Posted Messages

Message #: 27046
Message from: Charlie Steinhice
Sent: Sep 4, 2012
Subject: BAA @ CHA Week 7

(Note: No new CM this week.)

Thanks in large part to freakish performances by Cal Ripken and Mike Devereaux, the Orioles got a rare 4-game road sweep at Comiskey.

Game 1: BAA 2, CHA 1

This was an exciting pitchers’ duel between Chicago’s Charlie Hough and Baltimore’s Jim Abbott.� In a rare start, Orioles scrub Cecil Espy drove in the game’s first run in the 3^rd, although MVP candidate Ripken was gunned down at the plate.� Meanwhile, Abbott gave perhaps his best performance of the year so far, pitching six scoreless innings of two-hit ball� before yielding a run in the 7^th, when Baltimore’s Devereaux and Chicago’s Jose Canseco traded solo homers.� In the bottom of the 9^th Juan Samuel made a costly error to put the tying run on second.� White Sox pinch-hitter Mike Huff delivered a clutch single off O’s closer Gregg Olson, but Joe Orsulak saved the day by gunning down Canseco at the plate.

Game 2: BAA 2, CHA 1

As Yogi Berra would say, it was d�j� vu all over again as Mark Portugal (CHA) and Jim Abbott (BAA) locked into another pitching duel.� Randy Milligan’s 2^nd inning homer put the O’s up 1-0, but Beau Allred answered in the 4^th for a 1-1 tie. Each team had its own rally-killing technique – the O’s hit into two double plays, while the White Sox got caught stealing three times. Devereaux broke the tie in the 7^th with an RBI triple, and Olson got his 12^th save of the season.

Game 3: BAA 9, CHA 5

This wasn’t exactly a pitchers’ duel, as neither Chicago’s Mark Gardner and Baltimore’s Jeff Ballard (making a usage-mandated spot start) lasted five innings.� Ripken’s RBI single in the first put the O’s on top 1-0.� In the 3^rd, Devereaux drove in a run for his third straight game, but Dave Valle promptly countered with a solo homer and Joey Cora hit a two-run single to give the White Sox their first lead of the series, 3-2.� ��Jose Canseco added a solo homer in the 4^th for a 4-2 Sox lead.� A clutch two-out, two-run single by Joe Orsulak tied it 4-4 in the top of the 5^th, but Frank Thomas greeted reliever Curt Schilling with a double to retake the lead 5-4.� That didn’t last long; in the 6^th Ripken scored on an error and Devereaux singled in yet another run during a 3-run Orioles rally.� Ripken struck again in the seventh with his league-leading 17^th homer run, a two-run shot that put the O’s up 9-5.� Mark Williamson, who relieved Schilling with two on and one out in the 7^th, stifled the rally and allowed just one baserunner in 2 2/3 innings for the save.

The score should have been more lopsided – the Orioles left 13 men on base and pounded out 19 hits, including a 5-for-5 performance by Devereaux.

Game 4: BAA 19, CHA 9

It’s a rare game when you go two-for-five with a double, a homer, and 4 two-out RBI’s… and the home fans are booing you for most of the game.

A first inning error by White Sox shortstop Kurt Stilwell was followed by a massive 9-run Orioles rally that included a two-run double by Brady Anderson and – you guessed it – yet another RBI for Devereaux.� Chisox starter Orel Hershiser lasted only 1/3 inning, but it was reliever Jack Armstrong who yielded big three-run homer by Juan Samuel. �In the 2^nd, Stilwell made another error but offset it by starting a double play, and further atoned with a two-run home run off Bob Milacki.� Amazingly, Stilwell made yet another error in the 3^rd that helped the O’s pad their lead to 13-3 – and then doubled in two of the three White Sox runs in the bottom of the frame.� The ineffective Milacki survived five innings and left with a 13-6 lead.� The White Sox chipped away with two in the 7^th , but Craig Worthington’s three-run pinch hit blast made it 16-8 after 8 innings.� In the 9^th, after another homer for Ripken, Robin Ventura made a two-out error to extend the inning – and Devereaux hit one out to put the Orioles up 19-8.� A Canseco solo homer ended the scoring, and fittingly the game ended when Stilwell hit into a double play.

Fun stats: Devereaux went 9-for-17 with a triple, two homers (vs. only one through Week 6), two walks, and seven RBI, raising his OPS for the season from .547 to .649.� His OPS for the series was (by my math) 1.579.� And HE STILL DIDN’T LEAD THE TEAM.� While Silent Cal’s 6 RBIs fell one short of Devereaux’s, Ripken went 11-for-18 with two doubles, two homers, two walks, and an OPS for the series of 1.706.�


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