four hits in 5 at-bats, and Luke Scott had two hits and a walk. Ty Wigginton accounted for the first O's run with an RBI single in the first inning, and Adam Jones knocked in Markakis in the 10th with a game-winning single. That gives the O's two wins in a row on walk-off singles (Cesar Izturis had the game-winning hit on Thursday).

After subpar outings the last two nights, the bullpen was much better. Koji Uehara pitched the eighth inning and looked fantastic, striking out two batters and needing just 13 pitches. When Uehara's healthy and not looking exhausted on the mound, there's no denying that he's a solid option in the bullpen. Alfredo Simon relieved Uehara and pitched two scoreless innings, also striking out two.

Other notes:

• This current win streak is the team's third four-game win streak of the season. The first came on June 24-27 when the O's beat the Marlins and then swept a three-game series against the Nationals. The second came in that shocking four-game sweep in Texas against the Rangers right before the All-Star break.
• On the other hand, the O's have four(-plus)-game losing streaks six times, including stretches of nine losses, five losses, 10 losses, and five losses. I like winning better too.
• In the last three games, the O's have faced three pretty good starting pitchers (Ervin Santana, Dan Haren, and John Danks) and still won. And today, the O's face off against Gavin Floyd, who hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in an outing since June 2. His amazing run has lowered his ERA from 6.64 to 3.54. The O's will counter with Kevin Millwood. Yeah, something has to give tonight.

Buck moves to 2-0; O's have a win streak!

What seemed like a laugher in the fourth inning didn't end as one. After a five-run fourth that gave the Orioles a commanding 9-1 lead, the Angels battled back with a five-run seventh that brought them within striking distance. Still, those nine runs ended up being enough as the O's bullpen bended but didn't break, allowing the O's to escape with a 9-7 win.

First, the positives: Brian Matusz had a great rebound outing, allowing one run on seven hits in six innings. He struck out three and didn't walk a batter -- something that he's done too much this season. He got the win, his first since July 4.

The O's offense was also fantastic, accumulating 14 hits (12 against starter Ervin Santana) and nine runs. Santana wasn't fooling O's hitters last night, and they knocked him out after just 3.2 innings. Adam Jones and Felix Pie each had three hits, and Ty Wigginton and Luke Scott each had two. Pie tripled in a run in the second, and Scott belted a two-run homer in the fourth. Brian Roberts had a hit and a walk, and Nick Markakis doubled. Josh Bell also singled in a run.

Unfortunately, after a 24-minute rain delay in the bottom of the sixth inning, the O's momentum was gone and the Angels started to chip away at the lead. Matt Albers relieved Matusz, and here's what happened: single, fly out, single, double, double. David Hernandez then relieved Albers after three runs had scored, but the Angels weren't done: double, single, foul out, wild pitch (run scored). With two more runs tacked on, Hernandez left the game with an ankle injury, and Koji Uehara entered the game. He allowed a walk and an infield single before finally getting a ground ball to second to end the threat.

The O's failed to tack on any runs in the bottom of the seventh, so they led 9-6 going into the eighth. Uehara must have felt more better out there, because he struck out the side. Still, the Angels weren't done. Alfredo Simon entered the game in the ninth inning, and things got interesting. Simon allowed two straight doubles, which cut the lead to two. Then for some reason, Torii Hunter, who hit the second double, tried to steal third and was thrown out by Matt Wieters. Hunter is a great player and has made many phenomenal plays in his career, but to me, this is a benchable offense. The Angels weren't down by just one run in that situation (not that a steal is justified in that situation either); they were still down by two. And there still weren't any outs! What was Hunter thinking? He was already in scoring position, and his run didn't even mean that much. His decision just didn't make sense, but I'm glad he tried to steal and gave the O's an easy out. With the pressure slightly off, Simon got two fly outs -- while giving up a single in between -- to earn the save. It wasn't pretty, but it worked.

Two other notes: First, Roberts left the game after the rain delay with a left shin contusion. He was hit with the ball when diving back to second base early in the game, but he remained in the game. My guess is that he's fine, even if he gets the day off today just as a precaution. Second, the loss moved the Angels to one game under .500 (54-55), which is rather significant because, according to Joe Angel on O's radio last night, this is the latest in the season the Angels have been under .500 in about a decade. Must be nice, Angels fans.

Guthrie's strong start earns Showalter a win in O's debut

Jeremy Guthrie gave up three runs in seven innings and the O's offense woke up in the sixth inning to score four runs in a 6-3 win over the Angels in Buck Showalter's first game as the team's new manager.

Guthrie served up a two-run homer to Howie Kendrick in the fifth, but he allowed just five hits while striking out two and walking none. Since giving up four runs in 4.2 innings against the Rangers on July 8, Guthrie has been on a roll, allowing just seven combined runs in his last four starts -- a span of 27.2 innings. During that stretch, Guthrie has walked only two batters while striking out 17. His recent improved pitching has also lowered his ERA from 4.77 to 4.21.

On offense, Luke Scott hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning; he also had a double. Matt Wieters, though, may have had the best offensive performance of the night for the O's, finishing 3-3 with a double, two runs batted in, and a run scored. He also walked, allowing him to reach base four times. Felix Pie went 2-3 with two singles; Adam Jones singled and walked; and Josh Bell added a two-run double. Ty Wigginton went 0-2 but did walk twice. At the top of the lineup, Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis combined to go 0-8, yet the offense still scored six runs -- not bad, I guess.

As for the Showalter factor, the lineup was pretty much the same, and most things were done by the book. However, he did use the bullpen a little differently and showed some outside-the-box thinking. Here's Dan Connolly explaining the situation:

What interested me most was watching Showalter manage. During the past month, I’ve talked to a bunch of people who have worked under Showalter, and they have all spoken about his preparedness and how he puts his players in a situation to win.

And so I was intrigued by his first real piece of managing: in the ninth inning Tuesday with the Orioles up 6-3. Lefty Michael Gonzalez had already pitched one scoreless inning, and Showalter summoned him to pitch again in the ninth – even though it was a save situation and closer Alfredo Simon was warming up.

Go by the book, and bring in your closer. That’s what every manager I have ever covered would have done. But Showalter left Gonzalez in to face lefty Hideki Matsui, who struck out. Then Showalter stuck with Gonzalez to turn around switch-hitter Alberto Callaspo, and he grounded out.

With one out needed, Showalter called for Simon, even though it was no longer a save situation for the O’s closer. And Simon struck out Howie Kendrick.

Asked about the moves after the game, Showalter said: “The matchup was a lot better. Gonzo, I’ve been watching him throw the ball and talking to [pitching coach Rick Kranitz] and some of the guys. And I liked the switch-hitters turned around. The tough call was Hunter [in the eighth with one on and two outs]. That’s a tie ballgame at worst, though, and we like our chances at home with the last at-bat. Take our chances.”

That’s a guy who is not managing scared.

He followed that up with his best line of the day: “Believe me, I know the save rule and, quite frankly, it doesn’t carry much weight with me. I like the win rule a little bit better.”

Apologies for the long quote, but that's some intriguing stuff right there. I'm all for managers going against the typical bullpen philosophy of simply bringing in the closer in the ninth for a potential save. Now, I'm not a fan of leaving relievers such as Mike Gonzalez in for more than one inning, but Showalter recognized that Gonzalez has been throwing well lately and stuck with the hot hand rather than simply summoning Alfredo Simon in the ninth.

Could the move have backfired? Sure, anything's possible against the Orioles. But the move worked, and that's something that has been hard enough for the O's to find for a long time. I'm not ready to pronounce Showalter the greatest manager ever or anything because of the move, but I am ready to see what he has in store for this team.

O's win in Roberts's return

It took longer than expected, but Brian Roberts finally made it back to Baltimore. And though Roberts went 0-4 in his first game back, Jeremy Guthrie picked up the offense's subpar performance (three runs on seven hits and no walks) by giving up just two earned runs in seven strong innings.

Guthrie allowed six hits while striking out six and walking none to earn his fourth win. The two Twins runs came on a two-run homer by Joe Mauer in the sixth. Will Ohman, David Hernandez, and Alfredo Simon combined to pitch the final two scoreless innings, with Simon earning his 14th save on the season.

Luke Scott stayed red-hot since coming off the disabled list by collecting two more hits, including a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to give the O's a 3-2 lead (also the final score).

Playing without Nick Markakis, who got the night off, the O's seemed rather impatient at the plate -- except for Roberts, who saw a team-high 24 pitches in four at-bats. In four at-bats of his own, Miguel Tejada saw just 11 pitches (though he did have two hits and scored two runs). Adam Jones, Felix Pie, Craig Tatum, and Corey Patterson all didn't do a particularly good job of working the count either.

But, hey, on this night, because of Guthrie, three runs was good enough.

-----

To make room on the roster for Roberts, the O's designated Scott Moore for assignment. While speculating about potential roster moves the other day, I figured the O's would cut ties with Julio Lugo before getting rid of Moore.

In actuality, this isn't a big deal. Moore could easily clear waivers, and if he does so he could go back to Norfolk and return to Baltimore at a later point in the season. Or maybe another team will take a chance on him.

Anyway, here was Juan Samuel's quote on the move:

"We wanted to keep somebody who would give us a hand at short, and [Julio] Lugo was that guy," interim manager Juan Samuel said. "We talked to Scotty Moore and he understood that situation."

Samuel's right; Moore can't really play shortstop well enough at such a high level. But Cesar Izturis's name is in the lineup every day; why can't Tejada fill in for Izturis at that position once in a while? Is it really worth keeping Lugo around just for that purpose, especially since Roberts is back now to play second base?

At this point in his career, Lugo is a 34-year-old utility player without the ability to get on base often or hit for much power. He doesn't hold that much value on an American League roster, though his speed does come in handy occasionally late in games. And while Moore isn't necessarily that much better than Lugo, he is younger (26) and is still someone who can play multiple positions (first, second, and third).

Again, it's really not a big deal. But some of the moves the O's make baffle me at times. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

A great night to be a Wizards/O's fan

It's not huge admission to point out that being a fan of the Wizards and the Orioles (and the Redskins too, for that matter) hasn't been a rather pleasant experience lately. The Wizards finished 26-56 last season and had a drama-filled year that included 1) Gilbert Arenas and the locker room gun situation; 2) the departure of Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson; 3) the death of Abe Pollin; and 4) the battle between Flip Saunders and Andray Blatche, just to name a few. And, as for the Orioles, they appear to be headed in the right direction because of some of the pieces they possess in both the major and minor leagues, but right now they're 13-27 and have struggled to put runs on the board.

As I'm sure you've heard by now, the Wizards won the NBA Draft Lottery last night despite holding just a 10.3 percent chance to do so. (Check out this chart for a more visual display of the Wizards' chances.) As the lottery was playing out and it was revealed that the Wizards would have a top three pick, it was pretty exciting. Still, I fully believed that the Wiz were going to end up with the No. 3 pick in a draft with two no-doubters: John Wall and Evan Turner. But, again, that didn't happen, and somehow the Wizards ended up with the No. 1 overall pick.

Here were some of my immediate thoughts when this happened:

• DAGGER!!!!!!
• John Wall or Evan Turner? (I say Wall.)
• A Wall-Arenas backcourt would be thrilling to watch, but could it work?
• Kwame Brown.
• Wow, I like Ted Leonsis already.
• The Wizards wouldn't trade the pick, would they? (No!)

The NBA Draft isn't until June 24, so there's more than a month to wait until the Wizards make a selection, but it's good news that Wall seems more than content with the possibility of becoming a Wizard. These two paragraphs from that article particularly stuck out:

"President Obama can be at your games," said Wall, as he stood outside on [agent Dan] Fegan's patio. "I'll keep working hard and hopefully they'll pick me."

Fegan said he just wanted for Wall to get a "good opportunity. This is a big market with a good opportunity. I've been in situations where we wonder what the teams are going to do. This one is 'wow.'"

Wow, indeed.

As for the Orioles, they obviously didn't have an achievement on par with what the Wizards could boast, but they did turn another apparent so-so performance into an exciting one with some late-game heroics. Facing Zack Greinke, the defending Cy Young award winner, and down 3-1 in the seventh, Luke Scott hit his second home run of the game to cut the lead to 3-2. Then, in the eighth, Corey Patterson homered to tie the game (though that shot came off of Blake Wood, not Greinke).

Meanwhile, Kevin Millwood pitched eight innings, giving up just three runs, striking out seven, and amassing 120 pitches -- the most he's thrown this season. Millwood's workhorse-like outing kept the O's in the game and eventually allowed them to push the game into extra innings, when they scored on a bases-loaded single by Nick Markakis in the 10th.

It's rare enough for two of my teams to win on the same night. But it's absolutely crazy that the Wizards won the draft lottery and that the O's pulled off an exciting 10th inning comeback victory all in the span of a few hours. And, as you might imagine, it was pretty cool.