O's Struggle Out The Gate
The O's have struggled severely suffering two straight series sweeps, at the hands of the Yankees and Red Sox, to open the season. The O's were outscored 32-9 in the first 6 games of the Season. Tavis White, the new Owner/Manager of the O's, attribute the losses to their lack of hitting. The O's are batting a pitiful .165 for the season as a team, while their pitchers have a respectable 4.65 ERA. They have had a couple great starts, including a 15 K performance by Rodrigo Lopez in a loss to the Yankees. The O's were simply dominated when they faced the Yankees. They couldn't hit the pitches for nothing. Some of the players were complaining about the strike zone not being consistent for both sides. "The umps gave the Yankees a huge zone, while our pitchers had to basically throw it down the middle to get a called strike", says O's 1B Jeff Conine. The O's were close to winning their first game of the season a couple of times in the series with Boston. They came close in the first game, but Jorge Julio blew the save in the top of the 9th, when Shea Hillenbrand hit a two-run shot. Then they went 15 innings in the last game, but they just couldn't get the bats going, as they had multiple chances with runners in scoring position in extra innings and just couldn't drive them in. Manny Ramirez hit a popfly that just went over the out-of-town scoreboard to give the Sox the lead and the win. O's RF, Chris Richards, said, "It's a disgrace the way that we are hitting right now. We really need to get going, because we can't fall back to far early in the season." Next up for the O's is a series with the Devil Rays before they start their first road trip of the season. Complete Boxscores |
